Man United boss Marc Skinner makes plea to club owners after defeat to Aston Villa | OneFootball

Manchester United head coach Marc Skinner issued a transfer plea to Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the senior hierarchy following the club’s defeat at the hands of Aston Villa on Saturday.

United beaten by Villa

United fell to a first defeat of the 2025/26 WSL season at the hands of Villa, who scored the only goal of the match in the first half.

Miri Taylor volleyed home the rebound from Phallon Tullis-Joyce’s weak clearance to seal the victory for Villa, who had previously not managed to beat United.

In doing so, Villa denied United the chance to close the gap to table leaders Chelsea by one point. The Reds had chances to score, with the likes of Ella Toone and Rachel Williams presented with very promising opportunities.

However, United had no answer for the visitors’ stubborn defence.

Speaking to the media, Skinner admitted that there were “little details” which dearly cost United, promising to address them ahead of the upcoming Champions League clash vs. Paris Saint-Germain.

In a separate interview with Sky Sports, Skinner called for reinforcements during the January transfer window.

Skinner issues plea

Skinner said on Sky, “We weren’t good enough. It’s as simple as that, we lacked detail and quality which is unlike us.”

“We needed a little bit of quality in certain areas, especially getting into the attack. When you don’t do that, you’re at risk of their goal.”

“They came here not to lose the game, and they’ve gone away with three points.”

Skinner continued, “I look at the team now, nothing against the team now – there’s loads of great quality, but you just need different tools. Today we needed to go beyond Villa, they were pressing everything in front and we needed to be a little bit more direct.”

“We didn’t manage to do that in the first half, we tried to play. That’s something we need to address with our recruitment.”

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