Abbie McManus (Man City) agrees to sign for United Women
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
Go Abbie!
Good signing for us, a top defender with the kind of experience that our backline will benefit from. There was a lot of chatter around her when it was first announced that she had decided to leave City, so no surprise to hear it confirmed.
She's a local (Prestwich) which is nice and of course hearing it confirmed now gives us another one to watch this summer - she's with England at the World Cup.
She's a local (Prestwich) which is nice and of course hearing it confirmed now gives us another one to watch this summer - she's with England at the World Cup.
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Whoever is behing the transfer plans here should also look after the mens team. Women team are more organised.
Great signing for United, more experience at the back.
Aren't a lot of the moves in free transfers which makes it much easier?
It's really really heartening to see our last two signings were United fans who are living their dream. A dream which wouldn't have been possible two years ago.
Great stuff.
Great stuff.
Yes. They have shorter contracts and move about more freely it seems.
They are. Most women players (even the internationals) are only on one or two year contracts, so most moves happen fast, and fees are still comparatively rare. Knowing that United were on their way up may have helped slow down a couple of renewals of course.
Welcome aboard, Abby!
I’m not going to go down the ‘Manchester-is-blue’ Carlos Tevez way (ok, I just did), so I’ll not dwell upon how it warms the heart to hear a player leaving City for Man United saying the words ‘childhood dream’. (I’m finished now.)
I’ll rather take the occasion to observe that the ‘homecomings’ of several players last season, and both of the new additions so far, shows the meaning of the arguments for United reestablishing their women’s team. I think half the team now were seen donning the red, white and black as children, and are now fulfilling their dreams.
Oh, sod it, I am real romantic, I am!
I’m not going to go down the ‘Manchester-is-blue’ Carlos Tevez way (ok, I just did), so I’ll not dwell upon how it warms the heart to hear a player leaving City for Man United saying the words ‘childhood dream’. (I’m finished now.)
I’ll rather take the occasion to observe that the ‘homecomings’ of several players last season, and both of the new additions so far, shows the meaning of the arguments for United reestablishing their women’s team. I think half the team now were seen donning the red, white and black as children, and are now fulfilling their dreams.
Oh, sod it, I am real romantic, I am!
Is she in any way related to our previous owner?
Crikey I can't imagine an experienced male player moving from City to United without a lot of acrimonius name-calling.
Is it a cliche or is the whole atmosphere around women's football less tribal and more sociable- basically far less idiots make up the supporter base?
Very pleased for her.
Going to be a big test next season.
Going to be a big test next season.
I think there's more acknowledgment of the fact that the women have to keep moving. I also think even the City fans know that United are going to try and get ex-United players (like Ella Toone who joined us last year) and players with United fan families (like Abbie). That said there were plenty of snake emojis etc in the Twitter responses to her moving, so it's not that fundamentally different.
I human nature is still what it is. I had no idea that the women's game is dominated by such short-term contracts. Must be very unsettling.
Outside the top three (Arsenal, City, Chelsea) I think most of the women are on one year contracts - some on shorter ones.
The game's in transition from part-time to full-time. Historically most players had other jobs (Abbie worked in a butchers shop, Chamberlaine has a Sports Science MSc and worked as a lecturer). So they'd sometimes have to move for their combined jobs, or for family reasons.
Players contracts can be terminated with three months notice if they get injured/ill. Clubs disappear from the League overnight when funding fails. It all adds up to a lot of uncertainty, and a lot of moving around for most players.
Jesus, that doesn't even sound legal. I can see why a lot of the top English players look to move abroad.
Nice interview with Abbie and a couple of other England players here:
https://www.ourgamemag.com/2019/06/...es-style-of-play-and-the-guardiola-influence/
They talk about playing out from the back (she completed more passes than the entire Argentine team in the first half the other night), messages she's swapped with Casey during the tournament, and being a United fan.
Inspiration:
“There are people like John Stones and Vincent Kompany you look up to but my heroes from day one have always been Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidić, I’ve never seen a partnership like that since. Rio’s composure at playing out from the back and Vidić’s unbelievable ability in the air is always something I’ve driven for.”
https://www.ourgamemag.com/2019/06/...es-style-of-play-and-the-guardiola-influence/
They talk about playing out from the back (she completed more passes than the entire Argentine team in the first half the other night), messages she's swapped with Casey during the tournament, and being a United fan.
Inspiration:
“There are people like John Stones and Vincent Kompany you look up to but my heroes from day one have always been Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidić, I’ve never seen a partnership like that since. Rio’s composure at playing out from the back and Vidić’s unbelievable ability in the air is always something I’ve driven for.”
Here’s to Turner/McManus reaching those heights!
She did well coming on early against Scotland, and apparently didn’t do much wrong against Argentina, so far so good for her.
Young English player coached by through and through United Golden Era player, seems Casey Stoney is taking the lead that Ole Gunnar Solskjær is following. Maybe she talked to Woodward in december?
This statement entirely vindicates the decision to form the professional women's team. The fact we've had talented Manchester-based United fans with no choice but to aspire to wear City blue is an absolute disgrace. I'm glad we've finally stepped up, welcome Abbie.
Will she be part of the squad playing in Oslo against Vålerenga?