Sky Sports columnist Laura Hunter breaks down the big talking points from the latest Women’s Super League fixtures and explores the key stories at the heart of the women’s game.
Parks and toons unlock new possibilities
Manchester United recorded their sixth win of the season on Sunday, equaling a club record of five consecutive away wins. Mark Skinner’s camp is proving difficult to deal with. That’s because they are uniquely efficient throughout the park. Finally, this is a team capable of challenging for the title.
Skinner’s 4-1-4-1 structure is a stabilizing force. They know how to perfectly combine different tactics to finish the game. No team in the league has this many variations in scorers this season (15). It also ranks first in conversion rate (19.59).
This approach is based on a risk-reward methodology that carefully selects moments. Sunday’s 3-2 win over Brighton was a case in point. United created fewer big chances than Brighton, but still scored more goals. It was a game in which a less complete team would drop points, with United having not won at Brighton since the 2022/23 season. United can finally claim victory in a close battle.
They are fourth in terms of chances created overall this season, behind Arsenal, Chelsea and Man City, but they still lead the league in scoring with 19 goals. 16 of those points came from open play, which is also the most in the league.
A lot of it has to do with a different kind of connectivity that teams of old didn’t really appreciate. Their passing network has been significantly strengthened by the summer arrivals of Jess Park and Giulia Gigiotti-Olme.
Man United have never before surpassed Arsenal or Man City in the number of pass attempts. Now it is. This is a change in style aided not only by the profile of the players at Skinner’s disposal, but also by their arrangement of deploying Park as an inverted winger and adding Gigiotti, Ella Thune and Hinata Miyazawa in the center to create an overload. Their rotation varies from week to week, making them very difficult to keep track of.
Man United pack into midfield to control the game in central areas
“They control spaces that the opposition can’t go to,” Thun and Park’s Skinner said Sunday, adding, “They bring life to the team.” Brighton manager Dario Vidosic blamed his side’s defeat on “uncharacteristic mistakes”, but it was United’s intensity that forced enough mistakes to win the game.
Marking Toon and Park at the same time is particularly difficult, meaning one or the other is always free to receive in the pocket.
The latter role is much wider than his time at Man City, covering much more space and using his free role to not only build attacks, but also help finish them off. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship. Park’s seven shot creation actions and 11 touches inside the opponent’s box were the highest of any player against Brighton, and Toon’s combined xG and xA (1.01) were also first. Simply put, they are running the game.
Jess Park is playing much more of a central role for Manchester United than he previously was at Manchester City
The pair, who first played together in Man City’s youth team, have combined to score three goals in the WSL this season, the most of any pair in the division, but only West Ham’s Riko Ueki and Vivian Aseilly (eight goals) have created more chances for each other than Toon and Park’s seven goals.
And this midfield group also works off the ball. United won the ball back in the middle third of the pitch more times than any other team (180 times). This is mainly due to the concentration of organizations operating there. It’s the perfect blend of fortitude and delicacy.
Ella Thun was becoming a complete midfielder and was used to bringing other players into play.
So Melvin Mallard and Jade Riviere will provide width, which is also an area of expertise. Riviere moved the ball forward with more carries than any other full-back in the WSL as he attacked the spaces left open by Park. Meanwhile, Mallard remains the most powerful scorer in the league.
Manchester United have excelled in areas that have traditionally been outside their defence. New possibilities have been unlocked. They are one of only two clubs, along with Chelsea, who have yet to lose a game, and the longer this goes on, the more they will be expected to mount a serious and sustained title challenge.
Why West Ham are in trouble and possible solutions
West Ham have only led for just 15 minutes and 39 seconds in league play this season. They have not scored a goal for 447 minutes. And it’s hard to know where the next one will come from.
Manchester City won 1-0 in their latest encounter with just one shot on target. The Hammers have been woefully underdogs in games decided by close margins, having spent more than 50 per cent of their games this term losing.
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Highlights of the Women’s Super League match between Manchester City and West Ham United
The breakdown of the numbers is even bleaker. West Ham have conceded more goals (18) and scored the fewest (2) than any other team. The xG values at both ends of the pitch are aggregated similarly.
They are the only team yet to score from open play. After 630 minutes of football, this is perhaps the most damning fact. But to make matters worse, they have also given up on the physical side of the ball, losing more challenges than any other team (74). Shots inside the box are also a growing problem, contributing to a high goal rate of 2.5 shots per game.
This is the longest losing streak in the tournament (8 games), and there is no way for a team to turn around with such a drastic drop in performance. Fortunately for Lehanne Skinner, Liverpool are in an equally dire situation. The fight to avoid relegation is now a meaningless two-horse race between the only two sides. It could even be defined by who comes out on top in that game on December 14th.
And if it comes down to it, Skinner will need Ueki and Assay to dig her out of the hole. This is a double act that has been proven to work. The pair has plenty of fast-break threats and can finish, but they haven’t been able to find a clinical edge as of late. However, Asayi is a particularly tricky character and is an excellent ball carrier with more shot-end carries (six) than any other winger.
Both forwards had chances to change the scoreline, but Man City scored the winning goal on Saturday, with Asei hitting the crossbar after Ueki made a fine stop from Fallon Tallis-Joyce. West Ham know how to use direct play on the counter to create openings. They have to use it better.
“We had four chances and three of them were exceptional,” Skinner admitted. Finding what she describes as the “lost touch” has never been more important in the fight for survival.
