THE LEVEL OF EXPECTATION PLACED IN THE CURRENT MANCHESTER UNITED WOMEN'S TEAM CONTINOUISLY ADJUSTED FOR NO REASON
Not there yet.” “The team needs a couple more years. We can’t expect too much from this team right now.” Two phrases that any writer in the niche of creating written articles concerning the Manchester United women’s team will most likely be used to hearing by now.
After two years from securing promotion from the Championship League to the Barclays Women's Soccer League, Manchester United has struggled to shake off the tag of being identified as a team that just is not ready to succeed. At least not for the next two seasons. A surprising, subpar, level of expectation imposed on a team who have just displayed impressive drive and quality to maintain a continued lasting hold on second place in the standings of this season's Barclays Women's Soccer League competition. From pure evidence of the expectation set for this current Manchester United team- which appears to be to do their best and hold their heads high “when” the team comes up short of securing one of the three UEFA Champions League places available in the Barclays Women’s League each season
From the evidence of the recent display shown throughout the 2020/21 season by the Manchester United Women’s team. setting low standards for the Red Devils is not exactly complimentary of the quality and drive currently present within this Manchester United team.
The Red Devils have had an up and down season, from briefly challenging Chelsea for the Barclays Women’s Trophy to sitting comfortably in the second spot of the Barclays Women’s League and now stuck in fourth place battling with rivals Arsenal to see which team end the season in second place which automatically locks in the third and final qualification spot to play in the UEFA Champions League next season.
Despite the final outcome of the season, there is evidence from the performance level displayed by the Manchester United team that might suggest the Red Devils might challenge major trophies next season.
Despite the impressive displays seen from this Manchester United team, the conversation around the Red Devils continues to repeat the same notion which is that the current Manchester United tea is miles off from becoming a team that can compete for any major trophy.
An unfortunate notion that is clearly not promoted here at Manchester United Channel because the statistic and the visual evidence seen from the performance of the Manchester United’s women’s team in this season’s Barclays Women’s Soccer League competition might prove otherwise. Despite the gradual progression seen from the team, Manchester United have gotten a lot of criticism from a few football analysts and a bulk load of criticism from the Manchester United fan base insisting that some of the current group of players in the Manchester United team are just not good enough to be Manchester United team.
The lack of sufficient top-quality players in the Manchester United roster appears to be the given reason why Manchester United continues to struggle to achieve elite success in the women’s league. Judging from pure evidence alone, the Manchester United Channel site does not share this opinion and upon recent information received here at Manchester United Channel, one player from the Manchester United team seems to be of the notion that while there are still a few steps to take, Manchester United are making strides on their way to success.
In fairness, there is always the option of looking at the situation from a realistic point of view and rooting the basis of your final opinion regarding how the current 2020/21 season has transpired based on the facts of the situation. Let’s look at the facts around the current season and see where the teams' current struggle is possibly rooted. At the very early part of the 2020/21 season, Manchester United at one point was sitting top of the Barclays Women’s Soccer League holding a two-point gap ahead of this season’s now crowned champions Chelsea.
However, the spiral that eventually seems to be the main catalyst that derailed Manchester United’s rise to the top of the Barclays Women's Soccer League table were injuries to three main players in Tobin Heath, Leah Galton and at some point, the short absence of midfielder Ella Toone and striker Christen Press at certain points this season.
Despite the recent setbacks, the Red Devils have managed to keep their hopes of qualifying for next season's UEFA Champions League competition alive.
While qualification for next season’s Champions League competition will be a big accomplishment on its own given how the season has transpired, a few Manchester United players seem to believe that Champions League qualification is not good enough with some Manchester United players insisting a club as big as Manchester United must aim higher than qualifying for Champions League football in the women's league.
"We know we have got a long way to go before we are competing and being successful in the Champions League," she told the Women's Football Show on Sky Sports.
"This year has been a massive learning curve for that. If you look at the top teams like Chelsea, something that we probably don't have at this stage is they find a way to win. They are really clinical in front of the goal and are really hard to beat defensively.
"If we can take aspects of that into next year and be better than that, then that is definitely a standard that we are looking towards."
(Amy Tunner, Sky Sports. April 4, 2021.)