Dwight Yorke: Anthony Martial will be a huge success for United going forward

The former Red Devils' striker believes that the attacking duo of Rashford-Martial have plenty of potential to grow.

During their playing days, the strike pairing of Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole mesmerized the United faithful with their gorgeous link-up play and telepathic understanding in attack. This time around, Yorke was accompanied by his former strike partner in an online session conducted by ApolloXSports, where the two United legends patiently answered all the questions put forward by United supporters.

Speaking of top quality strikers, one man whose stock keeps on rising with each passing game is Frenchman Anthony Martial. Ever since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer shifted him to a more central position, Martial has consistently produced the goods and thereby validated the faith placed in him by the tactician. He appears sharper in and around the box, his movement has got better and hold-up play too has improved considerably.

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His performances haven’t gone unnoticed, with Dwight Yorke drawing comparisons with his own development as a player, before adding that he believes Martial has all the attributes to lead the line for Manchester United.

Yorke opined, “He is still a young man. He is still developing. He is kind of like my time - playing on the left wing, on the right-hand side and finally found myself as a centre-forward. Often enough, not everyone is blessed like Andy Cole to play that centre-forward position, it is a specialist position. It takes a lot of practice and knowhow to play with your back to goal. It is one of the most difficult positions on the football pitch.”

“I think he is onlly going to get better. He has proved that he can play that position. He has proved that he is a fantastic finisher as well. From here on, I expect him to cement that No.9 position a little bit more and more you play that position, the better you get. No question in my mind that he will be a huge success for us going forward and I am very excited by our strikers at the moment.”

Akin to Yorke and Cole, Martial and Marcus Rashford seem to share a unique bond and chemistry on the field, that is reflected in their wonderful combination play and both have taken the mantle of scoring goals for their side. The treble-winning forward is impressed by what he has seen of the duo and thinks that they have taken their game to the next level this season.

“We have got to remember that Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford are two young players. They are in their development stage. However, they seem to have got a lot of football under their belt. They have been at the club long enough now. What we are seeing is these two players really elevating.”

“Since Ole has come in, he has given them the reigns and said, ‘Right, we need to change things around.’ We have seen a flourish of fantastic football from these two. If you know the interactions, how they play, their creativity, scoring goals and they seem to be enjoying their football and that is the most important thing,” Yorke added.

It is an extremely commendable feat that despite their inconsistent run of results till January, Solskjær’s men successfully secured a Champions League spot by finishing third on the table, thanks in large part to their 19-game unbeaten run, which ended in the semi-final defeat to Chelsea. Nevertheless, United have achieved their minimum target for this campaign, reached the semi-finals in both the domestic cup competitions and are among the final four in the Europa League.

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Yorke further highlighted the goalscoring threat that United’s attack carries now, something that hasn’t been a regular feature in recent years. He believes that there is certainly room for improvement, but at the same time has been encouraged by the increased attacking potency of United’s newlook frontline.

 “It’s been a very successful season in many aspects. We would obviously like to be a lot better. I just think we look like a team now that can score goals and create. That is something that has always been at the forefront of United; the attacking style of play. We have always been able to create and score goals.”

“We might not always be able to win every football match, but there seems to be a threat against the opposition. Now, we look like we are a threat to these oppositions again and we have got that kind of X-factor – something is likely to happen, which was missing from our games for quite some time. I am excited by that as well,” Dwight Yorke concluded.

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