Manchester United head coach Marc Skinner says that adding silverware is hugely important for the club and will represent an element of success.
The Red Devils travel to Wembley this weekend as they contest the 2023/2024 Adobe Women’s FA Cup final with Tottenham Hotspur.
It has been a challenging campaign at Manchester United but head coach Skinner says that winning a trophy would be a mark of success and it will stand the club in good stead going forward.
“You’ll have added silverware to Manchester United and that’s successful wherever you are as a club,” Skinner said when discussing the importance of winning the Adobe Women’s FA Cup final in the pre-match press conference. “There are things that we have learnt from this season that we already know the answers to and we can fix over the summer, I have no doubt about that.
“When you’re at the end of the season, you want to finish it the best way that you can. We’ve got two finals to go, one at Old Trafford and obviously the Wembley one this weekend. It’s going to be difficult because Tottenham deserve to be in the final and I’m not having the underdog status but if we can add silverware, particularly for our fans, I think that’ll be hugely important going forward.”
Manchester United defeated trophy holders Chelsea 2-1 in the semi-finals. The Red Devils adopted a more direct and physical approach to that game. Skinner is not expected to implement the same game plan against Spurs but he believes that the game will require a mix of playing styles.
He said “We need a bit of all of it. You have to look at what works, you have to look at form, you have to look at players that have been here before that have the experience and you have to look at players that are hungry, fresh and ready to come into it that can make right decisions. You as a coach have to constantly adapt, constantly look and feel the way that your players want to perform and are ready to perform.
“Style is what the game will need. There will be times in a final where if you are losing, you’ll have to throw caution to the wind, if you’re winning, you may have to be more reserved. I think this game will have a bit of everything for both teams.
“What you’ve been trying to do over the past season is build to a crescendo of understanding of your players. In this game, hopefully we will be in a position to attack but I think we are going to have a mixture of styles.”
Manchester United are unbeaten against Spurs this season. The Red Devils won 4-0 away from home before battling out a 2-2 draw at The Leigh Sports Village. Skinner believes that it is important to disrupt Spurs’ playing style if Manchester United are to come out on top this weekend.
He said “When I look at the second half [in the home game], Tottenham didn’t have a shot, so it improved vastly in that second half. In the first game that we played them [away], we were very dominant.
“What I think Tottenham have done well this year, especially against the higher teams, is that they have kept their style. You also have to be careful with that because that can hurt you; if you slip for a second in big moments, you can be hurt with that style because it’s aggressive and it’s attacking.
“From our perspective, we have to make sure that we maximise that; we’ve got to make sure that we make Tottenham slip and if we can do that, we can maximise the game.
“I look at Tottenham’s front-line, the depth of their squad and their investment, they’re investing to try and be in finals.
“For us, it’s about trying to manage the game, trying to manage the opponent but then try to dominate as well as much as we can. I want to see our experience grow within this game.”
The 2023/2024 Adobe Women’s FA Cup final at Wembley is scheduled to kick-off at 2.30pm on Sunday afternoon.
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