Head coach Marc Skinner says his side will need to be ‘rebellious’ in order to take down league winners Chelsea in the Adobe Women’s FA Cup Final this Sunday at Wembley Stadium.
Sonia Bompastor’s side will be chasing the domestic treble, having triumphed over the Women’s Super League by a dominant margin of 12-points to secure their sixth consecutive league title. Despite Chelsea’s clear place as favourites heading into the clash, the final offers up a strange dynamic with Manchester United being the holders of the competition.
Asked by The Halfway Line about how his squad work to manage the underdog dynamic, whilst also holding respect for their own level, Skinner said
“I think there’s a respect for Chelsea, you know they’ve achieved something incredible this season, but there’s not a fear, I don’t think there can be a fear. Events like this, and I call it an event because in a game, it’s just part and parcel of what you do in the season, but this is an event.
For us, we’ve got to be we’ve got to be fully focused and concentrate for the whole game. You know, played them twice this season and we lost to two set pieces. So two 1-0 results, two set pieces. So, that’s where we have to concentrate. Have to make sure we maximise those and the reality was, in the last game, albeit, look, I understand the context- you know, they’ve just been knocked out of Champions League, and so we understand the context. But the reality was, it was our best performance against them.
“So we are in a position where we must concentrate, must focus and just enjoy it. That’s the reality go in with. I’ve never asked our team to be underdog or use that underdog mentality. I think it’s a waste of time and waste of breath, especially for a team like us. So we know the challenge, we know how difficult they’re going to be, but we’ve got to go in there and embrace it. And I think if we embrace it, we can beat anyone. We have no doubt about that.”
Having thrashed Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 in the 2024 instalment of the competition’s final, Skinner admitted that beating Chelsea would be ‘another step up for us’ this time around.
“No disrespect to Tottenham, because they were fantastic in the run up, and obviously it beat [Man] City and so on. But you know, to beat Chelsea in the final, I think is another step for us. You know, it’s a big team, a big game, and it’s going to be tight. There’s no doubt it’s going to be a tight game, so we have to be prepared to do that. I just think that’s another step.
“But I’m really happy, I want to stress this, I’m really happy with how we’ve performed this season, where we are, where we finished, but there’s also the competitor that wants to win these games, like you have to try and want to win everything about this game. So, I’m happy with where we’re at, but we need to try and make this this other step as well, and try and beat a Chelsea in a final like this.”
After beating Chelsea in last season’s FA Cup semi-final, the team were flattened 6-0 at Old Trafford on the final day of the WSL season. The two sides faced off again just two weeks ago, when a late header from Lucy Bronze sealed a 1-0 win for the Blues at Leigh Sports Village, securing the WSL title.
Speaking about how his side have learnt to manage Chelsea’s threat and position themselves accordingly, Skinner admitted “Chelsea are the best team, and the hardest team to come up against”.
“When you come against teams that have a lot of resource, you know that they can keep bringing that challenge to you every time. So even if they dip in one area, they can change somebody to bring in for that area. That’s a challenge you have to overcome as a human and as footballer, where you’ve got to believe that no matter what’s thrown it, you can overcome it. And I think that there’s no doubt about it in this country, Chelsea are the biggest challenge for every football team, because they just naturally have got that result base behind them and statistically to show it. So whether we feel styles and football styles results wise, Chelsea are the best team and the hardest team to come against.
“But if you know anything about us, which I think you’ll know, is we’re rebels. We don’t like just accepting that. I’m a rebel, my nature is rebellious. So for me, it’s about just not accepting that, just because they have the best resource, that they have to be the best team on every occasion. And I think when you set yourself up for that challenge, and you know that you’re going to have to go through how to get the victory, if you prepare for that, then I believe that you can do something special.
“That’s something that we want to do, and that’s something that I want this team to do. Of course, I believe in our quality to be able to deliver that as well. So when we put ourselves through that hard work, we have the quality to win the game out, no doubt.”
