Marc Skinner grinned. Nothing in the Manchester United coach’s face betrayed the fact that somewhere in the Leigh Sports Village terraces in front of him, a soft smattering of boos had erupted.
The sound — quiet enough not to be caught on broadcast cameras but discerning enough to warrant confiding smiles from those in earshot — brought a timely reminder before Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the Women’s Super League.
It was a game where United were second-best and had to rely on substitute Melvine Malard to salvage a late point. It was also Skinner’s 100th match in charge of the side and he reached this milestone standing just a few metres from Arsenal interim manager Renee Slegers.
Ten months ago, Jonas Eidevall celebrated his century as Arsenal head coach while a storm brewed around Skinner, with chants for the United manager’s dismissal coming after disappointing results at a time of off-field issues.
Fast forward to yesterday and it was Skinner — five months into a new one-year contract and with last season’s FA Cup under his belt — posing with the overall club’s sporting director Dan Ashworth alongside a framed United shirt with the number 100 emblazoned across.
The tables have turned, but still, Skinner’s position is far from comfortable — as that pre-game booing tells you.
Beside Skinner and Ashworth loomed an Eidevall-less Arsenal dugout, the Swedish manager having handed in his resignation last month. The words “Jonas out” had been spray-painted on a wall near Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium recently and served as their own kind of symbolism for the increasingly volatile pressure pool in which WSL managers wade.
A similar message seemed to emanate from the small but fervent collection of pre-match boos aimed at Skinner, 41, and for those doubting him, United’s performance in the game that followed will have done little to change their minds.
A promising start swiftly descended into a shapeless mess, the only stability United offered came through centre-backs Maya Le Tissier and Millie Turner and goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce. Alessia Russo, making her second appearance at Leigh Sports Village since her 2023 free-agent transfer from United to Arsenal, opened the scoring just past the hour with a scintillating goal.
The home team were limited to 10 touches in the opposition box (Arsenal had 49), four of which arrived in the first half and the other six not coming until Malard’s equaliser eight minutes from the end.
However, Arsenal do deserve some criticism for leaving the door open for their opponents to saunter through and pilfer a point. And, what’s more, United deserve some praise for fighting until the end to maintain their unbeaten start to the season. Intangibles such as grit and tenacity are over-egged in post-match managerial debriefs, but there is something to be said for unglamorous and attritional points gained despite an under-par performance.
That defensive partnership of Le Tissier and Turner was the main bright spot for United, with the duo ensuring that, despite the fact their team-mates were unable to break out from their own half for almost 25 minutes at one point in the second half, they only conceded once.
“I would probably say that they (Arsenal) feel like they should have won the game,” Skinner said. “And that’s on them, but they didn’t. We weren’t our best today. But I’m really happy that we’ve taken the point. We dug in and you ride that luck and we believe in ourselves to create chances. It wasn’t our best attacking display, but I’m really happy with the defensive display. We leave the game in a positive frame (of mind) and (with) lots to learn.”
Skinner insisted before kick-off that this match represented an opportunity to take stock, and after it there is plenty to consider.
Ella Toone’s increasingly lethargic displays on the left wing and through the middle warrant criticism, as does the catalogue of unforced errors United made as they attempted to find a way beyond Arsenal’s press in the second half. Grace Clinton, though insatiable and inexhaustible off the ball, tied herself in knots as she attempted to swirl her way through the visitors’ midfield.
Yet, while it is tempting to conflate United’s woes this season with those of the last campaign into one gummy cocktail, this squad differs from that one. So while Le Tissier and Turner’s partnership represents the WSL’s most consistent in terms of appearances together, elsewhere, things are more raw.
Forward Elisabeth Terland and winger Celin Bizet, who both started on Sunday, only arrived in the summer from Brighton & Hove Albion and Tottenham Hotspur respectively. Defender Gabby George, signed a year before from Everton, spent most of last season on the sidelines through injury. Tullis-Joyce, 28, was handed the No 1 shirt after Mary Earps left for Paris Saint-Germain in July. Clinton is only in her first full season with United’s first team after two campaigns out on loan. Defender Dominique Janssen, who joined from Germany’s Wolfsburg in the summer, also started here.
Unsurprisingly, the second-half arrivals of more experienced players such as Malard, Geyse da Silva Ferreira and Rachel Williams provided the direction United lacked in the first 45 minutes.
“Ironically enough, it was something we spoke about as a staff and players before,” Skinner said when asked about the reaction following Russo’s goal. “We didn’t know, because this is a team that’s relatively new together. It wasn’t a beautiful football game. I’m not saying that. But we (showed) that determination, togetherness, resilience. Those are the factors that balance a team.
“Arsenal have invested for many years, have lots and lots of history. And we are chasing that. But these games are tight.”
How much — and how quickly — those lessons are grasped will be the litmus test for this side.
United’s unbeaten run remains intact, they sit five points behind leaders Manchester City with a game in hand and their defensive displays are more in line with that of the 2022-23 season, when Skinner’s side took eventual champions Chelsea to the wire on the final day of the season and got to the FA Cup final for the first time.
But positive results and performances against Aston Villa and Leicester City in the league will be required before facing title holders Chelsea in three weeks’ time if Skinner is to silence those boos.
(Top photo: Charlotte Tattersall – MUFC/Manchester United via Getty Images)
