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| [Screenshot via Sky Sports] |
After a lot of improvement under the management of Martin Ho, this was a really poor performance from Spurs Women. Yes, the resilience to come back from behind twice is to be admired. It certainly would not have happened last season. However, there were too many mistakes in what was ultimately a winnable game for the visitors.
The buck has to rest, to a large extent, with the head coach. He has done a great job so far. The team has probably exceeded expectations. But he got things wrong today.
Team Selection Questions
The first questions that need to be asked are about the starting eleven. Tinka Tandberg is a fantastic player, but leaving Beth England out is always a huge call. If you drop the skipper to the bench, you better win. Just ask Robert Vilahamn.
While Tandberg slotted her penalty away with typical calmness, she generally looked a bit isolated without England next to her. The two had linked up well in previous matches, making space for one another. It was one of the Norwegian’s least effective performances in a Spurs shirt.
The substitutions can also be queried. Taking Jessica Naz off within the hour is strange enough. Replacing her with Martha Thomas, whose struggles to find the back of the next are well documented, and leaving England on the bench for longer is bizarre.
Defensive Frailty
Ho said he thought his team was “in large control of the game with the ball,” but accepted “we can’t defend that way again”. That’s to say the least. Ho noted poor one-vs-one defending and giving the opponents too much space and compared it to the shambles against Man City.
“We’ve kept clean sheets in previous games. We’ve been more resilient and more aggressive in our duels, defensively we’ve been more connected,” said Ho. He added that while he thought his team pressed well higher up the pitch, “it’s when we come slightly lower down we look vulnerable.”
There were certainly a lot of gaps, and they were exploited. Ultimately, Freya Godfrey, Nikita Parris and Kosovare Asllani caused havoc, getting in behind the Tottenham defence again and again and it cost them.
Attacking Threat
Ho was insistent after the match that his side had offered a threat going forward. And he’s not wrong about that. The game was 1-1 at halftime and that certainly reflected the competitiveness of the meeting. However, the final ball from Tottenham Women was poor far too often. In the end they needed that Tandberg penalty and a brilliant Eveliina Summanen freekick to get on the scoresheet. (That freekick was a ripper, and it’s not the first time she’s done it.)
It’s worth noting that Olivia Holdt was once again hugely influential. Backed up by her bodyguards Summanen and Drew Spence, she was a part of everything good that Tottenham did. It’s not going to be enough if you leave gaping holes at the back though.
[Match highlights via Sky Sports]
Missed Opportunity
The frustration is not just about mistakes in the performance. It’s that Spurs lost to one of the “other” sides, something they had done a good job of not doing so far this season. A win would have seen them third, above Arsenal. Instead, the north London sides are on level points heading into the derby, with the Gunners ahead on goal difference.
This may just have been a blip. Ho insisted he was pleased with his team’s performance on the ball. The coach said that “there’s positives going into the next game.” Let’s hope so, because if they defend like this next week they are going to get a drubbing at the hands of Arsenal.
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