Marc Skinner addresses mounting speculation over his future after Spurs draw | OneFootball

Manchester United boss Marc Skinner has faced up to the mounting speculation surrounding his future at the club after his side were held to a frustrating goalless draw by Tottenham Hotspur.

Champions League hopes in tatters

Not even Ella Toone’s long-awaited return could inspire United as they produced an underwhelming performance during a 0-0 draw at Spurs.

Toone came on as a second-half substitute in place of Lea Schuller just after the hour mark for her first taste of action since the turn of the year.

But she couldn’t make a difference. Spurs were the more dominant side, registering 22 shots on goal to United’s 10. The hosts came close multiple times but were either denied by some poor finishing or heroics from goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce.

United currently sit third on 39 points, one point above Arsenal, who have three games in hand and could leapfrog Skinner and his players. Skinner bemoaned his players’ “passive” pressing and lack of energy. With Champions League qualification no longer in their own hands, United must now depend on results elsewhere to go their way

A report covered by The Peoples Person relayed that Skinner is under pressure at United, with his position set to be reviewed at the end of the campaign. When the issue was raised during his pre-match press conference, a bullish Skinner explained that he was not worried about the future.

But the draw with Spurs will probably only heighten the scrutiny on him. The noise seems to be affecting those at the club. According to The Athletic, they were blocked from asking questions in the post-Spurs press conference because of the newspaper’s “overly negative story” after the Bayern Munich Champions League exit.

Despite the club blocking The Athletic, Skinner still found himself unable to dodge questions about his position.

Skinner addresses his future

Asked about the growing criticism, he answered, “Look, I’ve said this two or three seasons ago when we finished fifth and we won the FA Cup. We came back stronger than next year, and we qualified for Champions League.”

“This year, we’ve come into the Champions League and gone to the quarterfinals, got to our first League Cup final. I’m absolutely so passionate about what we do. But we have to do some changes in the summer.”

“We have to make some changes to make sure that we can compete with what’s clearly a financial market at times, right? And we want to do it our own way. We’ve said that and we’re clear on that.”

“But we have to make sure we write those smart assignments to keep pushing this team forward.”

Skinner said of Toone’s return, “Hugely important to us.”

He added, “I think to see her back on – there’s a part in the second half where she just finds a space and Jayde plays her, it’s just that intelligence in that space and I’d have liked to have played her for longer today but she’s just building back from a long time out but the team very much welcomes her.”

United are next in action on Saturday when they face Brighton.

Featured image Michael Campanella via Getty Images

online polls

The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social