Speaking exclusively to casinobeats.com, the current Trinidad and Tobago manager blasted the quality of Manchester United’s squad and urged them to bring in a stellar striker in the summer with Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez his preferred option.
Dwight also discussed Marcus Rashford’s rehabilitation at Aston Villa, why the Premier League title is heading to Anfield and labelled serial runners-up Arsenal ridiculous for not signing a striker this season.
Premier League observations
Q: Who’s been the best player in the Premier League this season and what makes them so good?
Dwight Yorke: The game is all about entertaining and I know defenders of good quality are very rare. It’s not often that you’ve got a defender that goes on to be much more exciting than a centre forward.
They don’t come much more attractive than Mo Salah. I think the consistency that he has because of his goals, his assists, his all-round play, he’s been so much better than everybody else, so it’s very hard to look beyond Mo Salah when naming the best player in the league. I mean, he’s probably the hottest player in the world right now.
I know there’s other players like Bryan Mbuemo at Brentford who is having a great season – you could also make a case for someone like Chris Wood at Nottingham Forest – but Mo Salah is easily the outstanding candidate throughout the season. The most consistent, I must say. He’s been absolutely brilliant.
Q: Who’s been the biggest flop in the Premier League this season?
Dwight Yorke: Rashford is always the one that gets a lot of negative attention, but I would rather give him a break because he’s had so much heat under him and, in a different environment at Villa, he’s starting to show flashes of the player that we know is in there.
I was expecting a big season from Darwin Nunez. From a striker’s point of view, he’s got all the attributes. I really rate the kid, but for some reason they’re not getting the best out of him at Liverpool. So, he will probably be the one that is a big disappointment to me because I see so much better in him.
It’s frustrating if you’re a coach and certainly at Liverpool, you’re kind of frustrated with where you are because he should be bulldozing his way through that and scoring on a regular basis.
When you’re playing with inverted wingers, it’s not playing to his strengths. If you play with inverted wingers then balls are coming in, you’ve got play one-twos, he’s got to move. It’s not really his game – although he can do that – but if you get balls coming into the box, he’s likely to punish you a little bit more.
Q: Who are the young players based on what you’ve seen this season that are destined to blossom into stars over the next couple of years?
Dwight Yorke: Jhon Duran was my first pick and then of course he left, so I’m a little bit despondent by that. I think Cole Palmer, he had a really good early stage, but he tailed off in recent weeks.
In terms of young players, I’m just trying to think who else has really hit the scene. I really like the Villa player, Morgan Rogers. Like, wow. I gotta say, when you look beyond the boy Rogers at Villa, who has done really well, there isn’t an outstanding candidate, or certainly not one that has played with anything like the consistency that Rogers has shown.
So’ I’ll go with Morgan Rogers. He’s a great prospect and he’s flourishing at Aston Villa under Unai Emery.
Q: Who are you putting in your top four?
Dwight Yorke: I had Chelsea in there at one point. They’re really stumbling over the blocks at the minute though.
With Forest, I have my doubts. It’s new territory for this group of players and can they sustain it? We’re about to enter the business end of the season, and sometimes you need that knowhow to get you over the line. Forest have been so good, performing way above everyone’s expectations, maybe the players can get a little complacent and take their foot of the gas because whatever happens to them between now and May, they’ve surpassed all expectations.
I don’t know if they have the capacity to keep pushing for that top four spot.
The first two pick themselves: Liverpool, Arsenal and I think it’s two from five or six. I can’t really see City getting out of their struggle, but they might just stumble over the line because of the experience.
I will put City in the top four equation and then I want to say my old team Villa, but they have the Champions League, which could be a distraction. That could hamper them a little bit as well, but I’ll stick with them.
I think Chelsea look a little bit vulnerable going into this last phase.
I’ll go with Liverpool, Arsenal, City and Villa.
Champions League
Q: Which Premier League club has the best chance of getting their hands on the famous trophy this season?
Dwight Yorke: Liverpool have got the best chance of winning the Champions League out of all the English clubs.
Arsenal, I don’t understand them. The game is about goals, and they don’t have a player who can score one. It’s just mind-boggling that these guys feel like they could recreate football, where history shows you always need a centre-forward.
I don’t care how good you are, outside this or inverted that, or da-da-da, or the system. The other guys will be able to score, but centre-forward is a specialist position. It is special to people and players – that’s why the forwards always cost the most money. The hardest thing to do in the game is put the ball in the back of the net.
You can rotate in every other part of the pitch. You can try things, but up front, at number 9, you need a specialist.
It’s the only position in the game that you play with your back to goal. It’s a specialist position. And Arsenal have underestimated that position so much, it’s ridiculous.
What I don’t understand is they think, I’m going to play with inverted wingers. No, you don’t. You get away with it for a bit when things are going well. As soon as you can’t score, you’re looking at it yourself and you think, where am I going to get goals?
Arsenal have absolutely no chance of winning the Champions League without a 9. Not with that attitude that the club seems to have towards strikers.
They should have gone and broken the bank and got Isak. Pay 100 million because your value for winning the Premier League is double that, triple that. Why would you not pay 100 million?
You buy that kid there, and then you’re pushing Liverpool all the way to the end because this guy can play.
Q: Do you think Aston Villa will be vulnerable to complacency against Club Brugge?
Dwight Yorke: Out of everybody else in the Champions League, that’s a really good draw. It’s not easy, because Club Brugge is a tricky opponent, and a pretty good opponent.
Aston Villa will be very happy with that. They could see themselves advancing. If Villa were to play anything near what they’re capable of playing, then they’ll progress.
The knockout stage of the Champions League against Brugge. Nobody can tell you anything different. They’re smiling. They’re smiling at Villa Park and good luck to them.
Title race
Q: Are Arsenal still in the hunt for the title after their defeat and Liverpool’s victory?
Dwight Yorke: It’s very hard to see how Arsenal could come back from where they are. It’s more in the hands of Liverpool to win it rather than lose it really in many respects. They’re obviously in a commanding position.
I’ve picked Liverpool to win the league from the very beginning, and I still do believe that they are easily the best team in the league right now and have been for some time, hence they’re in the position.
I have no doubt that Liverpool will finish the season as champions. I would normally be a bit more cautious with it because we’ve seen teams lose it from this type of position in the past, but you need to have someone behind that has the bit between their teeth, and Arsenal just don’t have it. I think it’s more Liverpool’s title to win rather than to lose. If they don’t win it from here, they’ve thrown it away, and I just can’t see them doing that.
Q: Is Liverpool’s win over City the kind of victory that will convince them the title is theirs?
Dwight Yorke: I think it’s crucial. They have known how to win major trophies, and they won’t get ahead of themselves. The camp will be very calm, but it will be a massive boost, and a huge amount of confidence is generated within the whole Liverpool camp at the moment. City away, current champions, easy win. Tick it off.
There is no reason not to think that Liverpool won’t win it now. Of course, you’re always mindful of complacency. Players get ahead of themselves and start celebrating, doing things that they’re not supposed to do. I’ve done that myself, but I was lucky enough to be part of a team where it didn’t matter. In my third season, we had the league done and dusted and we took our eye off the ball. It didn’t matter in the end though.
Liverpool have so much going on that they can’t afford to take their eye off the ball. If they were just playing for the Premier League alone, I would say there was more chance of a slip-up, they might take their eye off the ball a little bit, but the fact that they’re in every other competition, apart from obviously the FA Cup, they will want to finish the season strong. They will want to win the Champions League and the Carabao Cup.
I think those are the motivating factors to make sure that the players are fully focused on what they’re supposed to do. They’re not the type of players that, 20 years ago, would have been out the next night celebrating and having a few drinks.
I just don’t see that happening. The current generation are not inclined to do those things.
Arsenal
Q: Can you understand why Arsenal didn’t bring in a forward in January and has that mistake killed their season?
Dwight Yorke: I think it was clear to everybody who was watching that Arsenal needed to really energise their team with a big name signing, a big personality coming in to the club to really give the place a lift because that can be enough to get you over the line.
In January, February, March, it’s when the season is really testing, and you need to be at full pelt to get through those phases. I feel when you look at what happened at Arsenal in the transfer window, that has been so disappointing for them that even the players got deflated. The supporters are now deflated.
I think it stemmed from that, and it shows in their performances.
It’s a strange one. I just think that Arsenal should have really gone out on a limb to try to get someone.
I looked at Benjamin Sesko, and he’s a good player as well. I think him and Isak are the two players that I would have tried to sign to give you some kind of momentum going into the latter stage of the season.
Man City
Q: Can Guardiola turn it around?
Dwight Yorke: I just think that there is a phase in life, a phase in football that everyone goes through.
You’ve got the up and down. I think that they will come back slightly better, but it will never be the same.
They will go through that sort of phase that Liverpool had, that Man United are currently going through. They will still be very competitive, but they’ll be losing a lot of their players and then you’re asking players to come in and fit into that system, to start winning again. It’s a complete rebuild required.
This group of players have been a unit for five-to-six years. Now they’re starting to disperse one by one, or two by two. I’m sure there will be more moving on at the end of the season and there will be fresh faces joining the club.
To get them playing to the kind of standard that they can play, that’s going to be challenging. I don’t think that is as easy as some people think it is. It’s much more difficult when you go through a transition as a team.
I don’t think City will be the dominant force in the Premier League for a while now. They have been dominating the Premier League for so long. I think the time has come where they’re going to find that transition very challenging and, in many ways, it starts now.
He’s seen it coming and has tried to act on it with recruitment, but it hasn’t really changed anything. It won’t be the same at City for a long, long time.
Q: Alex Ferguson created three great United teams; can Guardiola create his second great City side?
Dwight Yorke: Refreshing a team and staying at the top of the mountain isn’t easy. That’s why Sir Alex will always be the greatest manager of all time. He was always refreshing; three years, let’s change it, let’s get better. He never left it for more than three years.
If you look at what he did, he was always bringing in one or two or three new, top, top players, every three years. As a player in a squad that’s competing for everything, you need that lift, you need to reenergise, you need to move people on. He was a master at that.
And if you look throughout his career, that’s what he did. After my first three years, he was bringing in a new group, then Wayne Rooney and others joined afterwards, then Ronaldo came in.
That’s the key thing that I learned from him. If I were to go into club management, I would look refresh things every three years.
He always had a good eye for players, he always bought the right players into the club.
That’s the one thing I will take away from Sir Alex.
He’s always got time for his old players. He’s been great passing on bits and pieces to me.
Liverpool
Q: Why are they so good this year?
Dwight Yorke: There’s always a doubt when a new manager is coming in as to whether he can take a club higher up. Despite coming in after Jurgen Klopp, I just felt Arne Slot had a real calmness about him.
I was impressed with every interview that I’ve seen. It tells me that one, he was inheriting a good squad, and it said to his players that he didn’t need to change too much. That would have given them confidence.
There was calmness about the work that he was doing. And ultimately, as a manager, whenever you go in, no matter who you know, you need people to buy into whatever you’re saying to them.
But I think there was a clear understanding from the players once they entered the room. I thought he came across especially well. I think his attention to detail is really good.
You need the players to buy in. We talk about philosophies and systems, but you need players who listen and don’t just do their own thing. Liverpool got a manager who’s coming and hit the ground running. I’ve been totally impressed.
Chelsea
Q: Should Chelsea have bought a striker in January?
Dwight Yorke: It’s a dying breed isn’t it, the number nine position. It used to be that iconic. It’s a dying breed because the game has slightly changed, where everybody’s coming to the ball and not being a proper number nine.
When you play at number nine, with your back to goal, it’s the most difficult position in the world to play and that’s why it was the most talked about position for a very long time.
It’s really bizarre how Chelsea are playing. They’re forwards are doing okay but they’re not world class and they’re far from being world class. I think part of the reason why you see them struggling is because they haven’t got someone to compete at the highest level.
I know Mo Salah is a little bit different in terms of his numbers and that’s exceptional.
But in most leagues around the world, to win, you need a striker scoring 20 a season.
Without that, you might finish third or fourth.
Q: Is there a danger that Cole Palmer could look to move on in the summer if Chelsea don’t secure Champions League football?
Dwight Yorke: He doesn’t strike me as that kind individual. I don’t think he would demand to leave Chelsea if he’s playing a season out of the Champions League.
He’s still very young, and he’s gone there and turned his career around and became the top man there. Why would you walk away from being in a club and being the top man at the same time?
Where is he going to go and become a top player and the top man? Liverpool?
Okay, maybe Man United, he said he’s a Man United fan, but he won’t go there because he’s a City man. Outside of that is Arsenal, he won’t go there because Saka is there.
Liverpool might be an option if Mo Salah were to leave, so that might be something that they might look to do. So, watch this space with that if Mo Salah leaves.
There’s no reason why it would not happen if Mo Salah is to leave.
Otherwise, why would he want to leave Chelsea? He’s the top man at the club. He plays week in, week out. Yes, the Champions League is important. If we keep missing out on Champions League, only then does it become a problem for Cole Palmer.
Next year, if Chelsea come back, work hard, and make sure they can qualify for the Champions League and compete for the Premier League, then everything is happy for Palmer.
I genuinely believe that the only club that could tempt him would be Liverpool, and even then, they would have to let Salah go first.
Aston Villa
Q: Villa are canny operators in the transfer market. Did they have the best window in the Premier League?
Dwight Yorke: Villa are canny operators, and yes, I think they did have the best transfer window out of all of the teams in the premier League. I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a club in world football that had a better window than Villa did in January.
Rashford is a big coup.
The right-back Garcia is a decent player. You’re always a little bit tested when you come in from a different league, and playing in the Premier League in the middle of the season is always going to be challenging, but the key element is that Villa are confident, they’re playing really good football.
It’s easier to fit into a formation or a system when you’re winning football matches.
I like the look of Villa again. They will be a really tough threat going forward.
I do rate the manager and he was my call for United to go and get.
Q: Marcus Rashford already looks like he’s back to his best at Aston Villa – why do you think that is?
Dwight Yorke: He is finding his confidence again. You can see the difference in his spirit. It’s so obvious – his body language just tells you a million things, when you’re playing the way, he’s playing.
The boy’s always had talent, and I defended that from the very beginning. I always said I can’t help what’s going through his head and why he’s not performing to the level. But at 27, he should be one of the best players in the Premier League. I think Villa have got a hell of a player on their hands, and with nurture and bringing him back slowly, he can only get better.
He’s not going get worse. I think it’s quite incredible that someone can leave a bigger club, go to a lesser club and then they’re producing the goods.
I know there’s still 11 games, but you watch. The reason why Villa will be so sustainable and consistent for the remainder of the season is because of the addition of Rashford. He is electrifying. I’ve been in football for a long time, and I consider myself as a baller. This guy is also a baller.
Rashford can fly. You get his mindset right; he will lift up the place if he’s in the right mood. And he looks like he’s getting his juice back.
I think the manager that he’s playing for is an exceptional manager and we’ll get the best out of him.
The Man United camp will not be very happy with what they’re about to see in the coming weeks and months.
Watch him go to work. He’s just going to send a message and say, right, there you go. Just watch the space.
Q: What do you think of Duran’s choice to go to Saudi Arabia at his age?
Dwight Yorke: I have two takes on it and I get it. Ideally, I would say stay in Europe, play against the best, as he’s 21. Then he could go to Saudi. Why would you not do that?
But then, I’m rethinking that, and I do understand the move. Football is such a short career. Yes, you want to challenge yourself. If I was him, and now that I know more about football and what I understood, I would go to Saudi, pay me the ridiculous wages.
I’d then keep that drive to just keep scoring goals and beat up the league as badly as possible, break all records there, smash the league.
At 25, 26, he will still be in demand. I always believe it doesn’t matter what league you’re playing in. If you’re good enough and you are scoring goals, the big boys come for you eventually and he’s only 21.
After four years he’ll still be 25. He’ll have earned enough. Then I would say, I want to challenge myself now against the big boys. I want to come back over. But the only way to do that is to just smash the league. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if he did that.
If I was in his prime now and I’m prime Dwight Yorke at 21, I would go to Saudi, do three, four years there, and smash it. Get to 25 years old, and smash the league. Three years after I go, right, I need a three-year deal with one of the big boys.
Come in for me, take on three years there, smash that league and say, you know what? I’m getting ready to retire. Give me another three years. I’ll still be only 28.
Q: Is Ollie Watkins good enough to replace Harry Kane if he retires from international duty?
Dwight Yorke: I don’t know. I can’t see Tuchel dropping Kane. For Watkins to become England’s number one, there’s two things that need to happen.
Tuchel has to take away the captaincy and he can’t really call him up. If he calls him into the squad without the armband, there’s chaos. That’s a huge call from the manager.
I’m not sure he’s going to do that. Kane is probably still the best striker that Tuchel can pick. He’ll be under pressure to pick him and, we all know the England job is not easy – you’re swimming in shark-infested waters. Tuchel won’t want to upset people in his first weeks in charge because, make no mistake, the press would eat him if he dropped Kane.
Kane’s still the top man. He’s scoring goals. When England are not playing well, if they lose a few games, Kane will be the man to blame.
Watkins will be next in line because, outside of him, who else is there as a nine? There’s no one else who I think can compete.
I don’t think Watkins has that sort of aura about him, where people will say, he’s the best we’ve got, he’s going to win us a World Cup. That’s why he’s always been second best for England.
Even when he plays at Villa, Duran was obviously a threat to him, but when you watch him, he’s not giving me the sense that says, ‘I’m the top man here.’
You look at Kane and it’s different.
I’d like to see a little bit more out of Ollie Watkins before he replaces Kane. He seems just happy to accept being the second best in England rather than saying, ‘I’m banging in the goals. I feel my time is now.’ He wouldn’t be dissing Harry Kane by doing that, there’s mutual respect there, but it would show me a man that is hungry to be the best.
Man Utd
Q: What does Amorim need to do this summer?
Dwight Yorke: I do believe that despite the challenges of where United are, as a manager, you’ve got to stabilize the club. You’ve still got to win football matches. And no one will say go beat Liverpool, City, Arsenal.
When Brentford, Crystal Palace, Brighton beat you, you’ve got to ask yourself some questions.
How could David Moyes go to a team that was struggling more than United and suddenly turn that around?
I’m not saying that Amorim’s not a good manager. We’re not asking you to beat Liverpool, we’re not asking you to beat Arsenal. All we’re saying is, just win some football matches against teams that you should be beating.
And if you’re not going to win against the big boys, and you’re not going to start winning against the small boys, when are you going to start?
Moyes has done well at Everton but certainly we’ve got better players at United. Somehow, he’s managed to turn it around while we continue to struggle.
I’m not saying beat the big teams. I’m just saying beat the lower teams and win the winnable games. We’re in 15th place. People still think that we are safe. I am not so sure. There’s still a long way. And the more games you are losing to, the harder it gets.
Amorim is in a difficult place right now. He needs to find a way out.
Q: Do Hojlund and Zirkzee have futures at Old Trafford, or is simply a case of them not being good enough for a club like United?
Dwight Yorke: Even if you’re a prospect, you’ve got to show why you’re a prospect. Hojlund, I’m yet to see anything that suggests he’s the future number nine for Manchester United. He’s not even close. You defend people as best you can. You give people a chance, but he’s been there for nearly two seasons. It’s not going to get any better than that. You’re buying prospects for 72 million? That’s insane.
In the summer, that’s probably an area that they’ll be looking at. They must be looking at it, as will a lot of clubs.
Q: Which striker would you like to see United sign this summer?
Dwight Yorke: I would be brave, and take a look at Nunez, if Liverpool make him available. He’s got a little roughness around the edges. United need somebody up there who can be the top man – they’re missing a player who’s got that believe and confidence. Who’s got that swagger to be the main man at Man Utd. I would take a punt on that guy. He’s still 25.
He’s got a physical presence not too many people have. Duran, who I told them to go get, never happened. He’s gone to Saudi.
You’re not going to get Isak. He would look at Man United and might think about it if they come in, but he will want to go to Liverpool or maybe Arsenal, but if Liverpool want you with what’s happening there, it’s an easy choice to make.
The transfer market is a game of chess. Moves open up opportunities. Nunez could be on the market if Liverpool look to bring in a forward this summer. If they sign, one someone’s got to be offloaded to balance the books.
If they’re going to offload Nunez, I will say to United take a serious look at him. I also like the kid from Germany, Benjamin Sesko.
Q: As a manager yourself, what would you suggest to Amorim to change for the rest of the season?
Dwight Yorke: We all lose in sport. You lose to learn, to develop, to get better. But it’s the manner of defeat, the way we get beat. You get beat by a team being absolutely superb, superior to you. Not beat by teams close to you.
And the stats show other clubs are running further, they’re taking more shots, they’re tackling more, they’re winning the battles. It’s the whole picture that just is not right.
You can’t compete at the highest level if you’re losing those battles or if you’re being outperformed in those categories. How can you compete? You can’t.
You have to give yourself the best possible chance and United are losing on all fronts. You can’t even defend it. I’m the most loyal fan and you can’t defend it. You’re lying to people if you defend those things.
Q: How can United start games better?
Dwight Yorke: Get better players, dominate teams a lot more. There’s lots of factors there. It’s not just one. United has got a bundle of problems.
They’re not a very good team collectively. They’re really struggling from back to front. They look very confused. There’s no enjoyment in their football and in their play. There’s no one smiling. Old Trafford doesn’t seem like a happy place.
You want to come into a happy environment, a place that you want to work, you look forward to working there. Everything that United used to be is not what United is now. Your back is up against the wall even before you cross the white lines.
You feel like the odds are against you, and it’s hard to play in those circumstances.
Q: Would you give Pogba a go in March?
Dwight Yorke: It’s an interesting take. I would give Paul Pogba a third chance, definitely, because of what United currently have and because of what we know he is capable of producing.
Obviously, with two months left, I would say, let’s have a look. Give him a contract. You’ve got time here to prove yourself.
You can come and play and help us out with the situation I’m sure Pogba would be very keen. Maybe he might want a long-term deal because of the security.
I can see why his name has been mentioned because United have struggled, and Pogba is a damn good player.
Even though he’s 31, I think he’s far better than what we have now. And if you’re going to get a player for free, who’s far better than all our players in midfield, then you do it.
Sunderland
Q: Can Sunderland go up?
Dwight Yorke: Sunderland had a really positive start and then they trailed off. They have to hang in there, and while I don’t think they can get automatic promotion, I think they will have to do it the hard way through the playoffs.
You’ve got to worry about the in-form teams. So, they’re hanging in and I think they’ve got to somehow find a way to make sure that they stay in the playoffs.
When you get to the playoffs, anything can happen. I would say I fancied them earlier on for an automatic spot, but now I think it’s the playoffs for them.
There’s so many good teams in the Championship as well. There’s so many great teams down there and during this part of the season, it’s about getting a good run of form together.
Ronaldo
Q: What advice would you give Ronaldo to make sure he reaches 1000 goals in his forties
Dwight Yorke: I just think Ronaldo’s a freak of nature and it’s not often you see these types of players come along. I think the modern-day sports science in the game, he’s taken it all on board. He’s gone to a length that no other players will ever put their body through.
The discipline that he has to go through and do it. To make sure that he’s prepared himself at the age of 40. I think he just wants to continue to break as many records as he can until he’s done. He’s the only one who will find out when that day finally comes, because he’s got the World Cup lined up.
And he will be the only one who will decide on his retirement. No one is deciding anything except him. And I think until the World Cup has come and gone, I think that’s when he’ll probably reflect on that and where he is. But he’s looking to break all records, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see him keep going past it.
He doesn’t need any advice from me on scoring goals. You just know that he will keep on producing for as long as he’s lacing his boots. I salute the man.
