Manchester United manager issues spending plea following cup exits

Manchester United’s women’s team are improving season on season with investment made in the January transfer window to improve the squad ahead of crucial ties in the League Cup and Champions League.

Marc Skinner’s side would go onto end the season without silverware with a disappointing defeat to Chelsea in the League Cup final and an exit in the Women’s Champions League to Bayern Munich leaving fans to reflect.

CentreDevils exclusively revealed that Skinner could be at risk of losing his job should his side not qualify for next season’s Women’s Champions League.

Marc Skinner issues his verdict on investment in the squad

Now, in an effort to improve, the manager has issued a spending plea to the club.

Speaking following his side’s exit from the Women’s Champions League earlier this week, Marc Skinner stated: “I think we will learn from what investment is really needed to go into this level of competition for consistent years. I think we’re still learning as a club, of course, we are.

“Because we wear Manchester United’s badge, everybody expects us to be the very best team in the world. We have that expectation too. So that’s the pinch point, because we want to be the best.

“We’ve got to grow because we’re eight years old. If we want to compete at this latter stage, we’ve seen what we’ve got to do as a club. And then it’s our choice now, isn’t it?

“We have to look at what we seriously want to achieve, and we’ll learn and grow from it. Even as a club, we’re still learning. It takes, sometimes, a punch in the face to wake up.”

Manchester United had several key members of their squad missing for Tuesday’s clash in Germany with Ella Toone among a number of players to miss the game.

Injuries left Skinner with just four outfield substitutes to choose from, hindering his side as they aimed for success in the second half of the game.

Marc Skinner’s plea for recruitment

Speaking further about recruitment, Marc Skinner added: “We need to design a team of the highest-level experience.

“Having the depth needed to compete — we’ve had a taste of it now — to have the depth and the experience of that depth, is key if you want to go later in these competitions.

“I’ve loved the competition, the levels of the competition, the different experiences, but when we have eight players out currently, we just couldn’t compete enough in that second half.

“If we’d had them, I honestly think we could have gone through tonight, that’s how well we played in the first half.

“We’ve had a taste of it now. We need to design the squad with that depth of experience in order to go to that stage, if that’s what we want to do.”

The manager’s plea to the club could be seen as an effort to try and save his job, considering the club would currently miss out on qualification for next season’s Women’s Champions League given their league position (4th).

It may also be seen an a genuine effort to outline a long-term aim for the side as they build on the base that has been built and push towards success in future cup competitions.