Manchester United Women boss Marc Skinner urges club to keep investing to bridge gap with Arsenal and Chelsea... but insists he's not concerned after 2-0 loss to WSL leaders
* Manchester United lost 2-0 at home to WSL leaders Arsenal on Sunday
* Vivianne Miedema and Katie McCabe scored for the visitors in second half
* Skinner admitted United need to invest more to bridge gap with top clubs
* United manager said his side aren't on same level of Chelsea and Arsenal
It has not been a good weekend for Manchester United managers. There is no danger of Marc Skinner following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer out the door, but yesterday’s 2-0 defeat by Arsenal showed there is still a significant gap between United and the best sides.
There was a strange atmosphere here at Leigh Sports Village ahead of the game. Fans were unhappy the club had announced Solskjaer’s departure right before this huge match against the league leaders and they sang the Norwegian’s name in the 20th minute to honour the striker who wore the No20 shirt in his playing days.
Skinner’s job, much like Solskjaer’s was, is to turn United from a ‘nearly team’ into domestic and European contenders. There is some way to go. And Skinner’s post-match remark that United need more investment and depth to compete with Arsenal and Chelsea was telling.
‘That’s where we’re at. If we aspire to be in those positions then we need to make sure we’ve got the depth in our team to support the talented players who we have,’ he said.
‘There’s a gap (between United and Arsenal). That comes from investment — continued investment — and time.
‘I’ve been in the league a long time. I remember when Chelsea didn’t have Sam Kerr, Fran Kirby, Pernille Harder up front. I remember when Arsenal didn’t have Vivianne Miedema, Nikita Parris, and six forwards and Tobin Heath who is coming back.
‘The concern is very logical. We need to invest in the players and continue to invest so we can be where we want to be.
Marc Skinner said Manchester United had to invest more to compete with the best WSL clubs. Skinner admitted United still had work to do to bridge the gap between them and Arsenal
'The club has made no bones about that. We want to keep investing, we want to keep pushing women’s football and our team.
‘Of course, expectations are super high. I won’t diminish those expectations but we have to be realistic in terms of we have to have some depth.
‘I was never going to come in and wave a magic wand. We lost a lot of forwards in the summer. The talent is there, we just need more depth.’
While United were second best, this was not like the 6-1 thrashing they suffered at the hands of Chelsea earlier in the season and a combination of United goalkeeper Mary Earps and the crossbar frustrated the Gunners for 45 minutes.
But class eventually told and Miedema finally got her goal against the only WSL team who had previously managed to stop the Holland striker scoring.
Arsenal had lost five of their last six away games in Manchester before this victory.
A happy day in the cold North West for manager Jonas Eidevall, whose side remain top of the table going into the international break.
‘I don’t worry about Viv not scoring against any opponent,’ said Eidevall. ‘When she hasn’t scored against an opponent, it’s just a matter of time before she will.’
The Gunners were on the front foot from the start and almost took an early lead.
Katie McCabe cut the ball back to Beth Mead on the edge of the box and she skipped past Aoife Mannion before rattling a shot against the bar.
Mead had another chance mid-way through the first half when she was picked out at the far post by Kim Little, but her attempted cut-back went straight into the hands of Earps.
The United goalkeeper was called back into action shortly after when she tipped a stinging Noelle Maritz effort over the bar.
United went in level at the break but it took just three minutes of the second half for Arsenal to find a breakthrough.
McCabe’s pass from the left found Miedema and she held off Katie Zelem to drill a shot into the bottom left corner. McCabe then doubled Arsenal’s lead from the penalty spot in the 55th minute.
The Republic of Ireland winger was tripped by a lunge from Mannion but picked herself up to convert into the top left corner.
Miedema almost added a third for Arsenal from a free-kick but she hit the bar to the relief of United once again.
Code:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-10227209/Manchester-United-Women-boss-Marc-Skinner-wants-club-invest-close-gap-WSL-teams.html
cabutnya beberapa pemain juga ikut berpengaruh terhadap performa MU Women musim ini