Legendary Manchester United striker Dwight Yorke has made an encouraging comparison between Manchester United strikers Rasmus Hojlund and Benjamin Sesko.
In an exclusive interview with The Peoples Person courtesy of Escapist Magazine, Yorke was asked why United’s strikers have struggled so much in recent years, particularly Hojlund, who is now firing on all cylinders on loan at Napoli.
A team problem, not a striker problem
“I don’t want to just single out the striker,” the treble-winner said. “I think the team in general has not been anywhere near as good as we anticipated. And you ask anyone, when you play at any level, if you’re in a struggling team, no matter how good you are, you will struggle.
“The strikers are probably [the ones] that people are going to point the finger [at] when the opportunity comes and they don’t really take it. I think it’s unfair to just single out the strikers.
“I just think as a whole, the team is not where it is used to be. And for those particular reasons, you find the strikers who normally get the headlines, they all struggle. I don’t think they’re generally as bad as we make out.
“They’re certainly not as good as we used to make centre forwards! That’s an area that we’re used to blossoming and we’ve really struggled in that department for a number of years. But I don’t think it’s just down to not putting the ball in the net. I think it’s down to generally the team is not as good as it once was.”
Was sending Hojlund on loan the right decision?
We asked Yorke whether he thinks United gave up on Hojlund too soon, or whether it was a good decision to loan him to Napoli.
“I think it’s a good decision,” he replied. “He needed to get some confidence. And he struggled. It’s a reality. The numbers show that he’s been struggling. He looked lacking in confidence. He didn’t look himself. He looked unhappy.
“In his first year when he came, he had a little bit of a spring in his step. He lost that. And so when you go to Napoli, you will find a spring in your step again and he got that back. And then obviously he’s scoring.
“I do believe the Italian league is not as competitive as it once was. And so that probably contributed to him scoring a few more goals.
“It wasn’t a bad move for him to let him go and get that little comfort and get some more experience, because you’re asking a young man to do a man’s job. You have to be a seasoned player.
“Very rarely do you get a young man coming in at United and hitting the ground. Rooney was exceptional, but he played in the Premier League before. I would say that was the only young centre-forward. Other than that, the centre-forward that generally comes in are 24, 25, [with] multiple seasons behind them, regular scorers.”
Is Sesko an upgrade?
That led us to another young striker who has been brought in to replace Hojlund, Benjamin Sesko. We asked Yorke whether he thinks he will face the same issues as Hojund, or whether he will come good.
“Yeah, I think he’ll come good. I think he’s a better version of Hojlund. I think he’s got more in his locker. [But] when you’re not coming at the best moment, you think you’re going to impact, but then when you get there, [he has to deal with] the goal opportunities that he’s not getting. The team is lacking in confidence, the team is losing against teams that we should be winning against.
“And for me, that’s a big concern because I always feel no matter what team, or how United are struggling, if you beat the teams that you expected to beat, then you’re not bad. But when you start losing against those teams, that’s really hard to accept.
“And so when you lose against the likes of City, although we don’t like that, or Liverpool or Arsenal, because they’re in a better place, you can kind of accept that if you’re a football fan.
“But when you start losing, no disrespect to Bournemouth and Crystal Palace and Brentford, which we have been doing, your confidence is going to go. We need to clear that bit up. I always do believe that United can beat those teams. [Then you] will find the likes of Sesko scoring goals. Sesko, for me, he’s got all the ingredients. He works extremely hard. You look at his goal tally.”
The second and third parts of our interview with Dwight Yorke are coming soon.
Featured image Gareth Copley via Getty Images
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Red Billy
Red Billy is the managing editor of The Peoples Person, author of three books and two magazines and totally obsessed with football’s transfer market. Billy first saw United live in 1971, watching George Best, Bobby Charlton and Denis Law, before becoming a League Match ticket book holder from 1975/76 and a writer since 1995. Billy still insists Matteo Darmian and Alex Telles could have made it at United given half a chance.
