Rachel Williams has said Manchester United's Women's FA Cup win on Sunday “masks the problems” they have had in the league and added that she hopes they “turn things around” next season, suggesting her team could win the Super League women (WSL).
United put aside their league woes that left them fifth in the WSL and thrashed Tottenham 4-0 in the FA Cup final on Sunday to win their first major trophy in their history.
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Ella Toone gave United the lead on the stroke of half-time with a sumptuous finish from the edge of the box before Williams doubled their lead in the second half with a well-placed header from Katie Zelem's free-kick. A double from Lucía García added further shine to United's victory.
“We don't like to admit it, but [winning the FA Cup] It masks the problems we've had,” Williams told the BBC.
“We've had some ups and downs this year. That's for Marc [Skinner] and the backroom staff would say, 'Okay, this is what we have to do in the summer.'
“We're going to have [to] change things next year. We have had some injuries, three or four cruciate ligaments, at the beginning of the season.
“That's football, teams go through a transition. You have a good year, but you have a downturn. Next year maybe we will come back bigger, better and stronger and, who knows, maybe we will be lifting the league “.
The final was played in front of a full house and United manager Skinner pointed to Toone and Mary Earps' experience of winning the Euro 2022 final with England at Wembley as a key factor in their victory.
“It's a huge factor [the winning experience]. If you haven't done it before, maybe it happened a little to Tottenham today. It's experience, you calm your thought process,” Skinner said at a post-game news conference.
“So Mary's calm… decisions can be clearer when there are no emotions blocking them. I've talked about this a lot.
“toony [Toone] He obviously scored a fantastic goal in the final, he's been here and done it before. She is focused. At that moment, she calms her body to select the right technique, the right weight, the right power. That's why it's important. Because she allows you to think about key moments and games are made of key moments and today we had two of the best to make them for us.”
While this was United's second consecutive FA Cup final, it was Tottenham's first cup final and the first time they played at Wembley. The manner of the defeat will sting, but Spurs can take heart from the fact that they reached the final and secured a top-six finish in the league just a year after narrowly avoiding relegation, a sentiment Robert Vilahamn reflected in his message to his players after the game.
“The main thing I said [to the players] It was 'this is not the end; This is the beginning,' he said in his post-match press conference.
“This is the beginning; we have learned a lot this year and we reached the final. We could have won it too, but on the other hand Man United deserved it, so yes they deserve it and we must also see it as 'What a performance they have done !
“It's okay to be angry, sad or whatever you want to be because that's part of football. You should feel that today because that's why you want to win next time. It's okay.
“But on Tuesday we will come back and make sure we have a good performance against Chelsea, then against West Ham, then we will close this year and realize that we were in the final, we were in the top six.” “We're in the league and we probably feel like we've had a pretty good year.”
