Aston Villa legend is full of praise for Ashley Young

Nov 15 2008

ASHLEY Young could become the king of the Aston Villa wide boys, believes former wing wizard Tony Daley.

Villa have had a history of superb wingers, including Tony Morley and Mark Walters, but not since Daley was flying down the touchline in the late 1980s and early 1990s have Villa fans had a player to excite them quite like Young.

The 23-year-old has been a massive hit at Villa Park ever since he was snapped up by Watford in January 2007, and to block any attempts by one of the Premier League’s big four clubs to lure the England international away, earlier this month Villa tied the Stevenage-born player to the club until 2012.

Daley believes Young can live up to the hype and is tipping the diminutive star to enjoy success with both Villa and England.

“Ashley is a fantastic and exciting player,” said Daley, who played 233 times for Villa, scoring 31 goals.

“There are not many players in the Premier League who can pick up the ball, run at defenders and get bums off their seats with excitement. Ashley has that affect on supporters and I have been very impressed with what I have seen.

“His delivery from set pieces is excellent and when he gets the chance to get the ball into the box he always delivers. He has a goal in him as well and always hits the target.”

The emergence of players like Young, Tottenham Hotspur’s Aaron Lennon, Arsenal’s Theo Walcott and Manchester City’s Shaun Wright-Phillips have signalled the return of the out-and-out winger after workmanlike midfielders became the fashion in the late 1990s.

“The game went through a phase where manager’s preferred midfielders who could get up and down but there is nothing like a winger to get the fans excited,” Daley said.

“There is an art to taking a defender, getting to the by-line and delivering a cross. Ryan Giggs used to do it in his heyday, not many have done it since, but Ashley does.

“People want to see him play and the fans always