Marc Skinner: Grace Clinton must 'balance expectations' as she navigates England future | OneFootball

Manchester United manager Marc Skinner says Grace Clinton needs to keep her sights set on enjoying football as the young midfielder continues to develop into a future England star.

The 21-year-old was on the scoresheet yet again on Tuesday evening, as she started for England against Switzerland. The midfielder's 8th minute goal was the difference in the 1-0 win over the Swiss, marking her fourth goal in six appearances for the Lionesses.

When asked by 90min about Clinton's development, Skinner was clear that the aim is for her to "just enjoy her football".

"It's about keeping her balanced", said Skinner. "I think how we balance her is just first and foremost, not getting entrenched in the expectations and all that is around what it means to play for Manchester United and England."

"She's a good character, so it's pretty easy from that point of view. It's about balancing her expectations of herself because she is a deep thinker. If we balance that, then we will see an incremental rise."

Clinton has become the talk of the town since her breakout season spent on loan with Tottenham Hotspur. The midfielder has started every game of the Women's Super League (WSL) since returning to Man United at the beginning of the 2024/25 campaign.

"We have a great habit in England at building our players up, just to try and chop them back down. So it's all about keeping her balanced," added Skinner.

Clinton scored against Switzerland on Tuesday / Visionhaus/GettyImages

Skinner was asked before about Clinton following the October international break, where she scored the winning goal to get England over the line in a 2-1 win over South Africa. Skinner echoed his intentions to nurture her talent as she continues to develop.

"You know what we're like in England? We will recognise talent, we put it on a pedestal, and then we go and try to shoot it down," he explained. "For me, what I think is really important is that you're not just enjoying watching a fantastic young player play football, but that she plays the game with enjoyment and that's why that's my job. My job is to keep Grace in that space.

"I think Grace's priority is to get better as a footballer and continue to get better. I think sometimes there is this rush to make the next superstar. We forget that actually she's a human. She just needs time to grow."