It wasn't beautiful. But that feels appropriate for Manchester United, a club that has navigated more in recent years than their fair share of trials and trials. Intrigue seems to follow every movement, whether it is justified or not.
And so the story unfolded as it should in Old Trafford during the penultimate weekend, while Man Utd moisture from two goals to draw 2-2 with Manchester City, in turn to protect Champions League football at the expense of their rivals for the second time in three seasons.
United only needed a draw. They were visibly desperate, but still managed to give goals for two first half to Man City defenders Laia Aleixri and Rebecca Knaak, who needed goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce to deny Kerolin a third party.
The game plan fell apart at the seams in the first 42 minutes. United was surpassed, fought, made to run faster and faster to keep pace. City was just smoother and liquid. The visitors completed more successful passes in the other half (228) than United everywhere on the field in the field (205).
But Marc Skinner seems to be comfortable to do things in the hard way. There is something convincing about it. Grace Clinton fluctuated with a header from nowhere to half the shortage and Melvine Malard arrived from the bank to complete the rescue act in the second half. A minute later, Aoife Mannion was sent away, but even that could not spoil the perfect result.
“It's huge. Moments like these make it all worth it. The next step is that we have to recruit in the right way,” Skinner reflected. “Champions League gives you that. People want to come to a Champions League team. Hopefully it will open that market for us.”
United won the price they feel that they were owing and ended up for the second time in their history above their Manchester counterparts, despite losing 4-3 on the last day to Arsenal.
City boss Nick Cushing also spoke about their performance and praised United's “Want To Win”. And it is that part, which is previously lacking, that has developed the biggest shift. Winning by scrapping and sloping and being ruthless is new. The kind of Rand Chelsea has had for years.
Skinner, recently rewarded with a new two -year -old deal, used the least players (21) and made the least changes to his starting XI (29) in the WSL. Largely because his starting selections have been performed consistently well. United defeated Man City from home for the first time in January and did this again in the FA Cup Semi -Final in April – the showpiece at Wembley is waiting on May 18.
When they take the lead, they tended to keep it, so that they only dropped two points of winning positions – the least of each team. Defensively they have shed and have so many clean sheets (13) as Champions Chelsea. The good is certainly heavier than the bad.
And yet because it is Manchester United, because the drama creates noise and chatter, because we were here two years ago when they qualified for Europe to falter in the second qualifying round, doubts linger.
Is this version, 24 months later, better equipped? Is this a team that is able to fight best? Is it a attractive enough project to ensure that the current stars want to stay and want to participate other talents of world class?
The Nitty Gritty is where questions are rightly asked. Joint afflamation cases include recruitment turnover, investments, support for the broader club, rhetoric by Ineos leader Sir Jim Ratcliffe – who has routinely undermined and perhaps even undervalued the importance of the women's teams for the worldwide brand of the club.
At last year's backend, Sky Sports was invited outside the gates of Carrington's long driveway to get an idea of ​​how the training complex, eight months after a makeover of £ 50m led by Ineos Chiefs, was stimulated.
The same renovation that the women's team has been infamous and repeated them in 'Portacabins' while the works took place, around the same time, Jim Ratcliffe referred awkward to the men's team as his “most important care”.
The insight was especially unique for a club that tends to keep outsiders on arm length. When he saw the surroundings first, it was clear what MAN Utd women want to be. The golden step at the top of the stairs to the coaching rooms – within the aforementioned 'Portacabins', which were actually smartly equipped – read “2028 Ladies Super League winners”.
That date would neatly coincide with 150 years of the club's existence (10 years of the women's team, which was only reformed in 2018). But that would mean that Chelsea goes out and also looking out the threat of Arsenal and Man City. And the scale of the Chelsea problem is great. The total expenditure of United for the 2023-24 season (£ 9 million) was less than half of Chelsea (20.2 million).
The competition statistics do not count beneficial.
Skinner says that he feels supported daily by the Ineos Working Group, including technical director Jason Wilcox, but also accepts that a greater financial obligation is needed to compete with Chelsea, Arsenal and Man City.
This season of growth and progress cannot be from a bit like 2022-23. When Man Utd Chelsea ran near the title, the Outlook seemed similar. Whispers were finally heard about it, about best-in-class players, about trophies and titles. The next campaign was a disaster that ended fifth behind Liverpool, although they won the FA Cup. Yet Skinner compared it with a “punch in the face”.
This reboot must therefore work. Man UTD must milk the chance of Champions League football for all its value, every centimeter of commercial profitability, new income areas and the ability to attract players who are previously unreachable. They must defeat rivals to be signatures by being Savvy, offering something more unique while they can maintain the core of a young, hungry team.
They must be eligible for the actual competition.
Only then can Skinner, now the longest serving current manager of the WSL, really say that it has all been worth it.