Manchester United boss Skinner highlights importance of clean sheets in building confidence | OneFootball

Manchester United head coach Marc Skinner says that clean sheets help breathe confidence into his side.

The Red Devils have kicked-off the new season with three consecutive shut-outs in the Barclays Women’s Super League while they have recorded three wins. Manchester United enjoyed a similar start in 2022/2023 before going on to take the Barclays Women’s Super League’s title race to the final day.

Reflecting on the club’s successful season two years’ ago, Skinner said that clean sheets were a major factor and that they will again help build togetherness across the team.

“Clean sheets builds and breathes confidence,” Skinner said when speaking to the media ahead of this weekend’s fixture at Brighton & Hove Albion. “Against Tottenham, we probably gave up more chances than we would have liked but we’ve all spoken about this; Manchester United’s goalkeepers, defenders probably have to deal with about three big moments a game and the rest we do in possession and create our own.

“It’s those clean sheets that breathe the confidence and focus to know that you’re in control. The more you are in control, the better you are at being able to finish.

“This year will be about togetherness again. This is a team that wants to fight for each other, work together. I thought we did a great job in working out the problems in the first half against Tottenham and that’s the difference. If you want to be successful, you have to have a team that is willing to fix problems and not moan about them and this is what our team are doing fantastically well.

“On Saturday, Brighton will cause us problems because of the way that they play and we will have to fix them live. We have to do it calmly enough to exploit the opponent and that’s what we are going to do.”

Latest opponents Brighton & Hove Albion will play at the Amex Stadium for the first time this season at the weekend. Skinner believes that this could play a factor in the game but is anticipating an excellent spectacle.

He said “It can definitely be a factor. We felt it as well at Old Trafford, it’s consistency of the message.

“I’m sure they’re in a space where it might not affect them that much because they’ll be confident coming into this game and they should be. I’ve watched their games, they’re playing a possession-based style of football and they’ve obviously got real experienced players that really make them tick. It’s going to be one of the games of the weekend, it’ll be a tough challenge for both teams.

“From our perspective, we have to nullify as best we can but we understand that they value possession as a high metric, so if they do win in that score at the weekend but we win the game, that’s part and parcel of football. It’s a team that will try and draw you in, try and force mistakes in your press and they are very good at exploiting it.

“Dario [Vidošić] has done a great job and I think it is exciting for Brighton fans to see what they are going to do. We have to make sure that we show our experience and show the other side of the game in this moment; be as ruthless as we are at the back and in each box and try and win the game. It’ll be an exciting game for sure.”

Manchester United’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture at Brighton & Hove Albion kicks-off at 12.30pm on Saturday afternoon.