‘No more motivation needed than Tottenham’ – Manchester United won’t switch off says Skinner | OneFootball

Manchester United head coach Marc Skinner says that the effects of his side’s historic performance against Arsenal in midweek will not impact this afternoon’s game against Tottenham Hotspur.

The Red Devils won 1-0 at Meadow Park to claim a place in the FA Women’s Continental League Cup semi-finals. Up next for Manchester United is the opportunity to tighten their grip on third place in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League with a match against fourth-placed Spurs.

When speaking in the pre-match press conference, Skinner said that while the result against Arsenal was an historic one, his side are motivated to maintain the same level of performance against Spurs.

“We could have easily gone into the Birmingham game and have gone through the motions and got a result like Arsenal got against them and then we are fired up going into that game against Arsenal,” Skinner said when speaking to FAWSL Full-Time. “For us, there is no more motivation needed than Tottenham with them being right next to us in the table and performing really, really well.

“I don’t need to remind them but I will. I will remind them what the energy looks like, what the commitment to the physicality looks like, how we can exploit the opponent and stop them exploiting us. Again, constant reminders, constant education on mindset.

“The only way that we can be tested is by testing ourselves against these really tough opponents. Where we are currently at the end of a three-game week and this is the hardest opponent that we could face in this moment, Tottenham are hungry and we need to put everything together to be successful.”

While Tottenham Hotspur are the lowest scorers in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League’s top five, they have the third-best defensive record this season. Skinner must ensure that his side strike the right balance to defeat The Lilywhites, something which the Manchester United boss feels can be achieved.

He said “We have to be authentic to who we are. It comes easy to us to play football but we have to mix our styles up. We know that Tottenham are very good defensively but more importantly, I think it is more about their commitment to each other, their commitment to defending and their positioning because there are some aspects of their game that you can exploit. What they do which is the most impressive is they defend or attack together and I love that as a coach because it shows that you are all committed to the same idea.

“For us, there is a balance at times but if we are at the highest of our intensity then regardless of it being Tottenham, we have the ability to win games of football.

“We’ve got to see what they can do, they’ve got a great counter attack and some really good players so it’ll be exciting I’m sure to see how tactically we can adapt.”

The Barclays FA Women’s Super League fixture between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur kicks-off at 12pm.