Marc Skinner is keen for his Manchester United team to learn and grow from Wednesday night’s UEFA Women’s Champions League defeat against OL Lyonnes.
This was a huge test for the Reds, hosting a side that has been crowned European champions on eight previous occasions, more than any other, and boasts numerous world class players.
Until the closing stages, United trailed by just a single goal, and had limited the French giants to only two shots on target. The Reds defended resolutely under pressure in the first half and managed to challenge a little more after the break.
Skinner began his post-match press conference by explaining that his team selection, which included Rachel Williams’s first start of the season, was motivated by a desire to match Lyon’s physical strength.
“There's got to be a plan ahead of all of the games coming, but today we needed to match them physically from the first half and then always adapt it and change it second half,”
he said, referencing the triple half-time change that introduced Ella Toone, Jess Park and Julia Zigiotti.
“I felt [in] the first half, we physically were matching, especially from set-pieces, but probably didn’t get enough pressure on them in moments,” the boss added.
“So I adapted it at half-time, got a bit more ball possession. But please don’t forget you’re playing probably a team that is expected to win the Champions League. We’re Manchester United and everybody wears that heavy badge, but I’m proud of what the players achieved tonight and it’s a lot of opportunity for us to grow from it.”
Skinner said that two outstanding goals from Melchie Dumornay in the closing stages were the “difference”, with small margins at stake for the first 80 minutes until Lyon began extending the lead.
“It’s not as easy as just going and attacking them, but I’d like to see us be more aggressive with the ball. I felt first half we rushed a little bit when we were in possession. Second half we took a little bit more time, responsibility, and that’s what you've got to be if you’re playing against Lyon,” he said.
“But it’s the first time we’ve played against Lyon. So, you know, you’ve got to learn on the fly and I think there’s some learnings that we’ll take from this game to help us move forward.”
Skinner went on to add: “What I love is the fact that we’re having these conversations that we’re going, ‘But you could have beaten Lyon, you should have’. How far have we come? It’s the first year we’ve qualified for the proper competition. We want to [beat Lyon], but we also have moments to grow. We’re seven years old. We’ve qualified [for the knockout phase] already.”
The Reds face Juventus in Turin in the final Champions League league-phase matchday next week that will determine our fate in the knockout phase. A top four finish, which is still possible with a victory and other results falling the right way would mean automatic passage into the quarter-finals. Placing fifth to eighth equates to seeded status in the play-off round, while ninth to 12th is worth an unseeded place in that stage.
United sit ninth but are only two points behind Chelsea in third. Before then, however, we entertain Tottenham in the WSL on Sunday.