Yorke vows to bring 'winning mentality' to Soca Warriors

NEW Soca Warriors coach Dwight Yorke said he and his technical staff are intent on building on the work of predecessors Angus Eve and Derek King as they aim to establish a winning culture within Trinidad and Tobago's men's football team for the resumption of the Fifa 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

Yorke, who will be officially unveiled at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva from 6 pm today (November 14), addressed the media after his second training session with the team at the Balmain venue on November 13.

Yorke was announced as the Soca Warriors coach on November 1, and he arrived in Trinidad on November 8. The Manchester United legend, who skippered TT at their lone Fifa World Cup appearance in Germany in 2006, will have assistant coaches Russell Latapy, Neil Wood and King joining his technical staff, as well as Australian Anthony Crea, who will serve as the strength and conditioning coach.

Yorke said he chose a highly qualified and capable staff, and one he was very familiar with. With the World Cup qualifiers scheduled to resume in June 2025, Yorke reckons he has assembled the support staff that can help take TT's football to the next level and a second World Cup appearance at the senior level.

"I'm quite positive about these guys (the technical staff). I didn't second guess. The selling point is coming to (TT) and trying to take us to the World Cup. I didn't think it was too difficult of a sell," Yorke told the media.

"It's all about a confidence thing. We're trying to build a culture here – a winning mentality in and around the national team. It's what Angus and certainly King have done. We're coming in and we're trying to build. We're not trying to change too many things here."

As a player, aside from leading TT to the 2006 World Cup, the highlight of Yorke's career arguably came during a 1999 treble-winning season with Manchester United.

In his managerial career, the 53-year-old Yorke held the head-coaching role at Australian club Macarthur FC from May 2022 to January 2023, with prior spells as assistant coach with Sunderland and the Soca Warriors.

Yorke noted the difference between the roles as coach at the international and club levels. And though TT were unable to source any friendlies for the current November 11-19 Fifa international window, Yorke hopes he can use the period to impart his philosophy on the training squad and also convey the intensity he would like to see reflected on the field of play.

"It's my job to implement (our ideas) and make sure the players are moving in the right direction, being a little more positive and a little more forward-thinking...and having a little more self-belief in what we're doing," he said.

TT were unable to progress to the quarterfinals of the 2024/25 Concacaf Nations League A cycle – thus missing out on the opportunity to get competitive action this month. The next Fifa match window will be from March 17-25, 2025, with the Soca Warriors resuming their World Cup campaign with fixtures against St Kitts and Nevis and Costa Rica on June 6 and 10 respectively. TT are currently in second spot in their qualifying group behind Costa Rica.

"We've got really lucky that we don't have a game this time around so it gives us time to work a little more with the players and get a little more insight in terms of what we're working with. We're still in the know-you period and they're getting to know us, our philosophy and our playing style," Yorke said.

"The (World Cup qualifiers) are too far ahead to be thinking about. I've got some work to do and I've got a little bit of time to buy to put that nucleus of players together and make sure we understand the playing philosophy of it and understand how we approach games. What we do and the structure of it is important.

"We have a little bit of time, not a lot of time. When we put those pieces together, hopefully, quietly we'll be ready when the St Kitts and Nevis match comes around."

Yorke said he's inherited "a talented bunch of guys," and it's his duty to get them to know their worth as they try to achieve success together.

"I think everyone loves to see the attacking side of football, but we're not naive enough to think there's not a defensive side of it. When we are in possession, it's just to let the players know and understand what's expected of them.

"It's just to let (the players) understand they could do this. It's my job to get them to understand those things again."