The crushing loss to Barcelona pointed out various places of improvement at Manchester United.

Indeed, the most immediate one calls for removing the mediocrity from the squad. Unfortunately, the Reds Devils’ own captain Ashley Young is almost the symbol of everything wrong for them right now.

The former Aston Villa man has been Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s go-to man after arriving. However, he’s barely convincing in his commander’s role. Think about all the famous captains United have had over the years, the likes of Roy Keane, Bryan Robson and Nemanja Vidic, and compare Young to them.

Grim, isn't it?

Frankly, Young, who earns £120k-a-week, according to Spotrac, is way too error-prone for his teammates to even take him seriously as their leader.

He’s continuously made mistakes which have haunted the Red Devils. Against Barcelona, he crumbled under pressure to give away the ball on numerous occasions, most noticeably resulting in Lionel Messi’s stunning goal. Young wasn’t vocal enough nor could he motivate the players during either leg, only demoralizing them with his shocking performances.

The 33-year-old’s no leader. He can’t create anything from the wings, further reiterated by the fact he attempted 11 crosses, but all were inaccurate. His crossing accuracy in 24 Premier Leauge appearances is only 23% (stats via Premier League), while he’s been booked eight times in those games. Defensively outsmarted by almost every winger, he's not the reliable cog the Norwegian's looking for.

Let's not have another Antonio Valencia. The Ecuadorian was a winger pushed back into the full-back role for years while the Red Devils focused their money on other areas, simply ignoring the main issues. That just can't happen again.

The mighty have fallen too far, and Young's a big reason for their recent slump, with his disastrous performances being enough reason for Solskjaer to strip him off captaincy next season. He's signed a new deal recently but it most certainly doesn't mean he has to play...

United fans, do you think Young should remain as captain next season? Join the discussion by commenting below...