Why Mary Earps represents Manchester United’s all-or-nothing Women’s FA Cup final

Mary Earps threw down her gloves and let out a roar that banished the frustrations of a disappointing season, for an afternoon at least. Manchester United had finally beaten Chelsea, earning revenge for last season’s Women’s FA Cup final defeat to Emma Hayes’s side to book their return to Wembley.

Before then, as a season teetered on the brink, the holders threw everything they had at United and Earps was forced to pull off a string of brilliant saves, twice denying Lauren James, dragging United through. There were wild celebrations at full-time, but also relief and vindication. “This season has been so hard,” Earps revealed. “It’s been mentally brutal.”

Clearly, that was not the plan. United have regressed dramatically in the Women’s Super League this campaign, falling from second to fifth, from title challengers to 12 points off the Champions League places. It has brought scrutiny and dissent towards the manager, Marc Skinner, who is out of contract at the end of the month and has hardly shown that he merits a new one, with United set to be replaced by Liverpool in the top four.

The FA Cup has therefore come to represent an all-or-nothing quest for United. They will be favourites when they take on first-time finalists Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley on Sunday, but that comes with additional pressure, too. United’s season will be a failure should they lose, it will be saved if the club lifts its first trophy, six years on from the formation of the women’s team.

It is also on such margins that Earps’s own future will be decided. The England goalkeeper is also out of contract at the end of the season. Interest from Arsenal is well-known, but there are also set to be offers from top clubs in Europe for a goalkeeper named the world’s best two years in a row. Such a status demands playing at the top level, and winning trophies.

Yet there is an argument that Earps has not been the best goalkeeper in England this season. The form of Hannah Hampton and Khiara Keating in the WSL means there will be a renewed battle to be England’s No 1 this summer, ahead of the remaining European qualifiers. Hampton and Keating sit higher in the table, with Chelsea and Manchester City respectively, than Earps.

Therefore, Earps’s performance in securing United’s first-ever win over Chelsea felt significant. Trophies can be a sign of United’s ambition, but they have also been here before. Last year, Alessia Russo started at Wembley in United’s first FA Cup final. Weeks later, the England striker joined Arsenal at the end of her contract. Now  Earps is entering the same stage.

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FA Cup or not, there are irrefutable signs that United need to strengthen in the summer, while a decision on Skinner’s future will need to be made. The 41-year-old must also win over a fanbase that has taken to chanting “Skinner out” at times this season, as United failed to build on last season’s title challenge. United have lost all but one of their seven league games against top-four sides. They have dropped points against Leicester, West Ham, Brighton and, just two weeks ago, Tottenham.

For Spurs, it was an improvement on the 4-0 thrashing they suffered earlier in the campaign, and if there are clear divides between teams in the WSL table, they sit somewhere as the best of the rest. It has already been a decent debut season for manager Robert Vilahamn: Tottenham triumphed over Leicester in the semi-finals, taking advantage of the result that opened up the possibility of a cup run when they defeated Manchester City on penalties in the quarter-finals.

But Tottenham will have to perform above themselves if they are to defeat United. While Spurs sit sixth, they have won just one of their nine matches against top-half teams in the WSL this season, but a 1-0 victory over north London rivals Arsenal was the signature result of Vilahamn’s first term. The majority of their points have been picked up against teams in the bottom six.

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Such form may not matter in a cup final, however, but the loss of Grace Clinton certainly will. The 20-year-old midfielder is on loan from Manchester United and is ineligible to face her parent club, a huge blow given her performances for Spurs have seen her break into Sarina Wiegman’s England squad. United are unlikely to make the same mistake of loaning her out next season, either.

Marta Thomas, the former United forward who scored Tottenham’s extra-time winner against Leicester in the semi-finals, could return to punish her former team, however. The Scotland international left United last summer and it has proved to be an astute move for Spurs, while too many of the bigger names United brought in to replace her have not made the desired impact.

It throws forward to another big summer for United as they look to close the gap to the WSL’s best, and a historic FA Cup final that may have a bigger say in the future of their most important player. Earps’s popularity among the masses will be evident, with a second sellout crowd in as many years declared ahead of the Wembley final. And once again, all eyes will be on the England goalkeeper, both against Tottenham and in the next few weeks.