Why Marc Skinner has not yet picked his Manchester United squad for League Cup semi-final against Arsenal | OneFootball

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Manchester United’s English head coach Marc Skinner stands for the national anthem during the English Women’s FA Cup final football match between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley Stadium, in north west London, on May 12, 2024. (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP) / NOT FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING USE / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Manchester United face Arsenal in the semi-final of the Subway Women’s League Cup on Wednesday evening.

But as of Tuesday morning, head coach Marc Skinner was not sure which players he would be selecting in his matchday squad – giving them some extra recovery time after Sunday’s Women’s FA Cup match against Burnley.

Asked in a press conference whether 16-year-old Layla Drury would get more minutes on the pitch following her goalscoring debut at the weekend, Skinner hinted that she might.

“She did fantastically well when she came on. I can’t tell you enough, she’s got that attitude. You already know as a manager, she has this ‘I don’t care’ attitude around the challenge she’s going to face.

“And she has great physical attributes, which I think affords her great time on the field.

“So I’m not saying that she’s going to play every minute, but she puts herself in a space where she can be thought about contention even at 16. So it doesn’t mean she’s going to disappear out of the team. She might be in the squad going into this game.

“I’m yet to select it, to be honest, because we had the game the weekend, so we just had people recover today. So I would say I’ll keep her grounded anyway. That’s my job.

“But the reality is I still want her to be as effective as she has been in that game. So I’m really happy. And look, who knows, let’s see where she goes over the next few weeks and see what she does.”

Marc Skinner on managing the Manchester United squad

United have been active in this transfer window, with Sweden international Ellen Wangerheim and Germany star Lea Schuller both joining the club, and various players being recalled from loan deals.

And on the subject of managing players’ expectations now that he has a larger squad to choose from, Skinner was bullish.

“My job isn’t to keep players happy. It really isn’t. My job is to give them opportunity. Their happiness should never be just on whether they play or not, because it’s about the right opportunity to be able to play.”