Manchester United could not have imagined a more painful end to the 2023/24 Women’s Super League campaign.
When the full-time whistle blew at Old Trafford on 18 May, it spelled the end of a season characterised by the highest of highs and lowest of lows. A club record 6-0 defeat to Chelsea on their own turf, as Emma Hayes’ side celebrated a fifth consecutive league title, was one of those lows.
Such an emphatic defeat stung, but it also meant they finished outside of the top four, despite the fact they came agonisingly close to their first league title only one season prior. To add insult to injury, it was north west rivals Liverpool who leapfrogged them in the table to claim that fourth spot.
As they say, every cloud has a silver lining. For United last season, it came in the form of a historic FA Cup win, which is an achievement that simply cannot be overshadowed. Not only did they overcome Chelsea on their way to the final, and comfortably beat Tottenham at Wembley – in securing silverware, they achieved what no other United Women team had done before.
Yet, while it offered some form of a redemption, there was no escaping the fact the campaign as a whole had failed to meet their own lofty expectations. But for manager Marc Skinner, he was already well aware of where the team had fallen short.
“The balance in our team wasn’t right,” the 41-year-old admitted, speaking at the Barclays WSL‘s 2024/25 season launch media day earlier this month. “After game six we lost Gabby George, who we had only bought in the summer. We had a right-footed left-back again.
“But, I just need to reiterate that this isn’t a catastrophe theory at Manchester United, that if you don’t win everything, then you have well under-achieved. I get the pressure of being at Manchester United, I live it every day. I want to win. We want to win. We have to do it in a certain way.”
If the league season was tumultuous, the start to the transfer window appeared to be a catastrophe. While key players, including Mary Earps and former captain Katie Zelem, headed for the exit door, new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe was admitting in interviews that plans for the women’s team were still ‘to be decided’, and reports suggested the team had been moved into temporary facilities at the Carrington training base in order to accommodate the men’s team while renovations take place.
Inside the club, however, Skinner insists the unity defies the narrative of disarray, and the disappointments of last season have been tempered with a renewed sense of energy and purpose. “What is reported on the outside honestly could not be further from the truth,” the manager said.
“We’re not training in barracks. We are training in a facility that has been built on site for our players. We have better gym access and to the pool for recovery on site.”
A closer look at recruitment would also suggest the squad is in a stronger place. United have been among the most shrewd operators in the transfer market this summer, and the signings of Elisabeth Terland, Celin Bizet and Dominique Janssen should not be understated.
While Ratcliffe may have painted a figure disinterested in the women’s team, those underneath him and in the wider club are undoubtedly unified in improving things, most notably, new sporting director Dan Ashworth and chief executive Omar Berrada. Skinner believes those relationships have been the driving force behind rediscovering the spark that served them so well two seasons ago.
“[They] have been fantastic and have both come in with real energy to speak to the group,” the manager added. “I cannot tell you how personable and authentic those conversations were.
“They genuinely love women’s football and have a real burning ambition for it to be in the forefront of their direction. When Dan [Ashworth] first came in, I met him in the dinner hall with all the other members of the staff from the men’s first team and we spoke for an hour. Nobody interrupted him in our conversation.
“When you feel like you’re on your own, you will not achieve your targets. I feel – notice I use the language feel not think – that with Dan and Omar coming in, they have a real energy towards us. It needs a spark. In my second season, we had a magnificent season. We finished second in the WSL and didn’t win a trophy.
“That spark we had in that season, I feel again. It wasn’t missing last year but it maybe got beaten out of us towards the end of the season. This season is like we’re trying to build that impenetrable force again.
“We know there’s a lot of people who want Manchester United to fail. But from my perspective, in order for us to be successful, we need that spark and I feel the leaders we have in place now will help us to do that.”
One of the most significant shifts on the pitch this summer has been the appointment of new captains, following the departure of long-serving skipper Zelem. Skinner has entrusted Maya Le Tissier with the captain’s armband, while stalwart Ella Toone has taken on the role of vice-captain.
“The reason I chose Maya – and I said to her when she first signed she would be a future Manchester United captain – she plays every second of every game and she’s always driving standards in training.
“She does extras every session. At the Marbella Football Centre [where the team had a pre-season training camp] there’s a hill that’s about four or five hundred metres and it’s really steep. For one of the sessions, we made the girls run the hill to psychologically see what they would do.
“Maya got to the top, they [the team] did too, but she went down to the bottom and did another one off her own back. She leads through passions, commitment, energy and is an embodiment of what I want our team to be.
“I wanted Tooney in there alongside her because I felt if there is any girl or any boy that looks at Manchester United then who better to represent it than a famous number seven that has grown up a Manchester United fan all her life. What I have to do around that is put a leadership team of experience [together], and that’s the next phase.”
Along with Zelem, another high profile departure this summer was 2023 FIFA Best Women’s Goalkeeper Mary Earps. But, after joining the club from NWSL side OL Reign last summer and having a year to settle in England, Skinner believes Phallon Tullis-Joyce is ready to step up and fill that void.
“To be very clear, Phallon is the best shot-stopper I have ever worked with in my life,” Skinner emphasised. “She is an incredible footballer, an incredibly intelligent human, is thoughtful and I’m really looking forward to showing you what she can do for this team.
“She is a big-time goalkeeper. That’s why I bought her. She will lead naturally anyway. Last year she just had to learn about England a bit more and we had Mary Earps. I’m looking forward to this year so you can see what she’s got.”
Skinner’s energy when discussing the refreshed squad and ambitions for the season was palpable. Despite the criticism the club and team has faced over the last 12 months, the never say die attitude has not once wavered, and he is confident they have the tools to better deal with the challenges a long season can present.
“Everyone has got an opinion,” he concluded. “I have never changed my tune on that. Whether I’m under pressure or not, I stay and maintain my own path.
“I knew when the players left, we would get backlash. I knew it because fans are invested in the team. If they didn’t care, you wouldn’t have heard anything. But they care.
“I feel we have done work in this transfer window not just for this season but for future Manchester United teams. I look at Emma Watson, Simi [Awujo], Anna Sandberg – these are players that can represent the club for many, many years to come.
“Our fans had every right to feel the way they did but I hope we can turn that around, especially in our performances to show them this is their team and they can get right behind it to drive us forward to success.”
After ending last season in such disappointing fashion at Old Trafford, the team will return to the theatre of dreams on Saturday to kick off their 2024/25 campaign against West Ham. Fans will only hope Skinner’s energy and optimism transcends into strong and consistent performances on the pitch as they look to reclaim their space among the WSL’s elite.
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