Manchester United need to be active in the winter transfer window to balance the demands of playing in both the Women’s Super League and the Champions League this season, head coach Mark Skinner said after their 3-0 defeat to Manchester City.
Just three days after beating PSG 2-1 at Old Trafford in the club’s first-ever Women’s Champions League game, United were easily defeated by their City rivals at the Etihad on Saturday lunchtime – failing to even manage a shot on target the entire game.
But Skinner refused to blame United’s seven-point loss to City, who have not played in Europe this season, on a tough schedule, but was adamant that the squad needed reinforcements when the transfer window reopens on January 2.
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Highlights of the Women’s Super League match between Manchester City and Manchester United
“I’m not going to use that as an excuse,” he said after the game. “Last year, when City were doing something similar, we had an advantage against City. It’s nothing for City. Today they did what they had to do. We designed the team, but clearly we need to take advantage of the winter period.”
“We need to support the players who are giving their all. It’s not that there was a lack of commitment, the players gave their all but momentarily switched off. It could be fatigue. We can’t accept that with our standards. We have to fix it for Wolfsburg (Wednesday’s Champions League).”
“We have to fight. We have a little more recovery time. We had to go through training this week, but it’s these elements that we’re used to playing in the Champions League. We’re not lamenting about that. We have to try. That’s why we have to give the players some support during the winter period.”
In particular, Skinner wants to add depth to United’s front line to further strengthen United’s strength, as the visiting team struggled attacking with 11 shots against City, but their xG was just 0.86 and none of their shots threatened the neighboring goal.
Anna Sandberg takes on Kerstin Caspari at Etihad Airways
“The club cares about the women’s team and we will be very clear about that,” he added. “It’s important to identify the right people and bring them in at the right time. We’re working hard behind the scenes to do that. I have no doubts about the care of the club. What we have to do is bring in the right people.”
“Looking at the way we attacked today, I felt like we were a little bit passive. We’re going to look at that as an area to support the great job our players are already doing.”
Skinner is limited by team restrictions
Analysis from Sky Sports’ Laura Hunter at Esad Stadium:
A few things struck me in the press box at Etihad Airways on Saturday. One is how dominant Man City were. Another was the amount of time Mark Skinner spent sitting in the away dugout talking to the support staff, rather than wandering around the technical area as usual. He used to watch and analyze phases of play on his iPad.
After the game, he said he felt his team had performed roughly on par with their rivals, saying: “It’s a strange feeling to lose a game 3-0 and still feel like your opponents weren’t that good.” From my standpoint, it’s hard to agree.
Perhaps Skinner could gain a different perspective if he spent a little more time reviewing the game. Despite conceding 60 per cent of the ball, City dominated in every department. United did not use their possession advantage to any advantage. To be fair, Skinner acknowledged as much, saying, “Despite being in good space on the field, we just didn’t do enough.”
Not having a single shot on target in the derby was pretty bad and it was clear that United lacked creativity. This issue is expected to be addressed in January, but it is certainly too late to reignite a title shot.
There’s a lot to like about Manchester United this season and there’s still plenty to play for, but managing elite-level competition both domestically and in Europe is already catching up.
