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Skinner: Le Tissier is a rock
Wednesday 08 October 2025 23:08
Marc Skinner spoke about the “character” and “mental acumen” possessed by Manchester United captain Maya Le Tissier, whose goal decided Wednesday night’s Women’s Champions League opener against Valerenga.
Le Tissier was cool, calm and collected as she converted the match-winning penalty just over half an hour into the 1-0 victory on matchday one. At the other end, the skipper put in a huge defensive performance to help preserve a vital clean sheet.
“She’s obviously a great character and she’s got a real calmness to take that penalty to calm the moment and I think it was a long wait as well,” Skinner said at his post-match press conference.
“It just shows her mental acumen to control herself and I thought she was good in defence as well tonight. She’s a rock for us and it’s fitting that she got the first goal [for United in the Champions League].”
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The boss gave an insight into Maya’s dedication to her craft.
“She’s an incredible footballer and such a driven personality as well,” he said. “She’s good at penalties, she practises them a lot as well. It just shows. She practises everything. She’s a real, real great captain for us.
“When she steps up for a penalty, I feel confident, I absolutely do. You’re at the mercy of technique, not whether the wind is blowing in the wrong direction.
“It’s technique and composure, and it’s mental acumen that I spoke about earlier. She practises them, she’s calm with them, and I trust her technique, 100%.”
WE’LL LEARN FROM THE LAST 10 MINUTES
Skinner stated his overall pride at beginning our Champions League with a win. But there are still, he said, things to improve, citing the final 10 minutes when the game became a little stretched and Valerenga had a good chance to equalise.
“We’re playing well. We’ve got to temper that, so we don’t go into arrogance. But confidence is something I want to play with a lot,” the boss explained.
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“We created a lot of chances. I think even the start of the second half, that’s got to be a goal [from Jess Park], right? So just being clinical in those moments, but all in all, I can be really proud. And [the players] can be proud of themselves.
“We said at the end, the last 10 minutes, it’s a learning block for us, we’ll all watch that back as a collective, just to make sure we can control the game a lot more than we did. We were transitioned, trying to score another goal, and really we had the control of the full game.”
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Wednesday 08 October 2025 23:08
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