After Manchester United Women’s 5-0 thrashing of Aston Villa on Saturday, I was asked on BBC Radio Manchester if I thought the Reds were title contenders.
As the season has slowly progressed, United have been cautiously referred to as title contenders by journalists and commentators, but most fans have written them off fearing the pressure would hamper their chances of securing the top three, the goal original before the season. it started.
But is it time for us as fans to recognize that United may be ready to challenge for the title?
playing style
It’s not the first time United have sniffed WSL glory, in the 2020/21 season they headed to the league’s Christmas top, but injuries to star players such as Tobin Heath and Alessia Russo marred the second half of the season when they slipped. to room
With that in mind, despite how well the Reds have performed so far, they can take nothing for granted as they head into 2023 and will be relying heavily on their players staying injury-free to get United across the road. line in third place or more. .
Getting Champions League football next season could be the only way to retain the likes of Alessia Russo, Ona Batlle and Mary Earps, just some of the players who will soon be out of contract.
But never before have I felt the enthusiasm and confidence that I feel this season from this team. They are playing so cohesively as a unit that they are constantly hungry for more goals, even when they are winning, when in the past they may have chosen to sit out.
They are playing with freedom and style and, if they fall behind, they have shown character to come back and fight for victory.
More than that, each player is pulling their weight. In all competitions so far this season we have seen 13 different United goalscorers. They have a depth to their roster that we’ve hardly seen before.
key artists
There are some individual performances and partnerships that you can’t help but get excited about; The bonding game between Ella Toone and Alessia Russo has never been stronger and the pairing is blossoming this season. You think something good is going to happen when the two of you are on the field.
Ona Batlle is proving that she is a world-class player as she defends resolutely but creates many chances down the road and her flexibility to perform well on both ends of the pitch is an added asset for manager Marc Skinner as he tries to adapt the game from equipment. play.
United’s new signings Nikita Parris, Adriana León and LucÃa GarcÃa seem to be adjusting well and have hit the ground running. Rachel Williams, though much more experienced than some of her younger players, is like an excitable puppy when she comes off the bench and onto the field. She presses well and forces those mistakes from the opposition in the later stages of the game.
We cannot forget Millie Turner, who has recovered well after her health problem at the end of last season, while Maya Le Tissier, despite her young age, shows a lot of maturity and wisdom in her playing style.
Although her colleagues have made her life a bit easier this season, Mary Earps, brimming with confidence after her Euro Cup win with England, has pulled off some vital saves this year. Her distribution accuracy has advanced by leaps and bounds in recent years and she is a sure pair of hands, asserting her dominance on opposition set pieces, ripping crosses out of the sky.
A word of praise must be given to United captain Katie Zelem, whose delivery from set pieces has been flawless over the past two seasons and made a huge difference, particularly in the Arsenal game.
After that comeback I think United dropped the gauntlet as true challengers. They showed the league that no one is unbeatable and that they have the character and belief that they can stay behind in games, not panic, play their own game and win the United way. The game itself wasn’t the only progress we saw, it’s the fact that that game came after a loss to Chelsea, the Reds’ first and only loss of the season. In the past, that Arsenal game after the Chelsea defeat would have felt like a three-point dive for the Gunners as their season began to unravel, but this year things are different.
nothing is perfect
Of course this season hasn’t been without its mistakes and disappointments, I don’t have the rose colored glasses here. The Chelsea game was not the result that anyone expected (apart from the Chelsea fans, of course). It was supposed to be a test to see if United had improved, if they could challenge the top three.
In the first half, they showed promise, defending well and creating a couple of chances of their own.
After going 2-0 down it looked as if history was repeating itself and the Reds headed into the Arsenal game with no hope, but they put up a fight, where they hadn’t in previous seasons in this position, launching one attack and recovering one before Let Chelsea do it. his third.
Even in the Aston Villa game at Old Trafford, there were instances where United were caught in possession and if not for Earps’ heroism they could have been punished. A superior team, with a more powerful and creative striker, could have challenged them or even hidden the game from them!
The Continental Cup was a huge disappointment for everyone associated with the club. Although they rotated their squad a lot, they pulled ahead in their first two games and then sat back and let the opposition draw and ultimately lost both on penalties. This year was supposed to be a top three and cup run – that’s still possible with the FA Cup yet to start – but I’m sure everyone expected better in the Conti Cup. But could any of us have expected at the start of the season that they would perform so well in the league, being referred to as title contenders? Perhaps they sacrificed one objective to exceed another.
With the Manchester Derby just days away, United head into this game like it’s a decider, another season marker for them as to how credible they are as a top three team: But to the outside world, it’s about of how credible they are as title contenders. I have never felt so sure that this team can win, that this team deserves the three points more than Manchester City, but it will all depend on how they perform on the day.
Riot in the locker room?
This is United’s season, on the pitch they are really excelling, playing the best football they’ve ever played, but off the pitch what is the situation?
We expect those nearing the end of their contracts to be waiting to see if they secure Champions League football next year, and then hopefully they secure it. But rumor has it that not everyone gets along with the coach.
From the demonstrations in the field, you can hardly believe that to be true, but the lack of pen and paper on the part of the elite casts doubt in one’s mind as to whether there is any truth to those rumours.
The fans, while they always get behind the girls, aren’t all Marc Skinner fans either. His management style is very different from Casey Stoney, with whom many of the fans and players have established a strong relationship.
But if he’s getting results on the pitch and achieves the club’s goals this season, it may be enough to win over those doubters and perhaps persuade those players to stay. If he won the league… well, he might get a statue outside of Leigh!
In short, I think the time has come to recognize that United can win the league, we can dare to dream now but that doesn’t mean we should be disappointed if they don’t. A top three finish would be a huge win for them and we should appreciate it and celebrate if they manage to pull it off. For now, fans should take it game by game and enjoy the brilliant football the team is playing week after week.
