How good was Dwight Yorke?

[LawCharltonBest]

I was only 8 when United won the treble

And my memory thereafter was of Fergie trying to bin him off for quite a while

I know he scored a few in the treble season and the following one, but his goalscoring record throughout his career does not exactly scream "world class striker" - How good was he?

PL record

 

[Chumpsbechumps]

Lots of these how good was x posts being made.

I remember Yorke more for his time at Villa but he was fantastic on his day. His partnership with Cole was unreal during that treble season.

If I remember correctly he had great technical skills and lovely feet/control. His finishing wasn’t bad either but I always thought of him as a solid partner for an out and out striker as opppsed to being a full on striker. It’s not that he wasn’t a good goal scorer, but he had the qualities of a false 9 and could also score, a striker you can play in multiple roles up top.

 

[Mepp]

Take his prime and put him today and he instantly goes into the top 5 strikers in the world

 

[horsechoker]

The Dwight Pele

 

[Vault Dweller]

Absolutely mint. Treble season a given, but his hat-trick v Arsenal when we mauled them was superb.

 

[golden_blunder]

I feel like his peak didn’t last long

 

[2cents]

We got one truly great season out of him, after which he looked like he lost the hunger and faded out gradually.

 

[Fortitude]

Yorke should have been a ballon D’or contender in the treble season, and the only reason he was not more lauded at the time is he was not a big name within the team/fanbase compared to all the rest who had considerable bodies of work behind them by that time.

For a single season, Yorke could be compared to a Pelé-lite. Connective, creative, deadly and the conduit to all of our best offensive actions. He never got the credit he deserved despite being praised for his contribution; he was easily on par with the best in world for that one, single season.

Post-treble is a redundancy because Yorke was completely consumed by success and the trappings that came with it.

It’s actually insane how he went from an all-time level to plummeting through the floorboards in the space of 12-18 months. With a better mentality, it would have been very interesting indeed to see where he’d have taken himself in subsequent seasons.

 

[Jed I. Knight]

Pretty good.

 

[CallyRed]

Good player, shit father, womaniser

 

[StamsShinyHead]

His peak was very good, but trailed off fast due to his extra curricular activities. One of my favourites growing up though.

 

[Ayoba]

That 99 season combo with cole and yorke...my word

One of his best goals was against Chelsea in the FA cup quarter final at stamford bridge, duck me what a finish!

 

[FrankDrebin]

I feel like his peak didn’t last long

Lasted a season and a half. Great all round forward though. Had everything but I think the fame got too his head.

 

[IRELANDUNITED]

I only barely remember him myself but he was outstanding from what I remember and have rewatched. He had it all for a forward player, could finish with both feet, had pace, was extremely brave and had a fantastic header of the ball. He could play with his feet too, even going into midfield in the champions league final when we were chasing the game.

He enjoyed himself off the pitch as well though, as I probably would have too if I was in his situation, and that probably shortened his time at United. He had 2 fantastic seasons, 1 ok season and then he fell away. But he was always be remembered extremely fondly by us Manchester United fans.

 

[Remember the geese]

Better than Weghorst, worse than Rooney.

Seriously though, he was a breath of fresh air. A striker who could drop deep and hold it up, link the play and a creator and scorer of goals. For his height and size he was unusually strong and more than decent in the air. Had a swagger about him, but he was a great contradiction of unselfish, yet desperate to score goals. Was genuinely a fun, stylish player to watch and as good as any striker in Europe during 1998-99. Just a shame his peak was so short.

 

[Devil81]

Loved Yorke but being at United and the attention it got him totally went to his head and derailed his career.

Fantastic footballer though.

 

[diarm]

I read an article with Scholes the other day where he name checked Yorke and Sheringham as two players he enjoyed playing with as they would be on the same wave length as himself.

Sums up Yorke really. He was a great partner to guys like Cole (but also Sheringham and Ole) and I’d say a great teammate to play with.

He used to wreck Fergie’s head though!

 

[Annihilate Now!]

He was unbelievable in that Treble season. 29 goals and 19 assists... Including 8 goals and 8 assists in 11 CL games.

It's up there as one of the best individual seasons from one of our players... And there were two others from that season too (Keane and Beckham)

 

[GlasgowCeltic]

My memory says he had an absolute all time season and then collapsed, and then I check wiki and he actually scored more goals in the league the following season. Next I'll read RVP scored more goals in his year under Moyes than year under SAF.

 

[11101]

He was very good, not quite world class on his own but he fit like a glove into that United team and his partnership with Cole elevated him even further.

 

[tomaldinho1]

I think he's probably a level below Cole, Ruud, Law etc. Enjoyed life too much, who knows what could have been. A great foil for Cole and my fave strike partnership we've had. His peak was incredible but quite short.

Any Villa fans on here, how is he remembered there? Feel like that was where he really made his name and was a big part of getting them into Europe.

 

[Thisistheone]

Yorke should have been a ballon D’or contender in the treble season, and the only reason he was not more lauded at the time is he was not a big name within the team/fanbase compared to all the rest who had considerable bodies of work behind them by that time.

For a single season, Yorke could be compared to a Pelé-lite. Connective, creative, deadly and the conduit to all of our best offensive actions. He never got the credit he deserved despite being praised for his contribution; he was easily on par with the best in world for that one, single season.

Post-treble is a redundancy because Yorke was completely consumed by success and the trappings that came with it.

It’s actually insane how he went from an all-time level to plummeting through the floorboards in the space of 12-18 months. With a better mentality, it would have been very interesting indeed to see where he’d have taken himself in subsequent seasons.

Perfectly summed up

1998-99 Yorke was incredible

 

[Gavinb33]

Yorke should have been a ballon D’or contender in the treble season, and the only reason he was not more lauded at the time is he was not a big name within the team/fanbase compared to all the rest who had considerable bodies of work behind them by that time.

For a single season, Yorke could be compared to a Pelé-lite. Connective, creative, deadly and the conduit to all of our best offensive actions. He never got the credit he deserved despite being praised for his contribution; he was easily on par with the best in world for that one, single season.

Post-treble is a redundancy because Yorke was completely consumed by success and the trappings that came with it.

It’s actually insane how he went from an all-time level to plummeting through the floorboards in the space of 12-18 months. With a better mentality, it would have been very interesting indeed to see where he’d have taken himself in subsequent seasons.

Absolutely agree with this, the treble year he was outrageous and was easily one of the best strikers in the world in that season

 

[DWelbz19]

Mrs Smokers thread is an essential: https://www.redcafe.net/threads/man...sts-1987-88-today.396084/page-2#post-16425891

Dwight Yorke ended on 51 games: 29 goals and 22 assists in the treble season. Crazy stuff.

 

[Yagami]

His 98/99 individual season was the best season I've ever seen from one of our CFs. Better than Cantona, Ruud, Rooney. Overall, he wasn't as impressive as them, but that one season stands above all, and I still think he was only our second best player that season despite being legitimately world class. Beckham will always be first for me.

He wasn't just about goal scoring. His general play was excellent. He'd drop deep and bring everyone into play. It's why - later on in his career - he'd play as a central midfielder for Sunderland, and he'd do a fine job of it.

 

[davidmichael]

At his absolute peak which was the treble winning season he was a world class all round centre forward and could do it all but his peak was literally that one season, he was a top PL striker for a couple of years prior at Villa and still a top PL striker the year after the treble but then fell off which was most likely due to his love for the party lifestyle.

 

[Rood]

Famously the player that Fergie and Brian Kidd fell out over - Kidd didn't rate him and wanted John Hartson!

The partnership with Andy Cole is still the best strike duo we ever had

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

2 excellent seasons with us, and 3 with Villa. He is lauded for 98/99 quite rightly but his 99/00 season is largely underrated and was still the best of our 4 strikers in a season where we won the league by a mile and scored 3 or 4 nearly every week. Shame his peak wasn't longer. Fell off a cliff after that.

 

[Irwin99]

Our best striker in the Treble season and had a ridiculous amount of assists in that year alone (20+). Hold up play was phenomenal, perfect balance, great touch. Outstanding striker.

...shame it didn't last beyond two seasons

 

[Chairman Steve]

98/99 and 99/00 were great and following that, it was a steady downhill from there. A Beckham cross from right wing meeting Yorke’s head was a certain goal, next to RVN having the ball at his feet in the six yard box.

Both him and Cole looked shadows of themselves for 00/01.

 

[R0nald0]

United's Ronaldinho.

What I mean by that is incredibly high bar but for a very short time. Was incredible for a couple of seasons

 

[Loon]

I thought he was gonna be useless when he joined. He terrorised defences for that golden period before the lifestyle extinguished the fire.

Yorkie was fantastic. Genuine joy to watch player.

 

[Wonder Pigeon]

Yorke is a really useful yardstick for how impressive the longevity and hunger of other great players is, because of how obviously and explicitly he packed it in after the Treble.

 

[Hound Dog]

Was outstanding for a while but then started dating Jordan.

 

[Sir Marcus]

Was a #9 and #10 in one - similar to Rooney or Suarez in that sense.

 

[pacifictheme]

The year we won the treble he got 29 goals and 19 assists, that was absolutely elite for the time.

Could and arguably should have won the balon d'or that year.

 

[m1tch]

Had an incredible and immediate impact, and despite not reaching those heights again, he showed he was a truly talented footballer by successfully dropping deeper and playing past his mid-30's, ending in Keano's Sunderland side.

 

[Get In Scholesy]

He was Dwight good actually.

More seriously, he was very good during his peak, but his partnership with Cole brought the best out of both of them. Absolutely excellent pairing. It is funny because we talk about them in tandem, but they were both very good on their own. It was a marvel to see two strikers elevating each others game when they played in the same side.

 

[Oranges038]

He was absolutely awesome for about 5 years, 3 of those with Villa, post 99/00 he just dropped off really quickly and never came close to looking like the same player.

 

[youngrell]

For those who are a bit younger, his 98/99 season could be compared to RVP in 12/13, but he probably tops it due to his CL performances.