‘We want to improve on last year’ – West Ham United aiming for consistency says Skinner | OneFootball

West Ham United manager Rehanne Skinner says that her side are hoping to build on last season’s performances in the Barclays Women’s Super League.

Skinner was appointed West Ham United boss a little over a year ago. She has inherited a huge rebuilding project at the club.

The Hammers ended last season in 11th position in the Barclays Women’s Super League table after collecting 15 points from their 22 games. Looking ahead to this season, manager Skinner says that the aim is to keep improving and become more consistent.

“Last year was about changing things, creating an environment where the players can just focus on performing,” Skinner said when speaking in a West Ham United press conference. “There’s been a lot of work done behind the scenes to help that.

“We have to go into this season and fight for everything, we’ve got to be more consistent with our delivery, there are no excuses. The teams in and around us that we play against, we’ve got to be much more competitive against them.

“There is a bit more pressure on us doing well because we want to improve on last year but we also accept that off the back of last year, everyone will be writing us off as the underdogs. We need to focus on ourselves and what we want to get out of it.”

West Ham United kick-off the 2024/2025 campaign with a fixture against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon. The Hammers go into the game as underdogs but Skinner sees the occasion as a great opportunity for her players, especially for the summer additions.

She said “It’s a great way to start the season. It’s a fantastic historical venue and I think it’s a great opportunity for the new players to see what the WSL’s all about. They’ve come to this league to play these kind of games, so it’s a great opportunity.

“Collectively, the team have a fantastic togetherness and desire to be better than we were last year. We know there are some things that we want to focus and improve on going into this year. We’ve spoken about that and we’re at the point where we want to kickstart things and get going.”

West Ham United come up against a Manchester United side that were outmuscled by Chelsea in their last Old Trafford appearance in May. The Red Devils went down 6-0 to The Blues in that match. Skinner believes that both Manchester United and West Ham United can improve the physical side of their games this season.

She said “There were times where we weren’t physical enough in and around the box last year. We conceded some sloppy goals that cost us points, so it has been a focus area for us as well.

“With the players that we have back, there’s an opportunity to capitalise on that with some of those. We’ve obviously strengthened the back-line and had a change of goalkeeper as well. We want to make sure that we bring some more solidity to our defending. We’ve not got that completely right in pre-season but that’s why we had some of the tests because we needed to work and improve on those things.

“It’s an area that we feel we have some strength in but defensively, we need to make sure that we focus on our job and we are much more diligent around the box ourselves.”

West Ham United’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture at Manchester United kicks-off at 12pm on Saturday afternoon.