Pundits Picking On Party Boy Grealish are Hypocrites! Dwight Yorke Jumps To Jack’s Defence And Tells Him To Seek City Summer Exit
During an exclusive interview with GamblingIndustryNews, the Manchester United legend previews his former club’s Europa League final against Tottenham and tells United to sign Paul Pogba, Kevin De Bruyne and Darwin Nunez this summer.
Yorke also looks ahead to the Championship play-off final where former club Sunderland lock horns with Sheffield United for a place in the Premier League next season.
Dwight Yorke Interview: Former United Star Tackles The Big Football Talking Points, Including His Views On Jack Grealish’s Future, His Europa League Final Pick and If It Was Unfair For Fergie To Sell Him
Question: What is your prediction for the Europa League final?
Dwight Yorke: I can only hope for the best. We would like a win to salvage our disastrous season, so I can’t hope for anything but a win for Manchester United.
We don’t even necessarily have to play well against Tottenham, given the importance. We just have to win the game.
That would be a huge relief for United, for a lot of reasons.
Q: If Sunderland are promoted, can they buck the trend of promoted teams going straight back down?
Dwight Yorke: I think we could see it happen. I just think that if they do get promoted, and if you are the manager, you have to look at how Ipswich and other teams, like Southampton, have been relegated.
You can’t just play that same expansive football all the time…You’ve got to take your medicine, and away from home, try to be a little bit more pragmatic.
Certainly when you’re at home, when you can really open up and try to nick games, you can’t play open-ended football. So you’re going to be a little bit more clever in your approach. But there is no reason why Sunderland can’t survive.
There is an art in doing it rather than just thinking you can just come and match the big boys, pound for pound.
Q: Bruno Fernandes has urged the likes of Joshua Zirkzee, Amad Diallo, Rasmus Hojlund and Alejandro Garnacho to “step up” next season and beat him to the club’s player of the season award – out of the 4, who do you think is the most likely to win it?
Dwight Yorke: I don’t think, for starters, that your captain should be asking his teammates to rival him for the Player of the Year. I think that’s supposed to be something that is within you as an individual.
Yes, you have a role to play in the team and perform well, but ultimately you should have your personal ambition to perform well.
So for you to have a player and a captain to come out and speak so loud about challenging me to be the player of the year for next year, I don’t really fall for that kind of stuff.
I think that players should have their own ambition and see their own vision as to where they can improve and become better. If you’re doing those things, then being the Player of the year is great. But, improving as a player is ultimately where you want to be, and to become one of the best, if not the best, at the football club.
Q: Based on what you have seen of them so far, can you see Ayden Heaven, Harry Amass or Tyler Fredricson establishing themselves as first team regulars or is it too early to tell?
Dwight Yorke: I’ve not seen enough of those three, and generally, I haven’t seen anything in the past couple of years to get me excited, except for Amad Diallo. Amad is the one that excites me at the moment. He’s got a good left foot. He’s very decisive when he goes forward.
I think whenever he plays, he gives us a little bit more energy and more directness, and a little bit more creativity.
His end product is getting better, so he’s the one I would speak highly about. But in terms of the rest, I really don’t feel able to say too much.
Q: Even Ruben Amorim feels like something is missing and that the club needs to find answers from the existing players rather than rely on transfers as to why they seem almost bullied in many PL games with only 6 wins – do you think Amorim can rebuild the club regardless of the Europa League final result if he has the likes of Luke Shaw and other players fit for the summer tour and into the start of the season?
Dwight Yorke: It’s a difficult situation. For at least a couple of years, I’ve been telling them to get rid of certain players and these players are still on the books, to this day. I just don’t understand.
I know it’s very difficult to move players on, but sometimes you just have to be a little bit ruthless in that fashion. They got themselves into a position now where they’ve taken such a bad turn, that they’re just stuck with everyone in their current squad, and no other clubs are going to want the. The ones who they should have kept, they let go. They allowed them to leave. And that’s really become a real issue.
I think the manager has got a real uphill battle. I don’t understand how you can fix this season. It’d be incredible if he turns what happened to the club in the second half of the season, to turn that around to something uplifting going into next season. It would be remarkable.
I’m not sure which direction that he will turn in order to get that over the line and which players he will bring in to make the team perform at the level that we all expect. I think he’s got his work cut out and I can’t see it being a major turnaround in a short order. There might be a slight improvement, but nothing drastically to get excited about. It’d be incredible if he does so.
Manchester United
Q: How important is Champions League football for United to attract the calibre of players the club needs next season?
Dwight Yorke: The Champions League is huge, for many reasons. I know a lot is made of two Premier League sides in terrible form, both having a shot in a Europa League final, and the winner making it into the Champions League next season. But those are the rules, they’re the same for everyone at the start of the year.
Spurs and United did what they had to do, and they performed adequately to get here, so it’s a really exciting game because both teams are unpredictable – we don’t know what we’re going to get. This could be a 4-5, 5-4, or 5-5 result, and we could even see the match going to penalties.
For United, it’s crucial. Champions League football would give them a huge boost to their cash flow. It also gives them the chance to attract and afford better players. Maybe not the world class players United used to attract, but better than they have at the moment, that’s for sure.
They need to somehow win. I don’t know how they’re going to do it. And it doesn’t have to be a terrific performance because there’s not too many great performances in this side. That’s why they’re losing so many football matches.
Q: United are rumoured to want both Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo – can they both fit into the same side?
Dwight Yorke: Cunha is a good player. I like him. I like the look of him from his time at Wolves. He will bring some grit and some decisiveness, and a little bit more conviction in the attacking areas, and a greater presence. He’s got a little bit of fire in his belly which is what we need. I like that about him.
I rate Mbeumo too. He has had an exceptional season this year. I like Liam Delap too, the lad at Ipswich. I know people talk about him a lot as well.
These are three good players, and that’s what United need. They need exceptional players to take the club forward. I’m less sure about Mbeumo and Delap, but Cunha has a little bit more about him. He’s the kind of player I want to watch at United, he’s more exciting.
Having said that, all three of them are better than the current options up front.
Q: Would you welcome Paul Pogba back to Man Utd?
Dwight Yorke: I think Paul is an option, looking at where the football club is at the moment. I don’t think United can afford not to consider a move for Pogba, because he’s coming back with a point to prove. It’s a second – maybe a third – chance for Pobga to show that he’s still one of the best, and he can do it at Manchester United.
I think he still believes he’s been harshly treated over the last few years and by what’s happened. He’d get a platform at United to turn their fortunes around. There’s a lot to like about the transfer. You could sense that it might be the right occasion to take a punt on him. You’ve got to think a little deeper about what he’s bringing to the table. Look at what his motivation is now, and if he makes the current squad better.
If I was in charge, giving him the chance to redeem himself on a huge stage, I would seriously consider it.
Q: Are you disappointed in Marcus Rashford’s attitude over the last few years?
Dwight Yorke: Being a United man, I have watched this kid for years at Old Trafford, and now I’m seeing how much he improved at Villa Park compared to his recent efforts at United.
I don’t know why he hasn’t been able to produce the same at United, but he’s clearly a fantastic player. I’ve advocated for him for a number of years, and I know there are some issues. At times, he’s not covered himself in glory, but when it comes down to sheer football ability, he’s a terrific player.
It’s a shame how things have panned out, that one of the best players, perhaps the best player, doesn’t want to be at the club.
Q: Do you think United should keep Antony given his performances for Real Betis?
Dwight Yorke: Not really. I think he’s had his chance that he’s not really taken, for whatever reason. At Betis, he’s had the chance to go away and find happiness, and fall in love again with football.
Because at the end of the day, when you’re playing football, you have to be passionate and in love with the sport to perform at the level that you’re capable of.
If you’re unhappy in any circumstances, you’re not going to produce the goods that you want to produce. So the first thing you will have to ask yourself, is am I in love with being at Man United and want to play for Man United?
And if you ask yourself and answer those questions honestly, and you’re not in love with the football club and don’t want to be there, then there’s no point in coming back. And until he does that, I don’t see the reason why.
Although he’s done tremendously at Real Betis – it’s fantastic for him, I’m pleased for him as well – if you’re not interested in doing it at United, then there’s no point in going back.
Q: What is the biggest difference between the 1999 Treble winners and the current United side?
Dwight Yorke: The character was better amongst us. The players were better, and the manager. It was everything. When we were at the club it was in a much better position than it is now.
Everything about the football club was the best. It’s about being the best. We had a manager who demands the best. The fans wanted that and expected and got what they anticipated was going to happen. There’s a certain drive there. What we had is unique.
Playing under Sir Alex Ferguson was an exceptional moment in the club’s history and we ticked every box. We ticked every box that was asked of us back in the day. I’m not so sure these players are ticking the box that is required to be a Manchester United football player at the minute.
Q: Is it fair to say the Europa League final is United’s most important game since Ferguson retired?
Dwight Yorke: Yes, for various reasons, not least because it’s been such a difficult season for us. To finish in our lowest ever position in the Premier League and to lose that many games, at home and away, it’s just unheard of.
Anything to paper over some of those cracks, the hurt and the dissatisfaction around the stadium, all the challenges on and off the field, it’s huge.
I would think that this has become arguably one of the biggest games for those reasons and more. A win would give us some armour against the negatives, and I would hope it could generate some momentum going into next season.
Q: Do you think Keane’s criticism of Bruno Fernandes is right?
Dwight Yorke: I don’t really believe in all of the hype that is surrounding Bruno Fernandes, but I certainly think he’s a terrific player.
I think ex-players, when they speak about current players, we all have our own view from our days. “It never used to be this way, how it used to be,” and so on.
We all have been victims of that. But I don’t want to get into a debate with Roy Keane about Bruno. I think Bruno plays his part. He’s not ideal as a captain. I’m sure when Keano was captain, he wasn’t ideal for everybody. Everybody has different leadership qualities, and the game has changed so much that people are not what they used to be back in the days.
I think if people don’t see themselves in that role, or people who are not close to what they used to be, they tend to have a negative response. I’m not going to fall into that trap. I think Bruno does his best. I think he’s not ideal, but he’s the best candidate when it comes to the players in the Man United ranks.
Q: Did you feel it was unfair that Alex Ferguson wanted to sell you?
Dwight Yorke: Yeah, absolutely. I tried to do everything to rectify it. I was working so hard. I hired a personal trainer to get fit, even fitter than I already was, and tried to do all the things I could think of.
However, once the manager’s mind is made up it’s very rare he changes his mind. And I understood that with Sir Alex Ferguson. I wish I understood it a lot earlier but it was clear to me that he had made up his mind with Ruud van Nistelroory and Juan Sebastian Veron.
You come back to the squad and you realise that even if your numbers are good, and you’re showing what you can do, the manager’s mind is already made up. You start seeing it in the team, when you’re doing well, getting praise, but you don’t get a chance.
Q: Why did the signing of Juan Sebastian Veron not work out?
Dwight Yorke: I found it really bizarre because you saw he was an exceptional player, who seemed to be one step ahead of everyone else. He took risks, but there’s risk and reward when you play football.
When it comes to Veron, I think he was unfairly treated in some ways due to his approach to the game. But he was a remarkable player, it’s just unfortunate it didn’t work out for him.
Q: Were the class of 92 ever a clique in the dressing room, and did it cause problems?
Dwight Yorke: I don’t really know. I think that was a different thing when they were at United and when they were with England. At United, we’d see them everyday, and we’d get to know them.
On international duty, you’re only there for a short period of time. You’re in a confined environment and you’re just there to play football. You go to your room, get up, eat breakfast, eat dinner, that kind of stuff.
You’re not socialising like you do at club events, not going for meals with your teammates, going shopping together. It’s a different thing.
I could understand why United players would stick together at international tournaments and matches. You’re living in a hotel, at the dinner table or on the training pitch. Outside of that, you don’t really do anything.
In club football, you’ve got a lot more freedom. You have every day, and you’ve seen your teammates, you laugh and joke a lot more. You get to connect with your teammates a lot more. So there’s a lot made of it, but I won’t read too much into that knowing how the whole thing works.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Q: Would you take Ronaldo to the Club World Cup if you were Chelsea?
Dwight Yorke: Yeah, why would you not? He can still do it. With his ambition and ability, if Chelsea are playing the way that they can and creating for him, he’s still an incredible forward. I see no reason not to.
He’s better than what Chelsea have currently got up front there. I can tell you that they’re not the greatest team in that number nine position. So I could see why he’s linked to that move. I don’t see any reason why you wouldn’t take a punt on it but it’s just a no-brainer.
Q: It’s been another season without silverware in Saudi for Ronaldo. Contract talks have stalled – what does the future hold for Ronnie? Mourinho’s Fenerbahce have been linked, as have old club Sporting and I’m sure he would have suitors in the Premier League. What do you think he will do / where should he go?
Dwight Yorke: I’m not going to take the other side to somebody who has been one of the best players, if not the best player in world football for a period of time. What he has done is quite remarkable. I think we don’t embrace these types of individuals enough, the ones who kept football afloat and kept the entertainment level so high, for such a long time, who contribute to football immensely in many respects.
There’s too many negative things around these guys. When you try to figure out who’s the goat and who’s the best one, what about the contribution that they continue to keep football at the very top of every sport in the world?
The fact that he’s playing at 40 years of age, still thinks that he can cut it – why would I want to say he can’t? Why would I do that to someone who’s been a remarkable player, an incredible human being as well, an incredible athlete that continues to try and raise his game and ours?
All right, he’s not the Ronaldo of old, where he was so explosive, can score you these spectacular goals. He’s been a different Ronaldo, but still obviously loves the games. He will keep himself immensely fit and wants to show that he can probably still compete.
I think you’ve got to embrace those things and instead of looking for the negatives, because there’s a lot of people out there who just say he’s passed his sell-by date. He’s going to be the one to know when the time has come, but for now he’s doing everything to prolong his career.
Whether you like it or not, the guy’s a special human being and I think we should focus on that rather than negatives.
Aston Villa
Q: Do you think Villa will end in the Champions League spots at the end of the season?
Dwight Yorke: I really hope they can do it. At times, I thought they might have had too much on their plate, with what they were doing in the Champions League, and coming off the back of an excellent campaign last year.
But to get into the Champions League in consecutive seasons, and the run they had up until Paris Saint-Germain, it would be quite incredible.
I think Unai Emery is up there as one of the best managers in the Premier League, if not at the top. I know Arne Slot is in the frame too, because of what he did, but the transformation that Emery has overseen is incredible.
He’s come to Villa, and he’s got them playing with desire, passion and intensity.
Villa park is not the easiest place most of the time. He’s brought back the passion that Villa Park has missed and I think he has done an incredible job.
I really do hope they get in the top five, because alongside United, Villa are my favourite club. I spent 10 years there, and I want to see Villa doing well. I continue to watch their games with a lot of joy because they played the way Villa used to play. That’s just down to the manager, the players and the recruitment that they brought in. They have very ambitious owners that want to continue improving.
It would give me no greater pleasure to see them in the Champions League spots again. It would be a remarkable achievement.
Q: How important is CL football / missing out on CL football for Aston Villa?
Dwight Yorke: I think it would make a difference. I think they will have learned a lot from what they have achieved this season in the Champions League.
Not a lot of people have expected them to go as far as they did, they exceeded expectations. So they would learn from that. But the next stage is getting used to that. Playing in the Champions League and then coming back to the challenge of the Premier League. I think that took them some while in the middle section of the season to get used to.
They kind of lost their way a little bit because of the expectation and not knowing how to juggle those two. A lot of those players would not have experienced playing in the Champions League as well as playing in the Premier League three or four days later.
So it would have taken a lot out of them. But that’s just how you start to improve, and they’ll learn from it and I think they will do extremely well next season as well.
Q: Would you advise Villa to try to keep Rashford on a permanent deal?
Dwight Yorke: If Man United don’t want him, I think Aston Villa should get him, for sure. There’s no two ways about that. But I’m sure that Rashford will look at the whole situation this summer.
There’s other clubs who I’m sure would probably have one eye on the situation, with the view of maybe trying to get him. But we know because of his potentially large salary demands and his huge wages at the moment, it might be a stumbling block for a lot of clubs. But in reality, if he doesn’t want to stay at Man United, I think Villa will be the next best thing because I do believe Villa has got one of the best managers in the league.
Q: Morgan Rogers has been linked with Chelsea – is it better for his career to stay at Villa Park for now?
Dwight Yorke: I could see the attraction of joining Chelsea, because as much as we wouldn’t like to say it, in the past you used to leave clubs to join Chelsea and Manchester United because you know you’d compete regularly for the Premier League.
Right now, I don’t think either Chelsea or United are anywhere near challenging for the title, and on the flip side, Villa are probably more capable and looking like they could well finish higher than both of them.
In the past, it was a no-brainer to join sides like that. You wouldn’t second-guess it a decade ago. But with Villa now enjoying an upward momentum, I think he should stay.
Generally, he’s going to want to be paid what he’s worth, and Chelsea could offer him a much bigger salary. So he might want to demand an improvement in his contract to keep him at the club, but Villa are now in a much healthier position.
Q: Is Marcos Asensio a player they should aim to keep?
Dwight Yorke: Yeah, he had a really good spell. I mean he’s done some great things there. You can see the boy has a lot of talent. Emery wisely brought him in and he’s been given the chance to show that he can really cause some damage.
I would like to see him scoring a few more goals. He makes space for himself, he gets in good positions, so he should be able to improve with his goalscoring, and create more. But you can see there’s clearly a hugely talented player there.
He could flourish into a wonderful player, and I see no reason not to keep him, as he’s finding his feet at Villa already.
Q: There are strong reports that Emi Martinez is going to leave at the end of the season. Could he follow in your footsteps and swap Villa Park for Old Trafford. Would it be an upgrade on Onana?
Dwight Yorke: It’s kind of a no-brainer. Emi Martinez has been really exceptional for a number of years and again you could see why huge clubs would want him. I mean Man United, I know they’re struggling, but even now you’d have to consider it because they’re such a huge club.
He wouldn’t just be bringing experience, but he’s a far better goalkeeper than Andre Onana, just going by the numbers.
I think for Onana, it hasn’t quite worked out, and everyone anticipated that he would have done well. But definitely, signing Martinez would be a huge coup for United.
Q: How were you discovered by Graham Taylor?
Dwight Yorke: It was bizarre. I was still at school, very young. Trinidad and Tobago were qualified for the World Cup, the smallest nation to ever manage it. That meant that we needed to play against some big sides, some international teams.
Aston Villa had got knocked out of the FA Cup, and that meant that they had a two-week gap in their calendar, and there was an international weekend and the FA Cup coming up. So our president invited them to the Caribbean to play a friendly game against us, and have a bit of a holiday, like when sides have a little break in Marbella or Malaga.
We played against them both because we are twin islands, one in Trinidad and one in Tobago. And I was asked at halftime, in the game in Tobago, at half-time to join the Villa rank to play with them for 45 minutes. And that was declined by the manager at the time.
So they said, come for a trial, because back then you couldn’t go online to find all the details of young players, you had to physically get to the team, so that’s how it unfolded.
I was invited up on a six-week trial. So I went up there for about six weeks and stayed there. It was the middle of winter, the end of November. It was the coldest thing I’ve ever experienced, obviously coming from the Caribbean. I didn’t know what snow was about, but understood it very quickly and tried to get my head around it, but it was bitterly cold.
But certainly once you put me at a football pitch, I become a different human being and pretty much the rest was history. Graham Taylor liked what he saw and offered me a contract. I was determined. It was a game-changer moment for me and I figured, I can put up with the cold, or go back to living in the Caribbean and just be one of the others. I always felt I was different to most people and this was an opportunity to show why I was different.
Trinidad & Tobago
Q: How is life as Trinidad and Tobago manager?
Dwight Yorke: Yeah, it’s been great. We have had a good introduction into it and it’s been a really positive start to the campaign. Of course, we still have our challenges, but outside of that, in terms of results, I couldn’t have asked for more.
There’s still a lot of hard work to be done, obviously, and still there is a lot in there to achieve. But we are going into the Gold Cup in June and that’s really an exciting time.
As well as that, we have two World Cup qualifiers at the end of the month to make sure that we qualify for the real knockout stage of the World Cup campaign. We need three points from that. So there’s some work to be done as well as the tournament, given the two World Cup qualifiers going into the Gold cup in America. We’re in a group with America, the host, and Saudi Arabia as an invitee alongside Haiti. So that’s a really exciting group to be in, and I’m really looking forward to it and really seeing what my team is capable of doing in those tournament games.
Q: Are there any players in Europe that you’re planning to give a first cap to?
Dwight Yorke: Yeah, there’s a couple there that we’ve been trying to try getting over the line. It’s not as easy as it is because Trinidad and Tobago is not really at the top of the tree in terms of where we used to be.
Once ,we were ranked 49 in world football. So we have kept our eyes on one or two individuals that we would like to get over the line to try and get to us, but we need to qualify for the World Cup, or get ourselves in a position to do that.
And obviously the campaign in June with the Gold Cup that’s ahead of us, that’s a really exciting time and hopefully those are the kind of things that we need to do well in, to try and attract these players to come over on our side. But yeah, there are some players that we are looking at.
Jack Grealish
Q: We all know that during your career, you worked hard and played hard. Does Jack Grealish need to get the balance right? What advice would you give him?
Dwight Yorke: In England, sometimes we build players up and then knock them down. In the Premier League, you’ve had Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, David Beckham. Jack Grealish is the next one in line for the treatment.
He left Villa for a huge sum. He’s got something about him and he’s English, so the media zoom in on him, they big him up at every turn, and rightly so.
But ultimately, I always believe you’ve got to get the balance right and it’s a clear warning. We’ve seen it happen. When you win that many trophies and you become treble winners and stuff, it is very rare that you continue to just keep that high level because of everything else that you do. If you don’t stay at the top or improve even further, it’s a failure.
I remember what Alex Ferguson taught me. The first year, I won the treble. The second year, I was top scorer in the league and at the club, but I was still deemed a failure because of what we did before.
So when you start dropping below the level of expectation, there are people ready and quickly to then point the finger in your direction. But I do want to remind a lot of these pundits out there, they all had a history behind them, and they’re not been called out enough.
Maybe the younger generation don’t know, but I’ve been in that generation. I understand it and I’ve seen it, but I find it has double standards when they’re talking about individuals like they do, when they have done maybe equally or probably worse at times, and no one seems to single them out.
Q: If you’re Grealish, left on the bench for the FA Cup Final, 19 year-old Claudio Echeverri preferred over you when you need a goal, do you know you’re time at the club is over? Are you looking to move on in the summer?
Dwight Yorke: I think it’s clear. The writing has been on the wall for a while now. When you’re at that level, as I was with United, you never want to leave because it’s never going to be the same somewhere else.
You hang in there, you think they’re going to turn things around again, waiting for another chance, an opportunity to show what you can do.
Then you try to change your lifestyle, or do things a different way, and you become unhappy because you’re not being given a chance. But it’s the manager’s right to pick you or not. It’s clear that he won’t play much, his stats are down. Everything about Jack Grealish now, compared to how he was when he arrived, he’s nowhere near.
When your team is losing and you still don’t get a look-in, it tells you everything you need to know. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to tell you that your number is up, and it’s time to move on. It’ll be silly of him if he were to stick around for another season. It would be crazy.
Premier League Headlines
Q: I know that you’re a massive fan of Darwin Nunez. Liverpool are reportedly going to sell him – would that be a mistake? Is there a Premier League club that should be looking at him?
Dwight Yorke: I’m a big fan of his. I think that I could understand why they would want to change him. He’s not quite lived up to the Liverpool expectation and sometimes a new start might be a good thing for a player, rather than being there and just being another number and getting game time occasionally.
What I see is an individual wanting a platform to become the top man at the football club. He’s not going to get that with Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk and the other players who they have there. I think for me personally if I was United, I know the Liverpool and the Man United thing is a bit of a rift there, but I look beyond that.
I look at the young man who has a good presence, who has a little bit of zest in him, who’s got all ingredients to be even better than what he’s actually producing at the minute. He’s still at a good age. He’s now been in England for the last three years or so. He understands English culture.
What he’s expecting I think is a new beginning. If I were looking at him from the outside, that is somebody I would take upon to bring aggression. You’d be the top man or one of the top men at Man United. If he wants to go there, you give me something. And I think he will score more goals at Man United than at Liverpool.
Q: Kevin De Bruyne couldn’t go out with a trophy. He’s going to be leaving City on a free transfer – would you take him at United?
Dwight Yorke: Of course, because you can still see he possessed that quality. The problem is, you know, when you get to that age, if you’re not dominating the game, which United used to, and City usually do, then you need to do the ugly side of the game.
That would be the concern. If he goes to United, he’d be exceptional compared to the players already there, but he might have to put in the hard work to help the side dominate. If that happens, you can’t have anyone better than De Bruyne on the pitch, creating those incredible passes and chances.
Q: Did Erling Haaland shirk his responsibility by passing on taking the penalty that was then missed by Marmoush in the FA Cup final and do you think that Erling like City maybe losing their fear factor?
Dwight Yorke: It was a bit bizarre, I have to say. A bit bizarre. I know from the game that we played, unless it’s changed recently, you got a designated penalty taker and so that wasn’t debatable on the pitch. Maybe when you have a second penalty then even that wasn’t debatable. Especially if you score the first one.
You might give somebody a third penalty if someone is on two goals and he’s looking to get a hat-trick. But the game was pretty much on a knife edge. In those circumstances, you expect your number one guy to stand up and be counted. I thought it was certain that he was the one that was going to take the penalty.
The only other option I would have considered is Kevin De Bruyne, as it’s the FA Cup final and his last game for the club. He would have been my other candidate, but it surprised me neither of them took it.
Q: Is Isak a good signing for Arsenal?
Dwight Yorke: The boy is a very good player. When you look around amongst the dying breed of number nine, his name is up there in the top five in the world ranking right now.
I think he’s had an exceptional season. You can see why he’s missed when he doesn’t play. Newcastle, they struggled a little bit yesterday. Although they had multiple chances to score against Arsenal yesterday, I think Isak, if he was there then he definitely would have scored one of those opportunities.
But I could see why he’s linked to all these various clubs and yeah, he’s definitely a top boy to have in your ranks. And it wouldn’t surprise me if one of the big boys tried to get him. I know his name is linked heavily with the big teams around, including Arsenal.
I saw you talking about Eze. He got the winner in the FA Cup final – he’s got the release clause – is he going to be able to pick his next club and is there one you think he would really suit?
Eberechi Eze at Crystal Palace would be perfect for Manchester United. Yeah, he scored at the weekend in the FA Cup final, but it’s not just about that. A year ago, maybe more, I said this kid and Michael Oliseh – who went to Bayern – United should buy them for £100 million. Put £100m down and you will get two fantastic players.
Instead, they listened to the figures in the hierarchy, which is understandable, but it’s glaring just how good these two are. Eze has the decision-making, the talent, he’s a good athlete, he can create and score. He’s at the right age to step up and play on a bigger platform. It’s a no-brainer.
End-of-Season Awards
Q: Who has been your flop of the season? (Can be a team, a player or a manager)
Dwight Yorke: I think I wanted to see more from Rasmus Hojlund. It’s not what we expected from him, so far.
We all expected that he would get a couple of years and he would develop, but it’s not quite happened for him yet. I would like to see him improve in the future.
Q: Who has been your hero of the season? (Can be a team, a player or a manager)
Dwight Yorke: I’ve been impressed with Amad Diallo, the young kid at Manchester United. It’s often hard to look past Bruno Fernandes at Old Trafford, because he’s so consistent.
Bruno tries his heart and soul out to try to galvanise his teammates, to save something from this season they’ve endured. You can see he wants to win every time he plays, you can see the quality in him.
I think in future, Amad might be the one to come through and take the mantle. He’s had a decent enough season.
Q: Manager of the season and why?
Dwight Yorke: Well, I was going to say Eddie Howe. If he had got second, as well as winning the League Cup, then he would have had a case, but they fell short against Arsenal at the weekend.
So it’s got to be Arne Slot. He came in without too much fanfare, came in quietly. He did his job under the radar and he did it exceptionally well.
He speaks very well in the media, and doesn’t hit the headlines. He got the players playing with a consistency that we might not have expected given the changeover from Jurgen Klopp. He didn’t change too much, and he didn’t need to. But to get them over the line so comfortably means he’s a dead cert for the manager of the year.
Scottish Football
Q: I saw some comments about a move to Celtic that didn’t happen for you. Do you think you would have ripped up the SPFL if given the chance and did your old team mate Roy Keane ever talk to you about his love for the Hoops?
Dwight Yorke: Yeah, the deal was done with Celtic. I was in Celtic boardroom with Martin O’ Neill and the deal was pretty much done until I got a last minute call from Steve Bruce at Birmingham City, to then remain in the Premier League.
Because the Premier League is where I played all my career. And that was a defining moment for me. The fact that I played at Aston Villa for 10 years and my son was in Birmingham. That was largely what made me not go to Celtic in the end, for those reasons. Not because of footballing reasons, but because of those reasons, I went to Birmingham instead of Celtic.
Q: Brendan Rodgers lifted more trophies with Celtic this season. He’s obviously had his spells in the Premier League, but he feels wanted and at home in Glasgow. How important is that for a manager and do you expect him to stay up there and just keep winning trophy after trophy.
Dwight Yorke: Well, I think usually what happens at Celtic and Rangers, when you do well, and you’ve done well enough, then the door is open to join a club in the Premier League.
Celtic and Rangers tend to duke it out amongst themselves, and now it seems to be the trend that people move down from Scotland, and it’s been happening for a number of years.
So for Brendan Rodgers to move back down to the Premier League again – that would not surprise me. Not at all.
You know, these two teams seem to have it out among themselves. Once you’ve been successful, then the door is open to somehow get a club or a club in the Premier League, which is a trending thing that has happened for a number of years. So if you were to ask me if that were to happen, would that surprise me? No, not at all.
Q: Rangers are looking for a new manager. Obviously your hands are full with T&T, but would an opportunity like that appeal in the future and could landing a job in the SPFL and being successful – like Steven Gerrard – be an interesting pathway for you as a manager?
Dwight Yorke: I wouldn’t turn my nose up at any football club. I think once the ambition of the football club matches mine and the opportunity presents itself at the right time, then, yeah, for sure.
I mean, Rangers are a massive club. We all know that. Up in Scotland, there are no two ways about that. It’s a huge club with a huge following.
I’ve got a lot of admiration for that part of the world for how the game is, and how to perceive it up there.
It’s not always up to you. When you’re a manager and you’re looking for a job, then these are the type of jobs you will hopefully be assigned to.
Q: What’s it like coming up against your old assistant manager, Steve McLaren?
Dwight Yorke: Yes. Steve and I exchanged a couple of texts in the past. We had a couple of friendlies before with the local guys just to get our feet on the ground a little bit, and that was a good experience. They beat us in one friendly in Jamaica. We had two games there, they beat us in one and we drew one, and we conceded our goal in the last minute of the game. So that was a 1-1 score.
Yeah, I look forward to playing him again. I know Steve, and I have for a long time. I knew him from my time at Manchester United, but also when I was doing my coaching qualifications, Steve was somebody that I talked to a lot about management and got some insight.
I worked alongsiode Steve at the Asia Cup, alongside him, with Jurgen Klinsmann, and Arsene Wenger as a technical director for FIFA.
So I learned a lot, and have an insight on the technical side of the game. I have a lot of respect for Steve and I look forward to playing against him. He knows I will relish coming up against them come the end of the month.
Q: How important is it for Leny Yoro to be fit for the Europa League final?
Dwight Yorke: I think it’s crucial that he’s fit. Having said that, I don’t want to get overexcited by him just yet. He’s a young player, he’s still developing.
He’s getting better, but there’s an exceptional young player there and I want to give him a chance.
If he’s fit, he gives us a little bit more security at the back. He’s got an athletic side to him, he can get around the park. He can give his teammates at the back some cover.
So it will be huge if he’s fit to play on Wednesday.
Andy is an experienced betting and gambling journalist with over 20 years industry experience. He brings an excellent knowledge of the world of sports betting and online gambling but is mainly regarded as horse racing expert within the betting industry.
