“I think age is just a number – if you are young enough, you are old enough – as long as you are good enough, age shouldn’t come into it.”
― Ashley Young
“It’s just determination, working hard, and keeping my feet on the ground in training and keep on proving people wrong.”
― Ashley Young
“There’s a lot said now about younger players: that it’s just about the cars and houses. I’m from the old school – it’s about what you’ve achieved in the game.”
― Ashley Young
“We’ve got to rediscover the Manchester United way of playing, and I don’t think many teams enjoy their nights at Old Trafford when we’re on song.”
― Ashley Young
“I’m a versatile player, can play in numerous positions, and I have a good football brain, even if it is getting older.”
― Ashley Young
“In modern day football, you’ve got to play in different positions. I’ve played in numerous positions, apart from centre-back and goalkeeper, I think.”
― Ashley Young
“All I can do is keep playing as well as I can for United.”
― Ashley Young
“There are a lot of players competing for that wide attacking role, and if I’m brutally honest, if you aren’t playing regularly, you can’t get picked. I found that out, missing out on the World Cup.”
― Ashley Young
“I’m still operating as a wide player, and I’m still free to express myself, try to get one-v-one and get past someone, and there’s no better feeling than getting over a great cross and someone scoring.”
― Ashley Young
“Players have to adapt nowadays, and if you have a good football brain, if you can read the game, you can manage it.”
― Ashley Young
“I follow tennis, and I actually went to Wimbledon during the summer, and it was nice to get a day off during pre-season to watch it. Basketball as well – I don’t have a team; it’s just a casual interest – especially when the play-offs come around and the intensity rises.”
― Ashley Young
“I’ve been watching ‘Power.’ I’ve been hooked on it.”
― Ashley Young
“If I do well for my club, I will get recognition.”
― Ashley Young
“My dad worked in the IT industry, although I haven’t got a clue what he did. He always tells me but it just goes over my head.”
― Ashley Young
“Everything that moved, I was kicking it. You can ask my mum and dad. A stone, a can, whatever.”
― Ashley Young
“I had three brothers: one older, two younger.”
― Ashley Young
“I’ve come through it and seen people in football that are sharks. They are ones to stay away from.”
― Ashley Young
“Once you look back on your career when it’s over, you can say, ‘This is what I achieved,’ or, ‘This is what I’m driving.’”
― Ashley Young
“It’s about taking the game to the opposition, always believing in yourself.”
― Ashley Young
“I’m just the same as everyone – I can remember, growing up, watching the World Cup.”
― Ashley Young
“I had to go to see the careers woman at school, and when she asked me what I wanted to do after school, I told her flat: ‘I want to be a professional footballer.’ I can remember her being silent for a few seconds, just looking at me.”
― Ashley Young
“I was 11 years old and was racially abused on the pitch. It was obviously disappointing to hear it at such a young age.”
― Ashley Young
“I’m not a cheat. I’m not a diver.”
― Ashley Young
“People saying I dive doesn’t affect me at all. Not one bit.”
― Ashley Young
“I love playing football, and that’s all I’m going to do.”
― Ashley Young
“I’m a born winner.”
― Ashley Young
“I wouldn’t say I’ve changed at all. A lot of people will keep saying I’m a different person, especially when I go across those white lines. I think it’s just the hunger and desire and passion I’ve got for the game.”
― Ashley Young
“I’ve had the same hunger, the same desire to win, since I started kicking a football when I was five years old.”
― Ashley Young
“I’m not one of those players who talks about things off the field. It’s about what trophies and titles and cups you’ve won.”
― Ashley Young
“I’m enjoying playing football, and as a footballer, that’s what you want to do, and that is exactly what I’ve been doing.”
― Ashley Young
“As you get older, you start to read the game more, and as your brain starts working more, and as you get a good footballing brain, your legs start slowing down!”
― Ashley Young
“I’ve always said that when you pull on an England shirt, it’s a proud moment, and it’s an honour to play for and represent your country.”
― Ashley Young
“I’ve played at a European Championship; to represent your country at a World Cup is every boy’s dream, and for me, it would definitely be a dream come true.”
― Ashley Young
“As I’ve got older, the nerves aren’t there anymore; they just left one day when I was at Watford. I only feel excitement now, whatever the game.”
― Ashley Young
“Kids ask me about what they should do to make it, and I tell them, ‘Just get your head down and work, work, work.’”
― Ashley Young
“I had the brain for football, but I didn’t have the height. So I started using my brain to overcome those weaknesses and discovered football isn’t just about size or power: it’s about what’s up there. That was the making of me.”
― Ashley Young
“I’ve always had to fight. Throughout my life, it’s been a fight to get to where I am now.”
― Ashley Young
“It is always disappointing to obviously concede.”
― Ashley Young
“When you lose a game, there’s obviously disappointment, and you want a game straight away.”
― Ashley Young
“It’s never easy in the Champions League, but you never know what can happen.”
― Ashley Young
“If you are in the team, there is always going to be someone biting away at your heels trying to get in.”
― Ashley Young
“There’s no better feeling than coming off the pitch knowing you’ve won the game.”
― Ashley Young
“I’m confident in my own ability, and if I’m called upon to play on the right, the left, or as the main striker, then I can play there.”
― Ashley Young
“I’ve been a versatile player since I started playing football.”
― Ashley Young
“Sir Alex Ferguson has been a massive influence on me.”
― Ashley Young
“If I’ve gone to get a takeaway, and I get chips… I like to match up the chips in length. That is actually quite weird. Obviously, if I’ve got chips, I pick them out in twos. That’s a weird thing as well. You know, if they’re not the same length, well, I go hunting for the same length in chips.”
― Ashley Young
“I’ll relish playing at Wembley in a major cup final. It’s a great achievement for me, and it’s why I became a footballer, because I want to win medals.”
― Ashley Young
“I want to play every game.”
― Ashley Young
“A lot of youngsters in the game think they’ve made it before they’ve done anything. But at United, they’re given that winning mentality and an ethos of always trying to improve.”
― Ashley Young
“Things can be dissected too much. It’s football. Go and play.”
― Ashley Young
“If I’m asked to play a certain position, I’ll do it 100 per cent.”
― Ashley Young
“I can play in six different positions where managers can trust me. It must give them food for thought knowing I can do a job in different positions.”
― Ashley Young
“I was at Watford and got a knock-back when I was 16 and didn’t get a YTS contract. They said I could find another club or go in and train three times a week after school. I’d been there since I was 10, so I got my head down and proved them wrong. Within a year, they had signed me up, and I haven’t looked back.”
― Ashley Young
“When Martin O’Neill spent ã9m on me to take me to Villa, it was a massive boost.”
― Ashley Young
“I like to spend time on freekicks after training.”
― Ashley Young
“To play at Wembley for my country is just incredible.”
― Ashley Young
“You want to be in touch with the fans. The fans want to get to know your personality and character.”
― Ashley Young
“Of course I have aspirations and ambitions to play for my country.”
― Ashley Young
“I am one of those players who has many scars up and down my legs from being kicked, but I know I have a job to do, and beating my opponent is my goal.”
― Ashley Young
“When you play for Manchester United, the pressure’s on every week.”
― Ashley Young
“I enjoy having a challenge.”
― Ashley Young
“I want to be creative, to get on the ball, to play.”
― Ashley Young
“It’s up to me to use my brain, be clever, find the pockets of space, and get on the ball.”
― Ashley Young
“I just want to do well in every game that I’m picked to play.”
― Ashley Young
“I’m just concentrating on my football. I’m not thinking about the length of my contract.”
― Ashley Young
“Different managers play different systems, and you’ve got to be able to play in different positions.”
― Ashley Young
“As players, we have to concentrate with what happens on the pitch, not off it.”
― Ashley Young
“That’s the club’s way, the United way. Never say die.”
― Ashley Young
“Everyone has got to be prepared and ready to play when the manager calls on you.”
― Ashley Young
“I’ve always wanted to represent my country. It’s an honour to do so, and whenever I get that chance, I’ll keep doing it.”
― Ashley Young
“You don’t enter a competition not to win it.”
― Ashley Young
“Things happen on football pitches. Once the game is finished, you don’t need to talk afterwards. That’s just how it is.”
― Ashley Young
“A lot’s been said about me playing for three different managers.”
― Ashley Young
“I’ve always got that determination, to get back in the squad and get back playing.”
― Ashley Young
“I’ve shown I am deserving to be in the England squad, but I don’t just want a place in the squad; I want to be in the team.”
― Ashley Young
“I’ve always said, when you join a club like United, it’s a tough place to play at. But if you play and train and give 100%, then get your opportunity – I’ve always said you always get your opportunity there.”
― Ashley Young
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