Skinner: Sir Bobby Charlton changed football
Marc Skinner has paid tribute to Manchester United legend Sir Bobby Charlton.
The Manchester United Women head coach spoke after our 5-0 victory over Everton in the WSL game at Walton Hall Park.
Ahead of kick-off, both teams paid their respects to the club legend, who passed away at the age of 86 on Saturday, with United captain Katie Zelem laying a wreath in the centre of the pitch before a minute's silence. Our Reds also wore black armbands in his memory.
On the afternoon, United put in a dominant performance and Skinner spoke about his side's display, Sir Bobby and more in his post-match press conference, from which you can see several key quotes below...
For Sir Bobby
A minute's silence was brilliantly observed, as both Everton and the Reds paused to remember Sir Bobby Charlton...
A WIN FOR SIR BOBBY
"We have dedicated that performance to Sir Bobby, to Lady Norma [Sir Bobby's wife] and to the family.
"He changed football in my opinion and especially at our club.
"For us, every inch of that performance was for him, his family, and that was so important to us."
THE TEAM ADAPTED QUICKLY
"I thought we were excellent. We have had a tough week. We went out of Europe [against PSG on Wednesday] with a good performance and obviously didn’t get what we wanted and then we come here on a day turnaround. We have only had one day to prepare for Everton and the girls have had to adapt and change really quickly.
"We have had sickness in the camp so Geyse, Leah [Galton] and Hayley [Ladd] have missed out today and some members of staff are out as well.
"Everton are a good team. The scoreline is big but they made it difficult for us. I thought we were brave.
"Every player that came into the game was magnificent. I’d like to give a special mention to the fans because last year they were behind the goal, this season they were filling the place."
Skinner: The players were unbelievable
Marc Skinner is full of credit for his players while assessing United Women's five-goal triumph at Everton...
CREDIT TO THE PLAYERS
"I couldn’t be prouder of the team, I couldn’t give them more credit.
"Sometimes you win games and you don’t play well but today we showed resilience. We had to think quickly, and we had to do that together.
"They had to communicate with each other and they have found solutions to the language barriers.
"They were unbelievable this game, I couldn’t have given more."
PARRIS AND WILLIAMS'S CONTRIBUTIONS
"Rachel [Williams] is amazing but both her and Nikita [Parris], a lot of their performance is about their character.
"They are both really solid people. They are good at what they do but they are also really good to have around the group. Nikita was due that [two-goal performance].
"When we first signed her, she wanted to be more ruthless. I reminded her of that in training yesterday [Saturday].
"Her positioning was excellent, her pressing was excellent. Rach is just a legend of the club. I also thought that Jayde Riviere was excellent.
"She was crossing the ball into the spaces we wanted. There is still lots to do but I am happy with the start."