Grace Clinton inspires Manchester United’s WSL cruise against West Ham | OneFootball

Marc Skinner promised his Manchester United team would “feel different, exciting and energetic” this season. On the evidence of this opening win, there was one critical inclusion that made them look a changed side, and that was the returning Grace Clinton.

The England midfielder marked her long-awaited debut for the club with a goal and an excellent performance, highlighting why Manchester United had been so keen to retain her this summer. Clinton, who joined Manchester United in 2022 but spent last season on loan at Tottenham after a loan spell at Bristol City in the 2022-23 campaign, exerted her strength in the midfield and looked very much at home in the centre of the team.

“She looked excellent, I’m really pleased,” the Manchester United head coach said of Clinton, who made her England debut in February. “With Grace coming home, it gives us the ability to unlock pockets. It opens up the way we can play. It gives us the ability to adapt shape and adapt the system within games. That’s really important, it’s all about adapting to what the opponents give you, so we can exploit it.

“She played like a senior pro today and she wasn’t in awe of the situation, she wasn’t in awe of the stadium and she was excellent.”

Her deft second-half header from Lisa Naalsund’s expertly placed cross made the score 3-0, after first-half strikes from the Brazil forward Geyse – who West Ham felt had fouled Camila Sáez before shooting – and the left-back Leah Galton, who cut inside skilfully on to her right foot before drilling in the second. Geyse, full of confidence, also hit the crossbar with a spectacular overhead effort in the first half.

The performance will have been encouraging to their supporters after a summer of great change with the departures of key players including the England internationals Mary Earps, Katie Zelem and Nikita Parris, their top scorer last season.

But there have been exciting arrivals, too, such as that of the Norway striker Elisabeth Terland, who started the game, the Sweden full-back Anna Sandberg, who missed out with a minor knock, and the Canada midfielder Simi Awujo, who came on to make her debut as a second-half substitute. The Netherlands international Dominique Janssen also made her debut impressively in the holding midfield role.

They would also do well not to get too carried away after this result against a West Ham side who were disappointing and did not really threaten a goal until the later stages of the game, with Riko Ueki firing just over the bar from inside the area.

It has been predicted they will be in a relegation battle this season and there was fairly little evidence to suggest that forecast is inaccurate.

“I don’t think it’s worrying,” said the West Ham manager, Rehanne Skinner, whose team finished 11th last term. ”You can see how competitive we were throughout the course of the game. When everybody is available for the whole duration of games, with more depth in the squad, we will be in a better position moving forward.

“This year is about ensuring we build on what we did last year. We need to finish higher than we did last year. When we get everybody back, we’ll be in a good position.”

Header image: [Photograph: Charlotte Tattersall/MUFC/Manchester United/Getty Images]