Marc Skinner lamented what he felt was the officials being too focused on ‘trying to cull our passion’ rather than addressing their concerns.
On this occasion the reason for that passion was a penalty decision that went against United late on in their defeat to Chelsea in the Adobe Women’s FA Cup. The 2-1 defeat means that United have been knocked out of the FA Cup having made the final for three seasons in a row prior to today.
Following the defeat at Kingsmeadow, Marc Skinner spoke to the media and The Halfway Line was there to hear from him.
Marc Skinner bemoans officials ‘trying to cull our passion’
Marc Skinner was frustrated with the officiating following the defeat to Chelsea. In the final moments of the match the ball seemed to strike the arm of Chelsea’s Sandy Baltimore but no penalty was given. Skinner explained what he saw,
“When you zoom in. Look, her arm is out and it strikes her arm and it should be a penalty” Skinner affirmed.
When asked if he raised this with the officials, Skinner replied,
“You’re not allowed [to speak to the officials]
“[They are] too busy on the side trying to cull our passion rather than actually [addressing that] our passion [is] because of the decision.”
“I’m just so proud of the way the players performed, they gave absolutely everything, dead on their feet. I wholly believe that there is a penalty there at the end for us, I think they got away with one.”
Skinner ‘so, so proud’ of his United charges
Despite his disappointment, Skinner was upbeat about how his Manchester United team have performed of late. Prior to today’s defeat his side had won eight on the bounce,
“It’s hard to take but I can’t question anything about the players” Skinner noted with pride.
“They have hardly been able to train this week in order to conserve their energy levels. So to do what they’ve done today and give Chelsea a game right till the end of extra time I think is fantastic.
“I want to say how proud I am of the team. So, so proud of the energy, they’ve left everything on the field. When a team does that, you can go for five or six games on the bounce, and coming up against a fresh team and still doing what we’ve done today, and I’m really proud.
“Even though we lost, I’m really proud of the performance.”
