Marc Skinner has likened the Manchester United striker Melvine Malard’s persona to that of Eric Cantona. The head coach compared the Frenchwoman to the club’s revered former forward as he reflected on the top form Malard appears to have hit before Thursday’s decisive Women’s Champions League qualifier.
Manchester United are 1-0 down going into the second leg against the Norwegian side Brann but were boosted by Malard’s double in their 5-1 victory at London City Lionesses in the Women’s Super League on Sunday.
Malard is the WSL’s leading goalscorer, with four goals from the first two games. That is as many as her WSL total last season and Skinner described the 25-year-old, who is in her third campaign at the club, as an “extremely talented player”. Assessing Malard’s improvement he said: “She now understands the language happily, so it’s easier to translate quicker in-game for her, so she can get instruction, take it on board, and perform it.
“I’d also say, Mel is probably the most ‘Manchester United’ player I’ve ever met. And what I mean by that is, if I look and I go back – and this is a big shout – to the Eric Cantona kind of personalities; she has that personality. She can carry pressure moments and do it with a smile. And I think that psychology is what stands her apart this season.”
If United knock out Brann they will in Friday’s 11am BST draw for the new league phase of the Champions League. Arsenal and Chelsea are the WSL’s guaranteed representatives among the 18 clubs.
United will be without the defender Millie Turner, who sustained a knee injury on Sunday. Skinner said it was not an anterior cruciate, lateral collateral or medial collateral ligament injury. “We’re just looking at the knee cap,” he said. “She’s got another meeting towards the end of this week. But it’s not what people probably feared, which is good news, but once we’ve had this second opinion, we’ll discuss what it looks like.”
