Dwight Yorke believes that Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund are good players, but won’t take Manchester United to the next level.
Man United have had a slow start to the season, with their 1-0 win over Fulham followed by back-to-back defeats to Brighton and Liverpool.
With Hojlund sidelined with injury, substitute Zirkzee bagged Man United’s winning goal against the Cottagers in his first appearance for the club since he signed from Bologna for £35.8million.
He then accidentally got his side’s goal against Brighton ruled out after kneeing Alejandro Garnacho’s shot into the net whilst offside.
Former United striker Yorke thinks Zirkzee’s start to life at Old Trafford has been encouraging – but he’s warned he and Hojlund may not be the strikers to fire the Red Devils back to glory.
When asked what advice he would give Zirkzee, Yorke told talkSPORT’s Inside Devils show: “I think it’s encouraging that he’s got an opportunity to score. I think if he did go to a game and not have the opportunities that would be even more devastating for the lad.
“So it’s encouraging, he’s got his first goal and he had a couple of chances against Liverpool. But he’s a striker, and every striker out there that’s played at the top level, it’s all about the opportunities.
“If you don’t get those opportunities you’re not going to score. But if you keep getting opportunities and you keep putting yourself in there, then you’re likely to get one in the net at some point.
“But I would say that’s a positive and that’s encouraging.
“I’m still not sure, I would say with United attacking, with strikers at the moment, I think that right now where United is at, they’re buying players to finish fourth.
“What I mean by that is that, the players they’re bringing in are good players, they’re not bad. But they’re not the elite players that United normally are associated with. So you will get that type of performance that we need to get back in the top four.”
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Man United finished eighth in the Premier League last season, only qualifying for Europe thanks to their FA Cup triumph.
The last time they finished in the top four was in the 2022/23 season, which saw them finish third.
However, the last time Man United had a striker or any player win the Premier League golden boot was in 2012/13, with Robin van Persie bagging 26 league goals.
That was also the last time United won the title.
Yorke continued: “You look at Zirkzee, he comes in, he’s not a starter in Holland. Rasmus is a starter, the Euros wasn’t particularly great for him, so it shows the kind of work that they had to do.
“On top of all of that, you’re playing in a team that’s not high on confidence, that makes it even more difficult. It’s ok when you’re coming in to a team that controls possession, dominates teams, making chances, then you fit right in.
“At the moment, United are not doing that. They’re really struggling. So even though these players are great players in their own right, they’re not going to take the team to that other level that we’re all hoping United will be.
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“For me, it’s a little bit concerning, and will take us a little bit longer to get where we want. It’s going to be a bit of a struggle, simply because the team is not consistent in their play, the identity we mentioned that we’re still a little bit unsure about.
“That doubt is still lingering in the background and if you’re not playing particularly well and you’re not taking your chances, it’s going to be a difficult season ahead.”
Yorke played for Man United between 1998 and 2002 and won the treble under Sir Alex Ferguson in 1999.
He bagged 66 goals and made 32 assists in 152 appearances.
Man United face Southampton at St Mary’s this Saturday, exclusively live on talkSPORT.
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