Skinner's take on Villa success

United eventually prevailed to collect maximum points at Villa Park, with the game won thanks to three late goals scored by Elisabeth Terland, Jess Park and Hanna Lundkvist. But it had been a tight contest before that against a well-drilled Villa, who gave little away in the first 70 minutes.

Julia Zigiotti’s ‘Olimpico’ goal straight from a corner had been cancelled out by Kirsty Hanson almost immediately and 1-1 was a fair score-line at the interval.

United came back out re-energised and utilised the extra quality in our squad, using the bench well to freshen things up and kick on to get away from Natalia Arroyo's side.

“I didn’t think we won the first half. We were in a lull,” Skinner told Sky Sports after the full-time whistle.

“We had words with ourselves at half-time as a collective and we decided that we needed to do a lot better in the second half. When you leave Villa in the game, they can be dangerous, but we controlled the second half much better and could have been six [goals] in the end.”

The boss believed United needed to do more of the “simple things” to be effective.

“We kept getting caught on the sides, overplaying, and we would turn down opportunity to put the ball in the box and that's where you score goals,” he said. “Then we had a moment just at the end [of the break] where I got all the players together and we just spoke about clarity.

“We spoke about the simplicity of moving from one side to the other side, rather than getting trapped in little pockets, and then that stretched [Villa] out and we’re able to use their spaces. We did that effectively second half.”

“We didn’t utilise the invasion space in the first half. We were too slow turning to play forwards, so it gave Villa defenders. We were playing inside didn’t use the width enough. We just got those cues wrong and trying to communicate on the side is always the challenge of a coach.

“The reset point is half-time where you go, ‘right, this is clarity’. And that was a difference. We used [the ball] just a little bit higher up, switched the play and then invaded a little bit with brains rather than just legs. We just controlled the spaces a lot better and moved it all over the field.” 

Zigiotti, Terland, Park and Lundkvist scored the goals, while the “incredible” Melvine Malard got two assists to claim a “deserved” Barclays Player of the Match award. But one player specifically singled out for praise by Skinner was Lisa Naalsund, who was put on for the final 24 minutes.

“I've got to say, Lisa Naalsund came on and made a massive difference as well,” he said. “She opened up spaces for Jess to drift in, she was really, really pivotal in what I thought was a dominant second half.”

‘HANNA IS VERY CLASSY’

The fourth United goal, a first-time finish from Lundkvist after an overlapping run from right-back, marked the Swede’s first goal since arriving at the club.

“Hanna’s, she’s class. She's very classy,” Skinner offered. “With the ball, without the ball, she knows what she's doing, very quiet, but knows her role and gets on with it. The goal is a great finish from that angle.”

The boss is equally pleased with the other new arrivals – Lea Schuller and Ellen Wangerheim – as they continue to bed into life as Reds.

“Really happy with them,” he said. “Lea and Ellen, they’re almost pre-season now. Lea hadn’t played since November for Bayern Munich, so we’re just getting her up to speed. Ellen… she’s learning how we play, but gives you absolutely everything.”