Man United’s underdog tag won’t trouble Chelsea

“Their experience will grow from this moment.” Those were Manchester United manager Marc Skinner’s words after his side lost 3-0 to Chelsea in the FA Cup final last May. His side come up against the same opponents on Sunday in the League Cup final, hoping to win the competition for the first time.

Manchester United are a strange combination of contradictions. The newest of the “big four” in the English women’s game, they tend willingly to take on the underdog mantle, despite having challenged at the top for a while now. It is undeniable that their spending power remains below Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City, but surely there comes a point where you can’t keep saying that you are the new kids on the block?

That gap tends to be emphasised against Chelsea, whom United have beaten only once in their history. That came in 2023-24, when they knocked Chelsea out of the FA Cup in the semi-finals. United went on to beat Tottenham comfortably at Wembley for their first major trophy.

Yet despite that historic moment, as a weird quirk of the schedule, Chelsea have won the league on three separate occasions by beating United. Some of those results have been ­particularly humiliating, none more so than their 6-0 win at Old Trafford on the final day of that 2023-24 season. United paraded the FA Cup around the perimeter of the pitch as Chelsea celebrated with the WSL trophy, but the gloss was rather taken off.

The received wisdom is that United are getting “closer” to Chelsea, but recent performances have often been characterised by a defensive passivity. A safety-first approach may well be prudent given the lopsided scorelines of the past, but it often gives United little room for manoeuvre. It is true that in three of Chelsea’s last four wins against United, they have won by only one goal, but it is the London side who consistently walk away with the positive results.

It hardly helps that United’s co-owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, has made clear his disdain for the women’s team. It is difficult to generate a narrative about an awakening giant if the man who is funding your team is publicly saying how little interest he has in doing that. But his words appear to have created a siege mentality within the club, with the squad obviously all very united. And despite Sir Jim’s protestations, United recruited prominently this January in particular, bringing in experience (Lea Schüller), young talent (Ellen Wangerheim) and depth (Hanna Lundkvist).

“We’ve played [Chelsea] in finals before and haven’t come up with a win so we know how difficult it is,” said Skinner. “We’re not going into this final to try and be second best. We have to go into it to try and win the cup. That’s what we’re here for. That’s why you’re at Manchester United.”

The invocation of the club’s name, and the implied weight that comes with wearing the shirt, always feels at odds with how Skinner actually sets up for these games. It is undeniable that United’s standing in world football helps them attract players. But the “little guy” gimmick alongside it is a contradiction in terms. However, it has helped them get this far, into a Champions League quarter-final in the first season in which they made the main draw of the competition, a League Cup final after beating Arsenal, to second in the table and firmly in the hunt to return to the Champions League.

If they want to take the next step and beat Chelsea in a final at the third time of asking, it is time to put away the inferiority complex and play with bravery.

Photograph by Leila Coker/Getty Images