Young, gifted and back to the drawing board

Martin O'Neill admitted that Benitez's tactic of despatching Alvaro Arbeloa to man-mark Young out of the game should be taken as a positive sign of his growing reputation.

The Reds right-back stuck to the former Watford flyer like chewing gum to the soul of a shoe and Young will be relieved not to see Arbeloa at his shoulder when he glances in the mirror this evening.

And it's true, the fact that Benitez instructed Arbeloa to ignore all of his other defensive duties and focus fully on thwarting Villa's biggest threat is a huge compliment for Young.

That he struggled to overcome Arbeloa's attentions and appeared to shrink into his shell rather than take on and beat the Spanish defender provides Young with a challenge harder than any tackle from a top flight full-back.

In my opinion Young wasn't helped by O'Neill who should have started with James Milner and given Arbeloa much more to think about by getting his twin terrors to constantly switch flanks.

But Benitez did a job on Young and, by extension, on Villa as an attacking force and the real test now is for the Stevenage-born star to take his game to an ever higher level.

Arbeloa followed his manager's instructions to the letter, and although he is an exceptionally disciplined defender, other Premier League managers will surely be encouraged to contain Young in a similar way.

Either by getting their right-back to shadow him as closely as Arbeloa or telling two players to double up on him at all times.

Great players are able to rise above whatever obstructions are placed in their path and it is up to Young to go back to the Bodymoor Heath training pitches and get ever better.

Although it was Young's least effective performance in a Villa shirt for some time it is unfair to overly criticise the 23-year-old wide boy who has been one of the Premier League's most exciting performers for the past 18 months.

And, even though he was effectively marked out of today's scoreless stalemate with Liverpool, he still more than deserved his place in Capello's England squad for the World Cup qualifiers with Andorra and Croatia.

The blow of being left out of the 23-man Three Lions group, which includes spent force David Beckham and the less consistent Stewart Downing and Jermaine Jenas, will be hard for Young to take.

But if he wants to make sure he gets the call from Capello next time he needs to take Benitez's commendation on board, grow in stature and believe he has the ability to beat every single opponent.

Anybody who has ever encountered Young will know that he doesn't lack confidence off the pitch.

Now the time has come for a self-assurance that borders on cockiness to accompany him onto the field for every match too - even when he encounters European Championship winning defenders on a mission to frustrate him.