“Defy the odds”.
Manchester United Women’s slogan for the 2025-26 season is punchy and instructive.
Crafted by a member of the club’s senior hierarchy before the new season, it was meant to serve as a war cry going into a pivotal season. The team were finally in Europe but also fighting to establish themselves among the Women’s Super League’s top teams and compete with more established teams, such as Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City.
But the slogan has become a point of fascination for what it does not say.
According to those inside and close to the women’s team, who, like all those in this piece, will remain anonymous to protect their positions, the slogan has demanded a form of suspended disbelief, a conscious effort to not say the quiet part out loud: that the odds the players are being instructed to defy are, in some part, perpetuated by the club they represent.
For many seasons, United’s players have achieved more than might realistically have been expected of them and this mindset has often been the source of the tight-knit spirit forged within the squad. On Wednesday, that spirit very nearly lifted United improbably into the Champions League semi-finals when Melvine Malard’s early strike in Munich brought the aggregate score to 3-3 with 79 minutes remaining in the second leg against eight-time quarter-finalists Bayern Munich.
But in the second half, familiar cracks appeared. United emerged with a slightly deeper midfield and a team affected by fatigue and injury (United fielded just four outfield players on the bench, one of whom was 18-year-old Jess Anderson, who made her Women’s Super League debut at the weekend). Bayern emerged with an attacking energy that United failed to match or counter.
After registering six shots, four on target, in the first half, United managed just one in the second, an expected goals (xG) total of 0 and 24 per cent possession. Bayern registered nine shots and an xG of 1.45. Despite United’s valiant defence, Bayern broke through with two goals from successive corners in the final 10 minutes to seal a 5-3 aggregate victory.
Ultimately, there was only so long before corner after corner (Bayern scored from their 12th and 13th of the match) would expose a season-long weakness at set pieces.
And there is only so long you can not only hold the line but defy it, too.
Manchester United put up a strong fight against Bayern Munich but were eventually overpowered (Jasmin Walter/Getty Images)
Where does this exit leave United Women? They are now out of Europe and the FA Cup, were defeated by Chelsea in the League Cup final and are scrapping for Champions League qualification in their final three Women’s Super League matches. What are the plans in place to ensure they return to the Champions League again, in a space where they are not perennially having to defy so many odds?
Those have been the recurring questions among United Women’s hierarchy and numerous members of United’s executive team this season, according to multiple sources familiar with the conversations.
After bringing in Jess Park, Fridolina Rolfo and Julia Zigiotti Olme but being outbid on two other players over the summer, discussions around alternative ways to increase investment began, including the possibility of external backing.
The need to explore investment streams into the women’s team has been recognised within the club since INEOS bought a minority stake in December 2024, but the pace has not been swift. In 2024, United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe said that focusing on the operations and finances of the men’s setup had prevented him from fully engaging with the plan for the women’s team.
The stress placed on United’s limited squad while competing on multiple fronts this season has reinforced the need to keep up with the increasingly competitive demands in Europe and domestically..
A meeting in March was targeted as a critical point for senior personnel in the women’s setup and the executive team to have discussions with decision-makers about investment options for the women’s team, including the potential of selling a stake to an external party.
Club sources say the possibility of external investment was swiftly shut down and nothing concrete has been formulated. However, The Athletic has been told by multiple people familiar with the discussions that internal conversations remain ongoing, with final recommendations still to be made to the club’s board and owners.
As part of those conversations, a rebrand with subtle differences has also been raised, according to multiple sources familiar with the conversations, although there are no plans from senior leadership to make any such changes.
United are far from the only club considering potential investment streams for their women’s team. Last May, Reddit co-founder and Angel City co-founder Alexis Ohanian acquired a minority stake (approximately 10 per cent) in Chelsea Women for £20million ($26.4m), placing a valuation of over £200m on the women’s team. Everton Women confirmed a minority investment from Canadian-based GED Investments in December, while The Athletic reported in March that Sunderland Women were in advanced talks to sell a majority stake to U.S. investment firm Sixth Street via its women’s sport platform, Bay Collective.
The conversations remain ongoing within United partly because of this landscape but also out of growing necessity. Multiple people claim United have struggled to keep up with the changing market rates of player wages and transfer fees due to budget constraints, whereas club sources would counter this is a reflection of their sustainable approach.
At least two acquisitions in the recent January window were delayed deals they initially wanted in the previous summer window, and United have been unable to confirm one signing for the upcoming summer due to uncertainty around the squad’s recruitment budget from decision-makers in charge of the club’s overall budgets.
Throughout the season, various messages urging support have been sent to senior figures at the club, including a screenshot of United’s injury-depleted bench against one WSL rival.
Sources describe a team physically pushed to the limit because the squad is so stretched. The injury list includes defender Dominique Janssen, striker Ellen Wangerheim, full-back Anna Sandberg, forward Leah Galton, striker Elisabeth Terland and midfielder Ella Toone. Midfielder Simi Awujo was also forced off against Bayern Munich on Wednesday with what appeared to be a hamstring injury.
Ella Toone is among the Manchester United players who have been hit by injuries this season (Maja Hitij/Getty Images)
Training sessions have been reduced to tactical walkthroughs and analysis and recovery sessions due to apprehensions around potentially accruing more injuries.
However, to say there has been no investment would be disingenuous. In the five years Marc Skinner has been head coach, the club have made 37 signings. The team’s overall operating budget has increased from just under £5m in 2021-22 to £10.7m during the 2024-25 season, according to the team’s most recent accounts.
These numbers could be viewed as being a reflection of a sustainable investment model. However, some inside and outside the women’s team argue that an important distinction separates investing sustainably and investing enough to compete.
Last season, United spent £5.88m on wages, just over half of Arsenal’s £11.3m. Manchester City, who finished fourth in the WSL, reported operating expenses of £14m, £4m more than United’s budget. Chelsea have yet to report their accounts from the 2024-25 season, but their filings from the previous campaign, when they clinched a fifth successive WSL title while reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup and Champions League, indicated an overall operating budget of over £20m, double that of United’s.
In the five years under Skinner, United have finished fourth, second (a club high), fifth and third in the league. They have reached four major finals, albeit winning only one (a 4-0 victory in the 2023-24 FA Cup against Tottenham Hotspur), while losing the other three to Chelsea by an aggregate score of 6-0.
Marc Skinner has been in charge of Manchester United for five years (Jasmin Walter/Getty Images)
In the past two seasons, Skinner, who signed a new two-year deal last summer and retains the full support of the club, has managed three wins in 17 matches across all competitions against Chelsea, Arsenal and City. Manchester United have beaten Chelsea once their last in 19 attempts (an FA Cup semi-final in 2023-24), with Skinner winning and drawing once in 15 games against the west London club.
Some people close to the players and team have questioned Skinner’s ability to develop young, promising talent, stating he prefers instead to deal with established players already armed with ample senior experience.
Compared to the rest of the league, United rank lowest for minutes given to players under 21 years old. Before 16-year-old Layla Drury’s WSL debut on February 15, Skinner fielded a player under 21 years old for just 90 minutes across the whole league season. This came in the 3-0 defeat by Manchester City in November, when Wales goalkeeper Safia Middleton-Patel deputised for regular No 1 Phallon Tullis-Joyce, who had suffered a fractured eye socket.
A recurring refrain over the years — but specifically this season from sources in and close to the women’s setup — is that the “players deserve better”.
They say players receive little in the way of coaching instruction on the touchline during games and are left to improvise attacking patterns. Skinner does not get involved in much on-pitch coaching, nor does he generally lead technical sessions, instead trusting staff around him, given his obligations elsewhere.
During training sessions, these sources say some coaching staff either actively participate in sessions with the players (partly to make up numbers due to limited squad depth and injuries) or act as referees, rather than engaging in coaching.
Other people close to the team praise Skinner’s willingness to take public pressure away from the players and staff. They also say he is more tactically astute than he is given credit for, particularly given the constraints within which he is working, and is effective in the way he organises the team defensively.
The 43-year-old is also described as an efficient communicator in public and private settings, and regularly engages in one-on-one sessions with players when available.
Some players have responded well to having freedom to express themselves on the pitch but against savvier and stronger opponents in Europe and England, others have felt this method of coaching has left them vulnerable against strong opposition. In Wednesday’s second half, United struggled to offer any attacking solutions as the hosts consistently pushed them back.
United’s defending from corners and free kicks has also been criticised internally and externally this season. Long-time goalkeeper coach Ian Willcock, who was also responsible for set-piece defending and helped lead United to a WSL clean-sheets record in the 2022-23 season, was among a number of first-team staff to leave the club last summer. Willcock was replaced by former Liverpool Women goalkeeping coach Joe Potts.
This season, United have struggled to defend set pieces, losing 2-1 against Chelsea in the FA Cup fifth round following a goal in extra time from a corner and succumbing to those two late Bayern goals from corners.
“We were knocked out in all our games from a set piece, in the FA Cup and now here,” captain Maya Le Tissier told Disney after Thursday’s defeat. “It’s something we need to work on.”
Man Utd’s numbers for goals per 100 set-pieces conceded in the WSL (no data for all comps, which includes UWCL, bc data companies hate women’s football)
21-22: 2.4
22-23: 2.0
23-24: 5.5
24-25: 2.2
25-26: 4.9— Megan Feringa (@megan_feringa) April 1, 2026
Skinner’s overall tactical setups have also come under scrutiny, most notably his decision to use striker Terland as a ‘No 10’ (attacking midfielder) against Chelsea in the League Cup final or striker Wangerheim, signed in January from Hammarby, as a winger.
Wangerheim explained to The Athletic during a League Cup final media day in February that she had been told during negotiations that she would be playing in the ‘No 9’ role (centre-forward). The club later signed forward Lea Schuller from Bayern Munich.
Speaking on February 10, Wangerheim said she needed “some training sessions and games” to get used to her new position on the wing. However, the congested fixture schedule has limited Schuller and Wangerheim’s non-competitive opportunities to acclimatise to their new league. A club source said it was laid out to Wangerheim at the outset that she would, at times, be asked to play on the wing.
The emotional end to United’s debut Champions League campaign will be a difficult pill to swallow, but with three league matches remaining, United will finish the season as they started: by trying to defy the odds. A place in Europe next season will likely require them to improve on that one-win-in-19 record against Chelsea on the final day, while picking up victories against fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur and sixth-placed Brighton & Hove Albion.
How long United can hold that line beyond this season remains to be seen. Senior personnel from three clubs below United in WSL have, in conversations with The Athletic, singled out United as the team they are targeting to surpass next season, pointing not only to the financial limitations within which they operate in the transfer market but a lack of infrastructure surrounding the team.
“I’m incredibly proud of what my players are doing on resources we have,” Skinner said after their second-leg defeat by Bayern. “Because we wear Manchester United’s badge, everybody expects us to be the very best team in the world. We have that expectation too. Yet we’ve got to grow because we’re eight years old.
“You (can) give me all the flack. That’s no problem, that’s my job. But if we want to compete at this latter stage, we’ve seen what we’ve got to do, as a club. And then it’s our choice now, isn’t it?”