skinner on utd future after Chelsea thrashing
Old Trafford, Manchester, UK
Old Trafford, Manchester, UK
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00:00 [SIDE CONVERSATION]
00:03 Thank you.
00:04 [SIDE CONVERSATION]
00:09 Thanks, man.
00:12 Hello, mate.
00:12 [SIDE CONVERSATION]
00:16 Hello.
00:16 Welcome to Mark's post-match press conference.
00:19 I've seen familiar faces in, but I forgot my B9,
00:21 but I don't know if I did.
00:23 Who else is there?
00:24 Yeah?
00:25 Yeah?
00:26 Hello, mate.
00:27 [INAUDIBLE]
00:32 Yeah, rubbish, aren't they?
00:34 They're rubbish.
00:36 Yeah, from our perspective, I felt
00:37 that we allowed too many individual duels to go immature.
00:45 I felt that we made too many mistakes
00:47 and really didn't make Chelsea work hard enough for them goals.
00:51 The one from the first one, we don't track the runner right
00:55 turn, and then we don't track Ramirez in the box.
00:57 It's like two mistakes, and then we get run physically.
01:00 So the one thing is done that we have.
01:04 I have to fix that going forwards,
01:06 and I have to make sure that we can't be physically outdone
01:09 in games like this.
01:10 Because I'll just straight out there,
01:13 it was nothing to do with the players' attitude.
01:15 They didn't want to lose the game.
01:17 Of course they didn't.
01:18 But Chelsea had everything, and they were right on the edge.
01:21 Because they had everything to fight for,
01:23 they were right on the edge.
01:25 That was just too much for us in the physical stakes
01:28 in this game, and something I have to fix going forwards
01:31 into the summer and beyond.
01:33 You mentioned before the cup final that you knew
01:36 what you needed to fix in the summer.
01:38 Watching that against the champions,
01:41 what's needed to win a championship,
01:43 have you learned anything else,
01:45 or have you identified anything else that needs fixing?
01:47 I mean, there's no doubt we can't lose games on physicality.
01:51 We've lost against Liverpool on physicality,
01:53 and we've lost against...
01:54 This game today was lost on physicality.
01:56 And so we cannot allow that.
01:59 You have to have a base level in order to produce a tactical plan,
02:04 and we have to be better at that.
02:05 Today, the players are honest.
02:07 They'll know what they've done today and what wasn't good.
02:10 And for half-time, the players knew it wasn't good enough.
02:12 But they knew it wasn't nothing really to do tactically.
02:15 We're a Manchester United team that have to attack.
02:17 So if we have to put 11 players on Ramirez,
02:20 they'll just find a space somewhere else.
02:22 So we have to take accountability for those individual duels,
02:26 and that's something that's going to be absolutely paramount
02:29 when I look at the planning phase for next year.
02:31 Just a final one, if you don't mind.
02:33 Obviously, it's great that the majority of the crowd stopped at the end,
02:36 but we've had a couple of really disappointing results at Old Trafford last year.
02:39 So how important is it next year that any games at this stadium,
02:43 you perform a lot better?
02:44 Yeah, I mean, regardless, we've underperformed at times in the whole season,
02:49 whether we've been at Lee or not.
02:50 So yeah, look, of course, for all of the fans, we have the best fans,
02:54 so a lot of them stay behind as well.
02:58 So yeah, it's been a disappointing performance in both of those games.
03:04 But that's something you have to grow from.
03:05 Sometimes you have to take those.
03:07 In your lowest moments, you learn the most and you get the most clarity.
03:11 And I've been in low moments before and I'll be in low moments again.
03:15 And I will learn most about our team.
03:17 And I believe I know what I need to do.
03:21 Thank you.
03:22 Mark, obviously at 6-0, do you think the scoreline reflects the gap between yourselves?
03:28 No, no, no, I don't think it reflects the gap.
03:31 I think it reflects the gap in the game, for sure.
03:35 But apart from that, the counter-attacks were aggressive, they were physical.
03:41 We knew that was going to happen.
03:43 And then you get hurt on that.
03:44 So you've got to defend those physicalities.
03:46 But yeah, apart from that, no, I don't think that's a...
03:50 We're a 6-0 away from Chelsea.
03:52 I don't think that at all.
03:56 But we do need to continue to develop the depth of our squad in order to compete.
04:02 If anybody doesn't see that, then they're not watching the game.
04:07 You know, sometimes you need to be very realistic.
04:10 And we have... there's a gap, for sure.
04:13 And we need to do all we can.
04:14 I have to use all of my coaching days and I have to use all of our 1% to try and bridge it.
04:20 So it's something that we need to look at over the summer.
04:23 Gareth?
04:25 Mark, you said obviously in the lowest moments.
04:27 Yeah.
04:28 Your lowest moment, as much as possible?
04:31 It feels like in the moment, right?
04:33 But I think it's part and parcel of a team that are trying to develop.
04:39 We're unfolding in front of your eyes.
04:42 We have to grow and we have to try things where you have to recruit more players
04:46 and you have to continue to grow so quickly.
04:48 The wedging at consistency.
04:50 We all talk about Manchester City's consistency.
04:53 It's because it's there and it's been there for a while.
04:55 Chelsea's... they're adding to their consistent bases.
04:58 We're having to catch up and then add to that consistent bases.
05:01 So over the past few years, we've had to keep evolving the squad
05:05 and we've got to get to a point where that is minimal.
05:09 I think minimal disruption.
05:10 I think this year, more than anything, the consistency's gone.
05:13 It was gone.
05:14 So it's something I need to fix, keep, and over the next few seasons,
05:18 build a consistent team that makes us able to compete on any game in any stadium.
05:24 Do you feel that obviously, you've just said you need to develop the squad more?
05:29 So that kind of goes against the consistency thing of bringing in new players.
05:32 And also, do you feel as though you've pushed this group of players up as much as you can,
05:36 considering obviously there's a limit to what this team can succeed?
05:39 It's part of a reflection point.
05:41 What I'd say is there are always... you change the context,
05:44 you change little bits, Anton, and people grow again.
05:46 So it's not as easy as that.
05:50 What I need to do is I need to go away and reflect on what we need to do as a team.
05:55 I'm not going to be emotional in this moment because it doesn't serve you.
05:59 What I need to do is I need to feel it, I need to assess it,
06:02 and I need to work with the club in order to make sure we know those areas.
06:08 I've known for a while where we fall short,
06:13 but there's also time that you need to be able to develop those areas.
06:17 And I've said to the players at the end that I need to have a summer that I need to be as ruthless as I need to be
06:24 in order to make sure we get where we want to be, and that's my job.
06:27 Finally, we're not going to speak to you for a little while now,
06:30 so was that the end of the club?
06:33 I hope not. I hope not.
06:35 There are still conversations ongoing.
06:39 At some point as a head coach you have to walk away from that situation
06:44 and allow your focus to be on the team.
06:47 Same with Mary. I've said this a long time.
06:51 Me and Mary have got a really good relationship and I hope to work with her for many years to come.
06:56 So I'm hoping that we can come to some agreement,
06:59 but I think it's important that we leave Mary out of that situation
07:03 and the two parties can continue to have conversations away from the player and the head coach.
07:08 Thank you.
07:09 Tom next.
07:10 Mark, just for the 28,000 who are here, what do you do at 6-0?
07:13 Will you say sorry to them?
07:15 Yeah, I mean, of course I do Tom. Of course I do. I'm human, right?
07:21 But also, we've got this funny thing at Manchester United, we always jump to the most negative point.
07:27 We've just produced the first trophy in the club's history of a domestic trophy.
07:31 And if you know anything about me, the resilience and drive I have in me is to continue that
07:35 and is to take this team to the next dimension.
07:38 So me as a human, of course I'm sorry to our fans because they're the most important things to us.
07:44 The most important people, part of what we do.
07:47 But also, our fans are intelligent and they understand the situation where we're at
07:53 and they understand the growth and they understand how we're going to continue.
07:55 And they know as a head coach that I will give absolutely everything, physically, mentally,
08:01 in order to get our team to where we want them to be.
08:03 Similar to Adam's question a couple of days ago, Everton slip and move fast.
08:08 I guess I'm just first going to have to ask for your thoughts on that.
08:10 I mean, you're going to have a million of those Tom.
08:12 It keeps your world going round, right? It keeps your world going round.
08:16 So, I've heard nothing and I'm sure I'd have been told if that was the case.
08:21 So, from my perspective, obviously everyone knows how important Tooney is to what we do at Manchester United,
08:26 especially me.
08:27 So, yeah, it's part and parcel to build now rather than to take away.
08:32 Thank you.
08:34 Yeah, Jim.
08:35 You spent a lot of time when Chelsea were celebrating, just looking and watching,
08:39 and it's sort of going through your mind.
08:41 Yeah, it's a difficult moment, right?
08:44 Difficult moment.
08:45 We are a team that is chasing those successes.
08:51 We're chasing.
08:52 So, you've got to face them, Jay, when you're not in your – when you lose 6-0 at home.
08:58 You have to face it.
09:00 And I'm the one that faces it, right?
09:02 So, I always face it and I always will face it.
09:05 But I think it's important that we as a collective keep making strides towards being where Chelsea were.
09:11 And I think sometimes you have to visualise where they are
09:16 and acknowledge that they've been doing it for many years and we've got to find some way.
09:23 And I've got to exhaust myself in order to find my way,
09:25 in order to bridge as many gaps as we possibly can, to get as close as we possibly can.
09:30 But I believe in myself to do that, and I believe in this team and this club
09:34 in order to put us where we want to be, which is where they are today.
09:39 Thank you.
09:41 Jaka?
09:42 You were announced yesterday that you had a new contract.
09:46 Obviously, when we spoke to you last week, you said that you're very confident of opening a second-day fray
09:52 against the game today.
09:53 How nice was it to get that announced before the end of the season, so you're not going into some uncertainty?
10:00 Yeah, I mean, the reality is I've been negotiating for a long time.
10:03 So you just don't say it right until it's... We've probably been sitting on it for a while now,
10:10 so it's already been done.
10:11 And I know people put out that we win the FA Cup, so that's what his job, and he gets it because of that.
10:16 And it wasn't that.
10:17 My performance is growing and we're growing and we're adding domestic.
10:23 And look, we're not where we want to be, guys. You know that.
10:25 You watch our team every week.
10:27 Well, some of you do.
10:28 Some of you maybe just watch the highlights and then make your own decisions.
10:32 But if you watch our game every week, we are growing.
10:35 We've had a lot of inconsistency this year.
10:37 Just one statistic that actually I'd like to talk about football more and not scandal.
10:43 I want to talk about football.
10:45 It's a club-riching heritage of football, and I want to talk about that.
10:51 And so from my perspective, I want to make sure that next season we are talking about football.
10:57 And so I've been chosen to lead this team, and I can guarantee every Manchester United fan
11:03 that I will give absolutely everything in order to deliver success to this club,
11:07 and continued over years and years and years.
11:09 But let me just stress on the final point, the days of winning five in a row I think will be gone.
11:16 And congratulations to Emma Hayes for doing that, and for Chelsea for doing that.
11:20 Because I've been in this game a long time.
11:23 People, I think, forget that.
11:26 I've seen it grow from no teams that were not professional all the way to teams that have had the advantage
11:33 because they professionalised quicker.
11:36 But what they've managed to do, Chelsea, is in the era when it has been professional,
11:39 they've still managed to deliver that situation.
11:41 So congratulations to Emma.
11:43 I wish you all the very best in the US, and now it leaves a space,
11:47 and hopefully we can fill that space going forward.
11:50 When you talk about the goals in the first half, and I think you said the word 'mature',
11:55 is that in terms of experience, in terms of what Ramirez, for example, and her power and strength,
12:00 and not learning from that, or is it something else?
12:03 So if you're playing against somebody that is really powerful, there is no way you hold her.
12:08 Because she just turns you. She uses your body weight to turn you.
12:11 We know that. We know that.
12:13 In the decisions in those moments, we've made bad decisions.
12:15 And that's where we've got to grow.
12:17 That's where the players will have to grow.
12:19 And the one thing I know about this group, they want to do that.
12:21 They want to do that.
12:23 But we will not make excuses going forward for that.
12:27 We have to learn, and we have to take responsibility for that.
12:30 But I do believe, Katherine, that they will do that.
12:33 And I believe in this group to be able to do that.
12:35 And of course we need to add to it in order to add the final pieces.
12:39 But it's an immaturity that we need to get out of our system quickly.
12:48 Just on that, in the dressing room at the moment, is there a feeling amongst the players
12:52 that they were immature and they need to learn from that defeat?
12:56 Or is it too raw to take that system?
12:58 Yeah, we need to be clear on how we use the word 'immature'.
13:02 Immature moments. Not immature in the whole of the game.
13:06 There are moments where we can control Chelsea's shape,
13:10 but we lost in the physical duels, which is where the immaturity comes in.
13:14 I have not been into the dressing room, I don't know.
13:16 But if I know this group, which I think I do, of course I'll be hurting.
13:20 And there will be players in that dressing room that, like me,
13:23 have fire from situations like this. They don't run and hide from it.
13:27 And those are the players that we need to continue to work towards success with Manchester United.
13:32 But look guys, how long have you been reporting on sport?
13:35 When you take losses and when you take it like this,
13:38 then you have to stand up because sport is about resilience.
13:41 It's about learning and pushing forwards.
13:44 Not just giving up because it's not what you want.
13:47 My psyche will never be that and our players will never be that.
13:51 Done?
13:55 That's it, thank you very much guys.
13:56 Thank you all for your time throughout the year.
13:58 I know you're not always reported nicely, but for all of you, thank you very much.
14:02 We're all part of the same circle and we're all trying to make this game grow.
14:07 And I thank you for all of your time and all of your reports, whether I like them or not.
14:12 And I hope you have a lovely summer.
14:14 See you later.
14:15 See you in a bit.
14:16 Bye.
14:17 [BLANK_AUDIO]