Game management key for Manchester United in FA Cup final says Skinner | OneFootball

Manchester United head coach Marc Skinner says that game management will be important when his side contest the 2024/2025 Adobe Women’s FA Cup final with Chelsea at Wembley this afternoon.

The Red Devils are set to compete in a third consecutive Adobe Women’s FA Cup final after winning the competition for the first time last season.

Manchester United’s opponents Chelsea remain unbeaten domestically under head coach Sonia Bompastor. When speaking in the pre-match press conference, Manchester United boss Skinner said that his side will go into the game without fear or an underdog mentality.

“There’s a respect for Chelsea, they’ve achieved something incredible this season, but there’s not a fear, I don’t think there can be a fear,” Skinner said.

“For us, we have got to be fully-focused and concentrate for the whole game. We’ve played them twice this season and we lost to two set-pieces, so that’s where we’ve got to concentrate and maximise those.

“In the last game, they’d just been knocked out of the Champions League and so we understand the context but the reality was that it was our best performance against them.

“We are in a position where we must focus, we must concentrate but enjoy it, that’s the reality. I’ve never asked our team to be underdogs; we know the challenge, we know how difficult it’ll be but we have to embrace it and if we do that, we can beat anyone.”

Reflecting on the benefits of last season’s maiden Adobe Women’s FA Cup final success, Skinner said that the experience helps preparation and that his side know the importance of game management.

He said “I think it’s vital [having won previously] because you don’t waste time on preparation [for trying to get a first win] during the week, you’ve already done it. I’ve got new players again that may not have done it for us but there’s enough experience in that [dressing] room to be able to produce it together.

“There will be nerves of course, that’s natural for both teams. We’ve got to structurally manage the game. You’ve got to be in the game on a consistent basis; you’ve got to stay in the scoreline and you’re either ahead or behind but you’ve got to be prepared for both.

“[Winning] gives you that understanding that you’ve had that experience and that you know how to deal with it. It takes away your thought processes about wasting emotions in the game because you’ve been there before and you’re more focused on what the outcome can be. When you’re outcome-based, outcome-focused, you just get better solutions.”

Manchester United defeated Chelsea 2-1 in last season’s semi-final by capitalising on their physical strengths. The Red Devils shocked The Blues on that occasion but Skinner says that there must be a balance between surprise tactics and structured game management.

He said “You can have an element of that [surprise] but you also have to have some predictability for your team. You can’t change the whole game plan, you just have to be prepared for everything. It’ll be scenario-based as well because you should plan for whether you’re losing, winning or drawing at whatever stage of the game. You have to be scenario-based and that’s the thing we’ve been working on and speaking about.

“The players also have to deliver their qualities. We can talk tactically but I have to put the players in a position where they feel they can give their best performance of the season. Can they give it in a one-off event? If we can marry that with those strategies, we give ourselves the best chance of winning the game.”

The 2024/2025 Adobe Women’s FA Cup final takes place at Wembley Stadium at 1.30pm this afternoon.