Faye White praises Casey Stoney's cleverly assembled Manchester United team
By Ali Rampling
Former England and Arsenal captain Faye White says Manchester United boss Casey Stoney was the type of player destined for management, and praised the manner in which she has shrewdly built her Red Devils side.
White and Stoney played together at Arsenal between 1999 and 2002 and were long-term international teammates, earning a combined 220 England caps.
When White retired from international football in 2012, Stoney took over as the Lionesses' skipper, and her predecessor admitted that the United manager's leadership capabilities stood out throughout her playing career.
"Yeah definitely," White told 90min when asked if she could tell that Stoney would one day move into management. "You knew from the way she spoke in the changing rooms, on the pitch, her knowledge that she would go on to be a good coach and clearly that that was the path that she wanted to go down."
Stoney took the reins of United's newly formed women's team in 2018, and after guiding them to promotion at the first time of asking, she has the Red Devils in the midst of a Champions League race in just their third season in existence.
United have added star quality over the last two seasons with the signings of Tobin Heath, Christen Press and Jackie Groenen, but White identified the solid base upon which the squad was initially built as key to their success.
"What she’s done with United has been amazing really and I think what she’s done well is get that balance of core players who are workers and might not necessarily be the top talent and the stars that everyone talks about but they’re the spine of the team," White added.
"And then she’s got the top internationals and is blending them well. It’s not easy to do but she’s managed to do it and it looks like a real team collective. Her backline aren’t really top international players but they’re consistent and they’re doing such a good job for her and that comes down to really picking those players who can do that. She’s done brilliantly."
This season BT Sport is showing more Barclays FA Women’s Super League matches than ever before. Watch Arsenal v Man Utd on BT Sport 2 from 6pm on Friday 19th March.