One more year. Season review

After battling for the top 3 as part of the big 4 and finishing 5th, Marc Skinner was saved by either an FA Cup win or Jim Ratcliffe's ignorance.

A 1 year extension wasn't quite a vote of confidence, but it didn't demonstrate much concern about what was a categorically dreadful league campaign.

So what did Marc Skinner's Man Utd do with that 1 year?

After replacing the best full back in the league with arguably the new best full back in the league the summer before, they replaced the best keeper in the league with the new best keeper in the league and set out for redemption.

Arriving in anticipation of Mary Earps’ contract saga, Phallon Tullis-Joyce had waited patiently, watching Earps alienating herself, yelling at defenders for her own mistakes and pulling off THAT save to help us hold on against Chelsea in the FA Cup semi final. Now it was Phallon’s time to shine.

Tying with Chelsea’s Hannah Hampton for the golden glove with 13 WSL clean sheets, topping the save percentage charts and earning her first call up to the US national team, it’s been a big year for Phallon, who has been pivotal in the campaign to qualify for Europe again.

Utd started 2024/25 in front of a lacklustre crowd at Old Trafford. Following a poor campaign, signed off with a 6-0 defeat to Chelsea at the theatre of dreams, who could blame casual fans for staying away?

West Ham were much easier opposition though and a solid 3-0 win got us off to an ideal start, with Grace Clinton scoring to announce her eventual arrival following loans at Bristol and Spurs. In the 3rd and final year of her regular contract, it was a big year for player and club, who have since triggered her 1 year option in the hope of securing a longer term deal.

More expected points were picked up at Everton’s Walton Hall Park (before their subsequent move to Goodison) and at LSV against Spurs. Then came the draws.

1-1 away at Brighton had the team ruing missed chances after taking the lead on 10 minutes, only to be pegged back by former red Nikita Parris. We really should have been well clear at half time but Brighton took the initiative in the 2nd half. Later in the season Brighton also held Chelsea to a 2-2 draw and beat Arsenal 4-2 at Broadfield stadium, highlighting how tough a place it can be to visit. The story of the game was 2 points dropped though.

Following this was a 1-1 draw with Arsenal at LSV. Arsenal had the better of the action and we were lucky to escape with a draw after Melvine Malard rescued a point in the 83rd minute to cancel out Alessia Russo’s 63rd minute opener.

A week later, another LSV appearance offered a chance to bounce back against Aston Villa, who at the time languished on 2 points from 6 games, kept off the bottom only by goal difference. As if the 0-0 score line wasn’t disappointing enough, the stats painted an even bleaker story with half as many shots (5-10) and inferior accuracy (1-4 on target) and pitiful possession (41-59). The performance felt like a loss.

A much more routine performance away at Leicester allayed some fears, though 2 goals from the 23 shots at goal raised questions, then a gritty, underdog style performance away at Chelsea showed the gulf in class between the sides.

A steady end to the calendar year kept us within touching distance of the top 3, Arsenal’s slightly better goal difference keeping us just outside.

Returning from the winter break saw a 7-0 thrashing of 3rd tier West Brom in the FA Cup 4th round to ease the team back into action before a visit to the etihad that had the potential to set the tone for the rest of the season.

An inspired Ella Toone performance, aided by Elisabeth Terland’s workrate, fired Utd into a 3 goal lead, which was pegged back to 3-2 by half time. Toone thrived in front of a midfield pairing of Hinata Miyazawa and Dominique Janssen, pressing intensely along with the relentless Terland.

Utd have been vulnerable to collapse when a team starts to fight back in years gone by, but Toone completed her hattrick before the half time beers had even been finished, setting up 44 minutes of restricting city to only hopeful chances.

The New Year form continued (aside from city’s mini revenge in the League Cup) with some comfortable wins and FA Cup progression, now the norm for Utd who beat West Brom 7-0, Wolves 6-0 and Sunderland 3-1 to reach the semi final at the joie stadium to complete the 4 stadium set for the season, with the home league match set to be played at Old Trafford.

The form hit a bump though when Utd went to Anfield. A chance to beat historic club rivals (if not necessarily in the women’s game) in their historic main stadium. The exclusion of Hinata Miyazawa, the glue that holds our midfield together, showed all too well. A poor performance and worse defending saw us 2-0 down at half time and 3-0 down on 67 minutes. That common complaint of late substitutions being given too much to do in this instance, particularly when it was clear to all that something wasn’t working.

If there was a chance of catching Chelsea, and really there wasn’t, then this was the point where even the most optimistic fan would have to concede.

Convincing wins against Villa and Everton followed, before that semi final at the joie.

Goals in the 6th and 22nd minutes could easily have set up a ‘holding on’ situation, but despite 56% possession, city could only manage 8 shots to our 11 with 4 on target to our 7. Wembley was reached for the 3rd time in a row.

Drawing at West Ham before a run in against the rest of the big four was worrying, but city, sitting in 4th, failed to beat Everton the following day leaving Utd needing one win from the last three games or to avoid defeat against city at Old Trafford.

A 1-0 loss to Chelsea at LSV did little to quell the hope, despite the loss we looked every bit the equal to Chelsea. The same result, but the performance was a far cry from looking like underdogs at Kingsmeadow earlier in the season. However, this left city at Old Trafford as our best chance of securing the top 3, with Arsenal at the Emirates waiting on the final day.

It was time for Old Trafford. The three previous derbies of the season had all ended in away wins. A League victory for Utd at the etihad, an FA Cup semi victory at the joie and an LSV win for city to advance in the League Cup. Utd needed to buck the trend to prevent needing something from the Emirates.

A tidy finish from Laia Alexandri put city 1-0 up in the 38th minute, quickly followed on 42 minutes when Rebecca Knaak powered in a header from a corner.

3 minutes later Aoife Mannion, covering at right back for Jayde Riviere’s injury, picked out Grace Clinton with a cross from deep to pull one back just before half time.

Melvine Malard joined the fray on 63 minutes in an uncharacteristically early substitution from Marc Skinner, replacing Celin Bizet. It took just 5 minutes for Malard to latch onto a well won header from Elisabeth Terland who managed to make something of a hopeful high ball from Aoife Mannion. 2-2, CL qualification in sight.

A minute later, our unlikely source of creativity, right back cover, Aoife Mannion received a 2nd yellow for unnecessarily lashing out at Kerolin in city’s half.

20 minutes to go and down to 10, Utd held on to the draw and secured a top 3 finish. Arsenal’s shock defeats to Villa and Brighton after dispatching Lyon over 2 legs in the CL semi final even opened the door for a 2nd place finish, but a win at the Emirates would be needed.

With only a week before the FA Cup final and a 2 week break before Arsenal’s champions league final, caution was the priority. Early blows were traded. Utd’s January target, Chloe Kelly scored in the 2nd minute for Arsenal, Ella Toone cancelled out the opener on 13 and the game seemed tight going into the break. Within 5 minutes of the restart, Grace Clinton conceded a penalty, Arsenal converted and followed up with 2 more goals in the following 10 minutes.

4-1 down but the travelling reds were in party mode. Top 3 secured, a 3rd consecutive FA Cup final to come, this was just a warm up in the capital. The team were a little more focused though. Elisabeth Terland signed off her maiden league campaign as a red with her 10th goal of the season on 70 minutes, followed 6 minutes later by a penalty converted by the captain. 4-3 looked a little more respectable and brought some excitement to the last 15 minutes.

The season ended in defeat, but with CL qualification secured once again.

On to Wembley.

It was a dominant Chelsea performance, but we managed to keep it at bay until a rash challenge on the stroke of half time gave Chelsea the lead through a penalty, changing the dynamic of the game. It took almost another 40 minutes to extend their lead, but Chelsea looked comfortable and ran out 3-0 winners.

Utd went out to Portugal for the inaugural World 7s immediately after the season finished. An 8 team, 7 a side tournament with a focus on the players. Entrants were obliged to split any prize money with the players and coaching staff and amidst the hype, it seemed to have shades of an attempt to boost the transfer kitty.

Excitement quickly grew though as the players settled into their individual walk ons, Utd and Bayern Munich leading the vibes stakes with increasingly elaborate introductions. It was those 2 teams who fittingly made the final, with Utd finishing runners up and bringing home a decent wad of prize money.

The event showcased the squad harmony Utd seem to have and gave a platform for some younger players to shine away from the spotlight of WSL football. Available minutes were aided by roll on roll off subs.

Simi Awujo bagged a brace in game 2 and Jess Simpson scored the equaliser in game 3 against PSG. Beating city in the semis rounded off a fruitful season against the neighbours. Simi scored again in the final but Bayern came back to win 2-1.

Awujo was named the breakout star of the tournament, increasing the hype for the youngster’s 2nd season as a professional.

Towards the end of the season, Marc Skinner was handed an extension to his 1 year, tying him to the club until 2027 with an option of a further year. Qualification for the Champions League suggests that extension was earned, though many doubters remain.

This is a key season for Utd and Skinner, with much still to prove from both manager and club. Reaching the end of July with barely a whisper of transfer targets suggests tight lips or tight pockets, despite the world 7s prize money burning a hole.

The squad is young and talented, but a little thin for a Champions League campaign. A pivotal summer is quickly passing by.

With fixtures announced this Friday and the euros concluded on Sunday, all eyes will be firmly fixed on whatever the new version of the brick wall announcements is set to be.