Prenton Park Stadium, England 5th May 2024: Head coach of Manchester United Marc Skinner arriving for the Barclays Women Super League between Liverpool and Manchester United at Prenton Park Stadium in Liverpool, England 5th May 2024 | Photo: Jayde Chamberlain/SPP.
Marc Skinner says it is a challenge to ensure every player in his Manchester United squad is featuring on the pitch and feeling appreciated.
Ahead of a busy month for his team, which includes two UEFA Women’s Champions League matches, he spoke about the realities and difficulties of squad rotation.
“I’ve no doubt the hardest part of football management is trying to keep players happy with minutes and making them feel wanted and loved,” he said in a press conference on Thursday morning, “and it’s really difficult because sometimes I’ve already planned ahead this block of games, as you can imagine, and I’ve planned about strategy, style, who fits where.
“And you’ve got this one plan and then you can come to [Aston] Villa and you could have one injury, you could mix the team, you could have anything that happens and all of a sudden your game plans are out the window.”
Marc Skinner: I’m expecting a tough game against Aston Villa
Skinner was speaking ahead of hosting Aston Villa at Leigh on Saturday, 8th November, and he reflected on the way head coach Natalia Arroyo has shaped her team in recent weeks.
“They’re aggressive without the ball. They go player for player and press,” he said, adding: “I‘m expecting a really tough game, but what I’d also say is we’re in great form. We’re in great form and we believe in ourselves and we’ve got to take the challenge of Villa on.
“Villa are scoring freely, but also conceding freely. So hopefully we can exploit that and try and keep a clean sheet this weekend.”
And he is hoping his team will be quick out of the blocks and get off to a strong start.
“We’re at home. We need our energy. We’ve got a block of games coming up now where we need to start properly. I felt against Brighton we were good with the ball, especially at times, but probably just a bit rusty from international [break], whereas I think we got that out. So hopefully we can put that into a good start against Villa.”
