Marc Skinner's Manchester United women have been dealt huge setbacks both on and off the pitch ahead of the 2024/25 season
(Image credit: Getty Images)
In order to build and generate success at any club, keeping hold of your best players remains one of the highest priorities.
Look at the great teams across world football at present. Real Madrid, Manchester City, and even Bayern Munich to a certain extent. Having a core group of players who understand what it means to represent the badge forms a basis for what to expect and how to reach the very top.
But what is going on at Old Trafford with Marc Skinner's side this summer can only be described as catastrophic. Elite players leaving, kicked out of their training base and the future of other stars up in the air, INEOS are making a real mess regarding Manchester United's women's team and here is why...
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Selling Manchester United women's best players
Manchester United Women's captain Katie Zelem is one of three huge names leaving the club this summer (Image credit: Getty Images)
Captain, local hero and Mancunian star, Katie Zelem typifies exactly what Manchester United is.
But joining Lucia Garcia, Mary Earps, Alessia Russo and Ona Battle of recent years to have been let go, Skinner's side has let a core group of their best players leave for free. Why you ask? Perhaps it has to do with their views on which direction the club is heading, but having recently won the Women's FA Cup and played their first-ever competitive match in the Champions League, all their exits are frankly inexcusable.
It remains baffling considering the sheer support Manchester United garnered at some of their matches this season, with a whopping 76,000 in attendance to watch them at Wembley for the second successive year back in May.
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But with no real replacements being brought in, losing some furniture you can accept, but when it happens time and time again, you often have to look at the root of the problem.
Kicked out of their Carrington hub
Manchester United Women's team have been booted out of their purpose-built building at Carrington (Image credit: Martin Rickett)
Just when you think you have a home, despite as mentioned, the furniture is missing in places, no one expects to be booted out especially after you deliver success.
With Carrington undergoing major redevelopment, Manchester United's Women's team have been told they will now have to use portacabins to make way for the men's team next season.
Just when you think the Red Devils are getting somewhere, you are served a polite reminder as to how cut-throat the attitude remains to the women's game, as I am sure Skinner and his side are feeling ahead of pre-season.
Surely better planning could have been implemented to help avoid one of the biggest clubs in the world, striving for success and better all-round behaviour, not embarrass themselves like they have this week, according to reports from The Guardian.
Quickly falling behind
Chelsea continue to prove their might in women's football (Image credit: John Walton)
Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, you could even argue Liverpool, are catching up in women's football.
And whilst Manchester United continue to falter, a top-three finish could be out of the question again as we approach the new season in the WSL. With the PFA also stepping in to question what is going on at Carrington are we seeing a dinosaur-like approach from Sir Jim Ratcliffe?
“We haven’t gone into that level of detail with the women’s football team yet," the INEOS billionaire told Bloomberg recently. "We’ve been pretty much focused on how do we resolve the first-team issues, in that environment, and that’s been pretty full-time for the first six months.”
A lack of care? Negligence? Whatever is happening, it doesn't look good at Old Trafford, or Carrington for that matter, for Manchester United once again...
Mark White is the Digital Content Editor at FourFourTwo. During his time on the brand, Mark has written three cover features on Mikel Arteta, Martin Odegaard and the Invincibles, and has written pieces on subjects ranging from Sir Bobby Robson’s time at Barcelona to the career of Robinho. An encyclopedia of football trivia and collector of shirts, he first joined the team back in 2020 as a staff writer.
