The FA Cup final won’t answer the biggest question around Manchester United | OneFootball

The road to Wembley has taken opposing paths for Sonia Bompastor and Marc Skinner. For Bompastor, her debut season in England as head coach at Chelsea could not have gone any smoother on the domestic front, as the champions seek to complete an unbeaten treble. For Manchester United and Skinner, a return to the Women’s FA Cup final for the holders is the latest step of a tumultuous journey for the manager in the dugout, but one that he continues to lead.

There have been points where Skinner and United could have taken another turn. Last season, they reached the FA Cup final having dropped to fifth in the Women’s Super League from runners-up the year before. But their 4-0 victory over Tottenham and the club’s first major honour on a jubilant, sun-kissed day was a sign of progress, and Skinner signed a new contract extension. The critics, including any dissenting United fans, were silenced.

A second contract extension was agreed within 12 months, this one a two-year deal with the option of a further year, confirmed by the club in early April. United have rebounded from last season’s dip and will enter the Champions League qualification rounds after reclaiming their position in the WSL’s top three. While Chelsea were the runaway leaders, United were solid and consistent for most of the year, with a strong defensive record.

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Marc Skinner tries to fire up Hinata Miyazawa during Manchester United’s Super League game against Manchester City on 4 May (The FA via Getty)

Another new contract for Skinner does not necessarily mean he has been backed, though. The question that will follow United – and which won’t be answered in Sunday’s Women’s FA Cup final – is how committed the club is to closing the gap to champions Chelsea. United could rise to the occasion at Wembley, as they did against Chelsea in last season’s FA Cup semi-finals, but it wouldn’t necessarily demonstrate they are ready to compete with Bompastor’s record-breaking side over 22 games.

Winning the league, ultimately, is the target for Manchester United men’s and women’s teams in 2028 – under the umbrella of the club’s Project 150. But are United really committed to success on the women’s side? There will be a focus on whether Sir Jim Ratcliffe and senior figures in United’s football department, including CEO Omar Berrada and technical director Jason Wilcox, will be at Wembley after their notable absence from United’s historic Women’s FA Cup success last May.

“I don’t know who will be there,” Skinner said on Friday. “But I have no doubt we’ll be well represented.”

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Man Utd co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe was at the men’s FA Cup final last season but not the women’s final (Getty)

Those little indicators go a long way in projecting a club’s ambition. At Chelsea, more investment is coming, too, following the news that Alexis Ohanian, the Reddit co-founder and husband of Serena Williams, is putting in £20m for a reported 10 per cent stake. It values Chelsea’s women’s team at £200m, the figure it was sold for to a related company earlier this year in a move that raised eyebrows, given how convenient it appeared in helping Chelsea post a profit in their annual accounts.

Inviting wider investment, though, allowed Ohanian to take a seat at the table. Both he and Williams will be at Wembley on Sunday – and that is a statement in itself.

“This investment is a game-changing endorsement for the women's game but also for young girls,” Bompastor said. It’s not just about winning more titles. Ohanian said his investment was about “finally matching talent with the resources, visibility, and respect they [Chelsea Women] deserve”.

For Bompastor, who is hoping to meet Ohanian and introduce her children to Williams after a positive result on Sunday, the club’s “unapologetic ambition”, in the words of chief executive Aki Mandhar, is music to her ears. “Respect is really important,” she said.

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Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian will be at Wembley for the Women’s FA Cup final (Getty)

“Credit to them, I echo what Sonia said,” Skinner added. “It’s great. They want to be the frontrunners in showing how you invest in the women’s game. We’ve got to find a way to beat that and that’s my job.

“I don’t want people to give up because there’s money there, so I’ve got to find solutions. Hopefully more people do that and when our club is at that stage I know we’ll be looking to invest in the right ways and the right times. I have no doubt that will come. We have said that we are trying to do it sustainably.”

Meanwhile, after one of the most impressive debut seasons ever seen in English football, Bompastor has set her demands even higher next season. The 8-2 aggregate defeat to Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals has given Bompastor a reason to tell her team and the wider club that they still have a long way to go, even if they have completed an unbeaten 22-game WSL season and could win the treble at Wembley.

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Sonia Bompastor poses with the Barclays Women’s Super League trophy following Chelsea’s victory against Liverpool on 10 May (The FA via Getty)

Despite the unbeaten run domestically, the second half of Chelsea’s season has been more challenging and Bompastor’s side have relied on a series of late goals to get over the line. They have not been ruthless enough in certain games, while they have missed Lauren James and Mayra Ramirez in attack. James will play no part in the FA Cup final due to a hamstring injury, but Ramirez’s availability is a big boost.

There is also a score to settle on both sides. United have only beaten Chelsea once, with last year’s FA Cup semi-final denying Hayes and her side a shot at the double, but United have built up a series of painful defeats to them, including a 6-0 at Old Trafford and in the 2023 FA Cup final, where Skinner’s side were the better team but lost to Sam Kerr’s only goal. That season, United finished just two points behind champions Chelsea in the WSL and an edgy rivalry was developing.

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Sam Kerr scored the winner when Chelsea defeated Man Utd in the 2023 final (Getty)

But the points gap over the last two years has been 20 and 16, and it would take a big leap from United or a dramatic fall-off from Chelsea for them to be in the title hunt again next season. The FA Cup, though, comes down to one game, and a United side with a goalkeeper as good as Phallon Tullis-Joyce, a big-game player like Ella Toone and a goalscorer like Elisabeth Terland means they have to believe that anything is possible on the day.

At the same time, it would change very little. Over a season and in the future, United would still have a lot to prove.