“What we need to do is”: Skinner pinpoints exactly what club must do to save title objectives

Manchester United Women fell to a disheartening 0-3 defeat to Manchester City yesterday. After a fantastic start to the league season, the wheels have started to come off a little for Marc Skinner’s side. The lost 0-1 at home to Aston Villa last weekend and tasted defeat once again this Saturday. What it means now is that they are seven points behind their city rivals in the title race before December. Dominque Janssen Speaking to The BBC after the game the Dutch midfielder believed her side were far too passive in the match. She commented, “we didn’t start off great. I think we were way too passive. The goals we conceded were way too easy. We have to just assess it and look at it. We know we have to do better next time.” Revealing what the United dressing room thought of the defeat she stated, “we said it’s not good enough and we have to review it together. It’s not going to be a nice review but we have to do it to get better. The next game is coming quick so we have to get ready and go on.” Dominique Janssen stats vs Man City StatValue Goals0 Assists0 Tackles (won)1 (1) Interceptions2 Clearances3 Blocked shots1 Recoveries7 Ground duels (won)3 (1) Aerial duels (won)1 (0) Fouls1 Dribbled past1 Key passes0 Crosses (accurate)0 (0) Accurate passes72/82 (88%) Passes in opposition half (acc.)33/40 (83%) Passes in own half (acc.)39/42 (93%) Long balls (accurate)4/6 (67%) Touches92 Unsuccessful touches1 Dribbles (successful)0 (0) Possession lost12 Total shots0 Shots on target0 Shots blocked0 Source: Sofascore Marc Skinner’s thoughts Head coach Skinner echoed Janssen’s thoughts on the game and did not feel his side deserved much from the encounter. He explained, “we deserved it. We gave City those goals. It’s a set piece where we didn’t get first contact or second contact, that’s on us. Then we don’t defend a run into the box. Then we play out from the back when we should probably kick it.” Skinner added, “it wasn’t like they dominated us, that’s the scary thing. I felt this is a City team where you can get at them and I’m disappointed we didn’t do that today.” The manager also suggested that his squad is struggling to cope with the extra games that the Champions League brings. He suggested, “I’m sure it has a part to play. That’s on us and the players to come together to make sure we fix the solution.” Skinner spoke on the importance of the upcoming winter transfer window by claiming, “what we need to do is use the winter window to recruit the people we need to help to support this team.” He elaborated, “for sure, I’ve got targets all the time. I think we will continue to chip away at them. Hopefully we can bring players in who just adapt us. We need adaptation. If I could have brought that in in an earlier point then I think we could have turned the game around, even at 3-0.” Finally, he suggested that his United side were not finished in the title race and could still certainly catch City as he does not see anything “exceptional” with the team from the blue side of Manchester. Featured image Michael Campanella via Getty Images – The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Alex Browne Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Alex has a Master’s degree from Queen’s University Belfast and La Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain. Having lived in the country since 2011, Alex is The Peoples Person’s Spanish football expert and is fluent in both Spanish and Catalan. He dreams of witnessing a United captain triumphantly hoisting the Premier League and Champions League trophy in the air once more.