Rachel Williams said Manchester United’s Women’s FA Cup win on Sunday “masks the problems” they have had in the league, adding “things will change” next season, suggesting her side could win the Women’s Super League . WSL).
United put aside their struggles in the league, which saw them finish fifth in the WSL, and beat Tottenham 4-0 in the FA Cup final on Sunday to claim their first major title in the club’s history.
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Ella Toone gave United a first-half lead with a sumptuous finish from the edge of the box, and Williams doubled the lead in the second half with a well-placed header from Katie Zelem’s free-kick. Lucía García’s brace enhanced United’s victory.
“I hate to admit it, but winning the FA Cup overshadowed the problems we had,” Williams told the BBC.
“We’ve had some ups and downs this year. Marc (Skinner) and the backroom staff said, ‘Yes, this is what we need to do in the summer.’
“I’ll have to change things up next year. I had three or four ACL injuries at the start of the season.
“That’s football. Teams go through transitions. We’ve had a good year, but there’s been a downturn. Next year we’ll be bigger, better, stronger and maybe lift the league.”
The final was played in front of a sell-out crowd and United manager Skinner pointed to the experience of Toon and Mary Earps, who won the Euro 2022 final against England at Wembley, as a key factor in their victory.
“It’s a big factor (the experience of winning). If you haven’t done something like that before, maybe it happened a little bit today at Tottenham, it’s an experience and it calms the thought process,” Skinner said in his post-match press conference.
“So Mary’s calmness… decisions can be clearer when you don’t have emotions getting in the way of them. I’ve talked about this a lot.
“Tooney (Toone) obviously scored a fantastic goal in the final. She’s been here and she’s done it before. She’s focused. In the moment, she calms down and picks the right technique, the right weight, the right power. . Because it allows us to think in the important moments and the game is made up of important moments and those are the two best things that created for us today.”
This was United’s second successive FA Cup final, but Tottenham’s first cup final and first at Wembley. The manner of defeat may have been painful, but Tottenham can take heart from the fact that they have reached the final and are in the top six of the league just a year after narrowly avoiding relegation. Robert Villaham echoed this sentiment in his message. Players after the game.
“The most important thing I said to the players was, ‘This is not the end, this is the beginning,’” he said at the post-game press conference.
“This is the start. We learned a lot this year and got to the final. We could have won it too, but on the other hand, United deserved it so if they deserve it then we’ll do it too. ”It’s been a really great achievement.”
“It’s okay to be angry, sad or whatever they want, because that’s part of football. You have to feel it today because that’s why you want to win next time. It’s okay.
“But on Tuesday we will go back and perform well against Chelsea, then we will perform well against West Ham and then we will end the year and realize we are in the final. We are top tier. “We were sixth in the league, so you probably feel like we had a pretty good year.”
