Martin Ho just about passed his first test as Tottenham Hotspur Women's boss last weekend. It wasn't a great performance, far from it, but Spurs got the win thanks to a late Bethany England penalty. He will hoping that victory instils the winning feeling into a side that had not felt it for nine months.
Ho was in a positive move in his pre-match press conference on Friday. He is clearly looking forward to returning to Everton, a club he has a history with. The Toffees started the season strongly, beating Liverpool 1-4 in the Merseyside derby at Anfield and will challenge Tottenham. "We have to focus on what we can control," said Ho. He added that Everton Women, playing their first game with Goodison Park as their permanent home, will "be very dynamic on the ball. They'll be very dynamic off it. They like to have the ball."
The Spurs Women boss believes both sides have "wonderful" players. Insisting his team will "respect" their opponents. However, they "will make sure that when we go into this game, it's all about what we're going to do."
Major Test on Merseyside
There's no doubt this is a big test for Ho and his squad. West Ham were poor. Everton will provide much sterner opposition. Spurs dominated possession last week, but will have to show far more creativity this time out if they are to get anything from the game. They mustered just six shots last week, with the only one on target the match-winning penalty in the 86th minute. Kit Graham is coming back to fitness, which might help. Surely their should be a place for Maite Oroz as well?
Despite injuries to the likes of Molly Bartrip, things looked pretty solid in defence. Tōko Koga was particularly impressive. Despite being just 19-years-old she confidently came striding out of defence with the ball. (More on her another time.)
Martin Ho has been clear that this is just a start of the journey. "We can change it in six weeks," he said. "It's going to take months and months." That is undoubtedly true, but post-match the vibe seemed better than it had for much of last season.
Winning will do that.
Everton vs Spurs in WSL Team New
Everton: Brosnan, Ishikawa, Fernandez, Wheeler, van Gool, Vignola, Robinson, Snoeijs (c), Momiki, Mace, Pacheco.
Substitutes: Ramsey, Hayashi, Payne, Gago, Ladd, Weir, Stenevik, Holmgaard, Jones
Tottenham: Kop, Nilden, Naz, England (c), Rybrink, Hunt, Tandberg, Ahtinen, Spence, Summanen, Koga.
Substitutes: Heeps, Jackson, Grant, Oroz, Holdt, Graham, Gunning-Williams, Dennis
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