Dwight Yorke has revealed one of the secrets of his success at Manchester United was to regularly watch video highlights of his goals at home, in a bid to boost his form and self-belief.
That sounds hard to believe for a player who permanently had a smile on his face and appeared to ooze confidence, yet the Trinidad and Tobago legend regularly utilised the technique throughout his four seasons as a Red, in which he scored 66 goals in 152 appearances, winning six major trophies.
During a fascinating episode of 'Table Football', which is available to watch now on United’s YouTube channel, Yorke speaks insightfully about the approach and offers his personal advice for the club’s current no.19, Marcus Rashford.
“Strikers often say instinctive goals are better,” Dwight tells Marcus. “You just let it happen, let it rip and when it goes in it's magnificent. The instinct of being a centre-forward is important and that's the position I'm sure you’ll end up in. It all comes from the instinct of being in the position at the right time and anticipating the move. You seem to have the lot: I can see all of the types of goals you are scoring, which makes it even more impressive at this early stage of your career.
“There was one magnificent goal from outside the box for England, when I thought 'wow, we've got somebody here who can score goals and not just one type of goal'. It's good to have that range. We all recognise the no.9 who just gets tap-ins, but you've got all of it and now you've added free-kicks to your repertoire as well, it's even more impressive.
“This is still an early stage in your career and, if I was you, from past experiences, I would just have a collection of my goals and I’d keep reminding yourself of the things you can do, especially if you have a little period where you aren't scoring. Have a selection of goals and get a feelgood factor about yourself.
“Even if you go through a drought, which everyone goes through, just go back and watch those goals. It gives you that buzz and a massive buzz. It puts that smile back on your face.
“It makes you think 'damn I can do this stuff!' That is what I used to do and, trust me, it works. That would be my advice. Just go back, remind yourself and look at the goals that you've scored, from the tap-ins to the wonder strikes. I would put a collection of them together, just for your private use.”
In the same conversation with Yorke and another former Reds striker Danny Webber, Rashford identifies his 2016 FA Cup goal against West Ham at Upton Park as a personal favourite.
“I liked West Ham away, it was a good game,” Marcus explains.
“It was an instinctive goal. I prefer those ones when you are not thinking about it too much and you're just doing the action. The goal against [Manchester] City was a mad rush of blood. I would say for the quality of the goal, West Ham was better. But against City, the feeling you get is mad.”
Elsewhere in the strikers’ episode of 'Table Football', the trio of United forwards select their ideal strike partners from any era, choose between the two iconic Ronaldos of modern football, name the toughest opposition defenders they've faced and describe the best way to score a goal.
Originally published on manutd.com