Ashley Young and Angel Di Maria who has more zeal for united

The tattoo on Ashley Young's arm -- "If it's not worth fighting for, it's not worth having" -- neatly summarises his and Angel Di Maria's attitude toward playing for Manchester United.
Young and Di Maria have both seen their Old Trafford careers come under threat but while one has chosen to fight the challenge head on, the other appeared to give up, suggesting the chance to become the latest iconic No. 7 was not worth the bother.
Unforgivably, PSG-bound Di Maria failed to join up with his United teammates during preseason, having lost his starting place in the side last term following a string of abject performances. Young, meanwhile, has used preseason to play his way into form and back into favour,
having suffered dips in form at various stages himself. The attitude difference between the two could not be more stark.
Of course, it's important to point out that Di Maria's personal situation -- his house was the subject of an attempted burglary in February -- will have contributed to his unease in Manchester. It's equally worth suggesting that the Argentine was never too enamoured with playing for United anyway.
"PSG had a money problem and they couldn't buy players," Di Maria told French station Telefoot a few months after signing for a club-record £59.7million. "This is the main reason I didn't go there. A lot of clubs were interested in me. But Manchester United appeared and didn't go away. They absolutely wanted me and it happened."Do these words, spoken before the attempted break-in, really sound like a man pleased and content with life at United?

Young, meanwhile, has dragged himself back from the brink through sheer force of will. While Di Maria raised his hands in anguish and looked forlorn with every passing substitute appearance last season, Young has met trouble face on and decided to stick at it. He should be lauded for that, whatever your opinion is regarding his ability.
The annus horribilis of season 2013-14 reflected poorly on everyone at the club -- bar David De Gea -- and Young suffered as badly as anyone. His lack of end product -- and some critics would say limitations -- were exposed and he sometimes found himself outside the match-day squad, even though he was fully fit. He was also torn apart by his own fans for repeated diving and appeared on a very unflattering Red Issue fanzine front cover in November 2013. Young was a serial offender; even a word in his ear from Sir Alex Ferguson failed to have the desired effect.


Liverpool nearly won the title; United finished 22 points off top spot, a woefully out-of-depth manager was promptly sacked and the squad was in need of an overhaul. It was a grim time for United and especially for Young, who made frequent appearances in the gossip columns as Louis van Gaal assessed his squad for the new season. If you play for one of the world's biggest clubs and a side as limited as Aston Villa are seriously mentioned as your next stop, you know you're in a world of trouble. Young had arrived from Villa for around £16m in 2011; to then return to a lower stage having failed to give a proper account of himself would have been hard to take.
The challenge to win over a new manager and sceptical fans would have been daunting enough without having to do so in an alien position, but Van Gaal started to play him as a wing-back. Young began there in preseason last year and also spent a spell at left-back. His wing play had been clipped in favour of pragmatism and it would have stifled those without the stomach for a challenge. Di Maria couldn't even find it in himself to meet his teammates this summer.
Van Gaal almost fell upon a decent system toward the end of last season, with injuries restricting him and forcing a different approach. It led to Daley Blind, Young and Marouane Fellaini combining down the left-hand side and coincided with some of the best performances of the season, culminating in that 4-2 embarrassment of Manchester City.
 

Young scored one, set up two and humiliated Pablo Zabaleta with a back-heeled nutmeg in that match and United fans were drooling over the prospect of what a settled preseason and some new arrivals could lead to. Van Gaal's 4-1-4-1 with Michael Carrick sitting deep, Young and Antonio Valencia on the wings, and Juan Mata drifting inside worked a treat. In a team of star names and reputations, Young became the go-to guy, however surreal it is to think that he and Fellaini were chief tormentors in a side packed with more talented players.
Fast forward a few months and it's unclear what Van Gaal has in store. He has shown a baffling desire to eschew 4-3-3 in favour of 4-4-1-1 in preseason, with Memphis Depay just off Wayne Rooney in a central role.

Potentially the best XI Van Gaal could field would be: De Gea; Darmian, Smalling, Rojo, Shaw; Herrera, Carrick, Schneiderlin; Mata, Rooney, Depay and that means a place on the bench for Young, among others. He has featured on the wing in preseason, though, and Van Gaal's stubbornness in his team selections may help him remain there.
The fear is that Van Gaal continues his ridiculous scepticism of Ander Herrera and removes him from the starting XI. The Dutchman overlooked Herrera at various points during the last campaign despite it being clear he is one of the club's more accomplished midfielders. A tenacious tackler with incisive passing qualities and a goal threat, it's bemusing why Herrera has had to fight so hard for attention. There is every chance the Spaniard will start the season out of favour once again, giving Young the opportunity to continue out wide.


Depay may yet be eased into action, and fans should not expect too much from him straight away although his supreme confidence and just the right amount of arrogance to play for United will stand him in good stead.
Considering that Van Gaal seems to think Blind may be a capable centre-back for the opening day fixture against Spurs and possibly beyond may suggest Young is set for more experimental positions this season.
He'll play where he is asked -- and also watch in the stands with the supporters, like he did at Newcastle away in 2013 -- because Young feels like he belongs at Manchester United. He isn't Neymar, obviously, as Van Gaal pointed out but he has the mental fortitude to adapt to varying demands. He wants to "fight, fight, fight for United."