In his weekly sit-down interview with the club’s official website, Manchester United’s Marc Skinner previewed his side’s trip to Tottenham Hotspur this weekend, United’s approach to development and his thoughts on Naomi Girma’s record-breaking move to Chelsea.
The Red Devils cruised to a comfortable 3-0 win over Brighton last time out – a win that Skinner says shows the “growth of the team as a whole collective together.”
“When players are coming in, they’re making a difference. When players are starting, or getting starts for the first time, or they’ve had limited starts and they’re showing their qualities, you can see that they’re cohesive.”
“It’s gelling. It’s becoming fluid. That’s what we’ve always worked towards, but we knew it was going to be different at the start of the season. It’s hard to tell people to be patient because they think you’re buying time but actually we were just waiting for this team to gel. You can see on and off the field how close they are, and that’s the real special spirit of Manchester United and especially our team,” he explained.
For the 41-year-old, having something to fight for is the biggest motivating factor. United sit second in the Women’s Super League ahead of this weekend’s clash in North London, but for Skinner, it’s much more than a title fight.
“When you think about special teams, it’s always the cohesive nature, how they gel together, what they’re fighting for. We’re fighting for the biggest club in the world, for the best fans on the planet. We’re fighting for that, so we have a purpose and that can really drive you to a new level,” he told MUFC’s Ben Ibson.
Manchester United’s approach to development varies from the route taken by the likes of Chelsea, with the real gulf in spending power illustrated this month as the Blues splashed the cash to sign Naomi Girma in the first women’s transfer to surpass the $1m mark.
“I wasn’t old enough to remember the first million-pound men’s transfer, I think it was Trevor Francis but I wasn’t old enough to remember that,” Skinner admitted, before going on to suggest that Girma’s arrival in the WSL “shows a significant growth, and for me as someone that’s been in the women’s game for 20+ years now, it’s a great sign of growth.”
Embed from Getty Images“For us, we’re doing slightly differently and we don’t quite have the years behind us to go and make a signing like that but we are doing our own thing. It shows a lot about our players because we currently sit second; we know there are so many more challenges to face but for us to be where we are right now shows that there are other ways in which you can achieve your outcomes. Right now, I’m really happy with all of the player’s commitment and their energy. The togetherness of a team can be a difference-maker as well as an individual of that level of investment can be.”
Manchester City and Arsenal are both hot on United’s heels in the WSL this season, so it is crucial that the Red Devils maintain a positive start to the season that has seen them lose just once in the league thus far.
But Skinner accepted that Spurs are “a very difficult opponent” even though “they’re probably not performing to the best that they would like to in this first part of the year.”
Embed from Getty Images“They’ve come away with victories so they are a team that can be very dangerous in attack but also resilient in defence. We played them last year of course, probably our most famous victory in the FA Cup final but I expect a totally different game. I expect them to show their qualities, but I want us to enjoy ourselves, and I don’t mean that in a disrespectful way.”
“I want us to show our performance levels, our grit and all the brilliant side of the clean sheets and all that, but actually enjoy ourselves with the ball and I feel we did that against Brighton. We have to carry that on against a very good team in Tottenham and try and get the points because that’s what we’re here to do.”
He added: “I think the reality is that the more games they play again, getting back into the start of this new year, the more they’ll find their rhythm. Although it was a 3-2 win, it was a win, and it builds momentum. Even against Leicester, I think it was a tight win, but it’s a win so it builds momentum. We’ve got to go there and disrupt, and we’ve got to go there and be our aggressive selves with the ball and make Tottenham defend but also respect the quality of the players that they have.”
Manchester United’s clash with Tottenham Hotspur gets underway in North London at 18:45 GMT on Sunday, 2 February.