Skinner’s verdict on Villa victory

Monday 16 August 2021 08:31

Manchester United Women's head coach Marc Skinner was pleased with the progress his side made during Saturday’s 2-0 win over Aston Villa in pre-season.

The Reds continued preparation for the upcoming Women’s Super League campaign with victory over the top-flight Villans courtesy of first-half strikes from Martha Thomas and Kirsty Hanson at Carrington. 

Skinner was impressed with the work done by his side across the 90 minutes, in our second pre-season friendly of the summer following last weekend’s draw with Liverpool, and says it was another positive afternoon as the team continue to build-up to next month’s big kick-off. 
Highlights: United Women 2 Aston Villa 0 Video

Highlights: United Women 2 Aston Villa 0

United Women recorded a first victory under Marc Skinner in pre-season on Saturday. Here are the decisive goals...

Our new head coach praised the work done by his players during the victory over Villa when speaking to MUTV post-match. 

“[It was] wonderful. We’re going to take a lot of steps, we’re going to take a lot of steps forward, backwards, but it’s just about feeling where we are as a group,” the former Birmingham City and Orlando Pride boss said. 

“The first 25 minutes was something really positive, it showed the style and quality of the players. I think we had control throughout a lot of the game and to have that in game two is really, really encouraging. 

“But I think more credit to the players because to take on and adapt your style is not easy, but they’re taking it head on and giving the best they can and I’m really proud of that.”
 
Both of our friendlies so far in this pre-season campaign have been played behind closed doors at the training ground, but Skinner insists that the fans have never been out of the Reds’ thoughts. 

The new head coach insists there is a real determination among the group to develop an identity in this team that the fans can continue to be proud of. 

“We want to make them excited. There’s no doubt you have to come to a club like Manchester United, with a wonderful heritage of attacking football, and we want to add to that.

“We want to be able to do it in our style and our own way [but we want to] give the fans something to be super excited about.  

“What I want our players to be is fearless. We’re going to play some brilliant teams, Villa have got some really top-class players, so for us it’s about creating our own style where we’re fearless and we become the Man United machine that we want to be.”
 
Video
Watch Marc Skinner's full post-Aston Villa reaction here.

A game that a number of supporters will be able to attend is our visit to Rangers on Thursday (17:00 BST) for our next outing in pre-season at the Scottish side’s training base.  

The fixture is the headline event of a week-long training camp for the Reds up in Scotland, and it is a week that Skinner is looking forward to.

Our new head coach says it will be the perfect opportunity for him to get to know the players better, while it is a great chance for the group as a whole to continue to gel ahead of the new campaign.  

“It’s more important to see them outside of the training hours because we get to know each other. I’m a very personable person, I love to get to know people so that I can get the best out of the player,” he explained. 

“This is going to be the most important thing to me, to connect with the players, see what makes them tick, see what gets the best out of them and just spend time in their company. 

“It’s about connections and if we can create the best connections on and off the field, we’re going to have a team that will be really proud and pleased to watch for our fans.”

United fans can still purchase tickets for our friendly against Rangers, with the limited number available to access here.


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