Skinner: Beardy's an incredible human
Marc Skinner conducted an emotional press conference following Manchester United's 0-0 draw against Arsenal in the WSL on Sunday, where respect was paid to the late Matt Beard.
News of Beard's passing at the age of 47 came through the night before the game at Leigh Sports Village, rocking the entire women's football world. A moment's silence was observed prior to kick-off.
Beard had steered Liverpool to successive WSL titles in 2013 and 2014 during a storied career that included spells at Chelsea, West Ham and Bristol City, as well taking him to the United States. He left a mark on everyone he came into contact with and leaves a legacy behind that won't be forgotten.
"Beardy's an incredible human," Skinner began, having faced Matt's teams many times over the years.
"He has and will continue to leave a legacy in in our game. I'm a big believer in that and I think you live on in people's memories, even when your body's not here anymore.
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"I know that I'll keep his legacy alive by talking about him all the time…I've got two of his assistants who tell me so many funny stories [from the] inside, so I think that's where we're sharing his special memory. I think he's iconic in our game. I'll go as far as saying iconic.
"He's worked up from the lowest of the lowest levels, all the way up to the very highest at the top. So for me, and it's a very sad day, but there's some solace in knowing that his memory will always live on. He was a larger than life character, it's really important that we share that so that people don't forget about that. I'm going to have a drink to him tonight."
A 'SHARED' GAME
Skinner described the game as "shared", but expressed pride in his players after a "heavy week" that saw the Reds beat Brann on Thursday to reach the league phase of the Champions League.
"I felt the triple chance [in the first half] is probably the best chances of the game, so I think we've got to take that if you're going to win this game," he reflected.
"But I was really proud of the players. I've just given them two days off, so I think they deserve it."
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MALARD IN FOR TERLAND
Skinner went on to explain that Elisabeth Terland dropped to the bench in the wake of Thursday's decisive Champions League hat-trick because he thought Melvine Malard's attributes were a good fit for the specifics of facing Arsenal.
"I think in our plans, I have to get used to rotation," the boss said. "We spoke about it [with Teri]. They don't like [not starting], they know we have to [rotate], but they don't like it. And she's been incredible and she will continue to be incredible. I said that to her at the end of the day when I had to make the tough decision.
"I just felt that Mel stretched [Arsenal's] two centre-halves a little bit better, she's unpredictable, which would then mix them up and make them uncomfortable. I just adapted it to be able to break centrally as well, and that was really the key decision behind it. And I felt it was justified. Mel had a really good game as well. But that doesn't mean that we can't use that in Teri."