Where do Man United Women go from here? There are financial and footballing issues to address

The team were finally in Europe but also fighting to establish themselves among the Women’s Super League’s top teams and compete with more established teams, such as Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City. But the slogan has become a point of fascination for what

“Defy the odds”. Manchester United Women’s slogan for the 2025-26 season is punchy and instructive. Crafted by a member of the club’s senior hierarchy before the new season, it was meant to serve as a war cry going into a pivotal season.

The team were finally in Europe but also fighting to establish themselves among the Women’s Super League’s top teams and compete with more established teams, such as Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City. But the slogan has become a point of fascination for what it does not say. According to those inside and close to the women’s team, who, like all those in this piece, will remain anonymous to protect their positions, the slogan has demanded a form of suspended disbelief, a conscious effort to not say the quiet part out loud: that the odds the players are being instructed to defy are, in some part, perpetuated by the club they represent.

For many seasons, United’s players have achieved more than might realistically have been expected of them and this mindset has often been the source of the tight-knit spirit forged within the squad. On Wednesday, that spirit very nearly lifted United improbably into the Champions League semi-finals when Melvine Malard’s early strike in Munich brought the aggregate score to 3-3 with 79 minutes remaining in the second leg against eight-time quarter-finalists Bayern Munich. But in the second half, familiar cracks appeared.