Skinner: Squad feels fresh

The Reds take on West Ham United at Old Trafford on Saturday in the opening game of the campaign and, after a hard pre-season, Skinner believes his side are ready for the challenge.

There have been a lot of changes in personnel over the summer with six first-team signings and several departures, but the United boss is confident, speaking to the press ahead of the game about our opponents, our style of play and whether we have any injury concerns.

WE FEEL FRESH AGAIN

“What I've seen in pre-season is I've seen a fresh commitment and energy. I've seen adaptable skill, more physicality. I felt in some of the big games, we lacked a bit of physicality. At times we could get overrun and we had to defend effectively in last-ditch stuff. When you bring new players in, it re-energises a group anyway. I feel you've got that psychological energy. I think, above all, we feel like we're together like we were in my first season, if that makes sense. I feel like they're fresh again and I feel like they're ready to go.”

WEST HAM’S STYLE HAS EVOLVED

“I think Rehanne [Skinner] is finally trying to piece together the team she wants. She's evolved the style and she did that last season, and I'm sure she'll want more results from that style. They do have that individual brilliance. They've got Vivianne [Asseyi] up top who has the ability, Riko Ueki - both have the ability to hold up, rotate and take a chance. They're going to be a danger from set pieces. They're going to be a danger from counter-attacks but also have the ability to build.

“It's what I'm excited about - the league has got better. I don't know how many signings specifically that West Ham made, but it's quite a few. There's lots of different players coming to the league, which gives it a fresh feel, and I believe that there's going to be a lot more of the upsets this season throughout all of the games, because I feel that everybody's got better. I think they're going to be difficult to play, but we've got to try and be at our best.”

WE WANTED TO TEST THEIR RESILIENCE

“I think the reality was that [the physicality] was always there. We have some physicality, of course we do, but I think [bringing in Al Stewart] was about partnering with the right kind of relationships. What I felt at times was that we could build-up brilliantly but it’s the transition parts of the game, they're harder to control. We can reposition, but it's harder to control. I feel that what we've done this season is we've got players that can react better to those situations. The uncontrollable ones, as such.

“We've had a hard pre-season. We went to the Marbella camp and we chose not to have a game based on the fact that we wanted to get different levels of fitness and psychology into our players, to test their resilience. I think we've done that but I think it's the balance in relationships, adding the midfield dynamics in just allows us different tools to unlock different games. That's what I'm going to hope that I see this season.”

I WANT US TO BE MORE FLUID

“I feel that we want to find better ways to control transition, so I will judge us on that and if we can control transitions in and out of possession. What I mean by that is if a team counter-attacks on us, we have recovery pace and the ability to regain balls higher up for us to then counter ourselves. We've always had a great pressing strategy in our team. I think we've been the best pressing team for the last two seasons, so I want to maintain that. I want to control transitions better and I want to be more adaptable in our tactical setup.

“We've used around eight different tactical shapes last year, but I want to be more fluid between those. So knowing when and why, without the coaches having to intervene, I want us to work that well, that our players go, this is the moment I need to move into this space. If we can do that, we'll cause the opponents many difficult challenges and it will give us an advantage in the game. Then it's up to us to take it.”

INJURY UPDATE

"Everybody should be up for selection, barring Evie Rabjohn. She is reacting well to  the ACL injury and she's on a road to recovery, but everybody else is up for selection  and even to the point where some players maybe have to be left out of the squad. That's part and parcel of the decision-making process when you have a bigger squad."

Tickets for the campaign curtain-raiser are still available, from £15 per adult and £7.50 for those under the age of 16.