Manchester United season review: European highs but WSL slump shows investment needed
Derby defeats against Manchester City underlined gulf to top teams which could widen if solid foundations are not built on
“Bittersweet.” That’s what manager Marc Skinner told The Cutback ahead of the final WSL game of the season when asked how he felt looking at the season as a whole.
History was made with progress to the Champions League quarter-finals, and there was a first-ever League Cup final appearance for the club. New signings like Jess Park, Fridolina Rolfo and Julia Zigiotti Olme all made a big impact in their respective positions.
However this season, I think, will be looked back upon as a missed opportunity to kick on from the successes of 2024/25 and become an established Champions League side who are competing late into domestic competitions.
Mental and physical fatigue no doubt set in over the last few months, with individual and team performances dropping off dramatically. Is it any surprise after playing 41 games in total across the season? It was hard to recognise the team that started the season in the one that ended it, their football a shadow of the electric attacking play brought to the first few months.
With Chelsea showing struggles on the pitch, the door was open for United to grab hold of the third place in the WSL. Four times the teams met this season with United failing to win any, getting knocked out of the FA Cup after extra-time and losing the League Cup final to Sonia Bompastor’s side. Another missed chance.
United started the season with big ambitions for the year ahead, and the team’s optimism and togetherness was apparent in their early performances. There was a new-found energy and passion among players and supporters.
It was noticeable as the season progressed, though, that these qualities seemed to fade. A season of such promise and hope turned into frustration and a feeling of disillusionment among supporters. No trophy successes, no Champions League qualification, a manager under pressure and the possible departures of fan-favourite players.
Did it go to plan?
In the Champions League, I would say yes, the season went to plan. Reaching the quarter-finals and being close to making the last four was above my expectations going into the season, a run with many highs and one the team can be proud of.
In the domestic cup competitions, United failed to reach Wembley for a fourth consecutive time after losing to Chelsea in the fourth round of the FA Cup. A 1-0 victory at Arsenal did, though, secure that historic League Cup final. I predicted United to reach one final again, so from that point of view their achievements were about as expected.
It’s in the league that United’s form has suffered the biggest drop-off. Despite a promising start to the season, they finished fourth on 40 points, nine points off third-placed Chelsea. A step backwards. United failed to win a WSL game against any of the other top-five teams, and seven draws in the league certainly cost them the spot in the top three which had to be this season’s target. By that measure, the campaign cannot be seen as a successful one.
Best moments
Most of the high points came in the first half of the season, with lots of history made in the Champions League.
Going back to the beginning, there was Elisabeth Terland’s hat-trick in the second leg vs SK Brann that overturned a 1-0 deficit to see United through to the league phase of the competition for the first time. A moment that felt a big step forward for a club which had only made it to the qualifying rounds once before and on that occasion were defeated by Paris Saint-Germain.
Which leads us on to the next big high, when United welcomed PSG to Old Trafford on matchday three in the league phase. It felt like this was United’s statement to the rest of Europe that they were not a team to be taken lightly in the competition. A 2-1 victory and a resilient performance put United top of the league table after three games, and in the conversations among Europe’s elite.
The final big high also came in the Champions League, later in the competition when United swept aside Atletico Madrid in the knockout stages to reach the quarter-finals, an achievement many fans would have snapped your hand off for at the start of the season. It turned out to be comfortable for United over the two legs.
With players thriving on the European stage, it was a competition that certainly saw some of the team’s best individual and team performances throughout the season.
Worst moments?
The Manchester derby fixtures featured heavily in the 24/25 best moments - this season they feature in the worst. United lost both fixtures 3-0 and looked a mile off City in both games.
The first meeting in November came a few days after the PSG win and marked the start of a drop in performances: United went on to get beaten comfortably by Wolfsburg and Lyon in Europe while dropping points at home to Spurs in the WSL in the games following.
The reverse fixture at Old Trafford was a humiliation for the red side of Manchester. The two teams looked a world apart and City could easily have won by a much bigger scoreline.
United’s season was in the midst of an underwhelming finish at that point as they won just one of their last 10 games, a really poor way for the side to end after showing such promise in the early stages.
In those 10 fixtures United scored just six goals, lost the League Cup final, were knocked out of the Champions League and dropped to fourth in the WSL. Disappointing doesn’t even cover it.
Losing to Bayern Munich in a European quater-final is not in itself a poor result, but United will look back at that as another wasted opportunity given the chances they created across both legs.
Priorities for next season
A top-three finish in the WSL has to be the main target. Some fans would argue a new manager is needed after failing to secure that this season, and maybe the time has come when a change might be considered with the team looking stagnant as the campaign wore on.
You could also argue that with a fully-fit squad the team looked good in the early parts of the season - is that enough encouragement to give the current regime one more year?
They need to be better next season against the teams near the top, tactically and mentally. United have only picked up nine points from a possible 54 against their top-four rivals over the last three seasons, a depressing return for the fans. On the pitch, the decision-making - particularly from the forwards - has to be improved, with so many big opportunities across the season coming to nothing owing to panicked decisions in the final third. Getting more out of winter signings Lea Schuller and Ellen Wangerheim after a full pre-season with the team will also benefit the squad from an attacking point of view.
The key to any successful team is having a solid foundation and building on that. The foundations are there, but if reports of United being open to selling top scorer Terland, who has 15 goals in all competitions this season, are accurate then that would not exactly be building on those foundations. In previous seasons United have let key players go - Ona Batlle, Alessia Russo and Lucia Garcia to name three, all of whom would still be capable of making a big impact on the team now.
It feels like United get close and then have to rebuild the squad in certain areas all over again, rather than adding to the quality they have. Keeping hold of players like Terland this summer and adding signings of similar ability in the transfer window is the only way of closing the gap to the top teams in England and getting back into Europe.
Adding more squad depth has to be the priority going into next season, putting the required amount of investment into the squad not only to close the gap to the teams above, but to make sure they stay ahead of the chasing pack below.
The market is shifting, with more teams investing more and more money. Skinner has spoken about United doing it differently in their own ‘sustainable’ way, but the fear is that they must either invest now or be left behind. The Manchester United badge will only take the team so far - the investment needs to back up the history of the badge, too.
‘Mission 1’ was created as a target for United to win the WSL by 2028. If that target remains, big investment and tactical improvements have to be made going into next season, otherwise I think United will be looking over their shoulder rather than at the potential glory ahead.
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