Marc Skinner calls on Man United players to maintain ‘standards’ despite dominant Liverpool win | OneFootball

Manchester United Women head coach Marc Skinner has called on his team to maintain their high levels throughout the entire match, after they cruised to a 2-0 win over Liverpool.

Victory saw United climb to the top of the Women’s Super League table after first half goals from Hinata Miyazawa and Ella Toone.

After the match, Red Devils boss Skinner reflected on the performance, praising the intensity and quality of play in the first half whilst acknowledging areas for improvement.

“First half we were electric,” Skinner said. “I think we blew Liverpool away in the first half. Second half I felt we dropped our intensity a little bit, probably too comfortable.

“I just reminded the players of that at the end of the game in the huddle. Our standards are to keep that level, but at half-time we only spoke about positive things around how we needed to continue.

“It could’ve been one of those games where we didn’t score when we were on top but I think Tooney’s goal hurt them a little bit more than they knew.

“If you want to win games of football comfortably you need to win by four today. I’m really proud at how we kept the opponent to limited shots today.

“We defended really well as a team, but once you get to a certain level with increasingly high standards, our intensity has to maintain second half if we want to make sure we win the game.”

Skinner was also candid about the team’s ambition and desire for even greater dominance.

“It was a mix between when to increase intensity and keep the ball. I think we had a good mix, we had 70 per cent possession to 30 per cent in the first half.

“We dominated with that, but we were also incisive with our passing and dribbling, we were quite aggressive. The only thing missing was turning that aggression into that little slick moment to turn into a moment of opportunity.

“Just the last move of each part was missing, but I really like when we play with that intensity.”

This result marked only United’s second league victory over Liverpool in their last five WSL meetings.