By Harsh Mishra.
It’s been a few months since I last wrote an article in my Data Breakdown series. During that time a lot happened for me personally. I started a job and had to move across the Atlantic. That meant I was able to watch Spurs Women play LIVE. Twice! I got to see a game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the first time in my life. And to top it off, it was the historic Women’s FA Cup Semi Final. It has almost been a week since that game but the picture of Martha Thomas heading home the 118th minute winner and the stadium turning into pure bedlam is still fresh in my memories. As I am sure it is in yours.
Dress Rehearsal
Three weeks and three WSL games now separate Spurs Women from playing at Wembley for the first time in their history. The first of those three games is against the team that they are going to face in the final, Marc Skinner’s Manchester United. The last time we faced United, Spurs were arguably at their lowest point, fresh from a 7-0 thrashing at the hands of Manchester City. This time they are facing United after perhaps their highest point of the season and having won their last four games. On the other hand, United haven’t lost at home since mid December, in any competition. Their most high-profile win also coming just last weekend, when they beat Chelsea 2-1, to reach the FA Cup final. In other words, neither side can be in much better form as they face each other in what would is perhaps a dress rehearsal for the Cup Final.
Vilahamn will be able to take this opportunity to look at the possible combinations that he can field, without Grace Clinton, who is going to have to sit out both Sunday’s game and the Final. Skinner, on the other hand, might shuffle his pack even more, having played one of the biggest bluffs by starting (former Spurs player) Rachel Williams in the FA Cup Semi Final. Irrespective of what both managers have said in their press conferences, they will definitely want to play this game with an eye on the 12th of May.
What happened in the last fixture?
Our Captain, Bethany England made her come-back from injury, the last time we faced Manchester United, playing 55 minutes. At the time her return felt a little rushed and as we now know, it took England a few weeks to get back to starting games and playing well. In his pre-match press conference Vilahamn admitted that he perhaps went a little too defensive in that game, coming off the back of a 7-0 loss. He started a 442, with England and Thomas up front. Spurs failed to convert a couple of good early chances and went into half time trailing by a goal, after a defensive miscommunication. In the second half United were clinical and scored from their first first two shots, eventually running out, 4-0 winners.
United’s Strength
In my preview for the last fixture against Manchester United, I raved about Geyse and how her dribbling and carrying ability might cause issues for the Spurs’ backline. Skinner then went on to bench her and started Malard, who scored twice and assisted on another goal that day. Then, as mentioned above, last weekend he started neither Geyse nor Malard, instead going for Rachel Williams against Chelsea.
Each of Manchester United’s three striking options have a different profile and can hurt oppositions in different ways. Geyse likes to drop deep and carry the ball up the pitch herself, often drifting wide, or playing from a wide position. Malard has the box presence and can use her strength to shrug defences off, aerially or on the ground. Williams, as we are well aware, is a pressing monster and is very handy aerially. Beyond the three strikers, Manchester United have variety in wide areas. Leah Galton is more cross-heavy and is often paired with Malard or Williams or preferred in games when Skinner knows his team has to do more off the ball work and can use her deliveries into the box. Nikita Parris provides the dribbling alternative in wide areas. But despite these options, United’s main creative hub and probably the most dangerous player is still Ella Toone, who on her day can create anything from anywhere on the pitch, as she did with the second goal vs Chelsea.
What Spurs need to figure out!
Finding ways to play without Clinton is certainly one of the things Vilahamn has to figure out before the final. But there are a couple of other issues that, I feel, need to be addressed. In the recent run of games, despite winning, Spurs have not been able to create many open play chances for their ‘traditional’ strikers: Bethany England and Martha Thomas. Both of Thomas’ chances against Leicester followed closely from a corner kick. And from memory (due to a lack of good data available for FA Cup games), other than a few crosses that she was not able to get on the end of, England did not get a meaningful chance during the game. Immediately prior to the Semi Final, England had played the full 90 minutes against Bristol (the WSL’s current strugglers) yet despite scoring in the second minute, she only got one more shot all game.
Bethany England’s passing, carrying and shooting vs Bristol City
There is a sense that Spurs’ chance creation has been more transitional of late, with wingers contributing more shots than the strikers. Jessica Naz has been one of the main beneficiaries of this. She has been Vilahamn’s go-to Plan B, often deployed up front when the team is under pressure. And she has delivered more often than not. Be it with her relentless pressing or runs in behind. Her equalizer against Leicester was the crescendo of her recent performances, and she once again showed that she can deliver under pressure.
Just like United, therefore, Spurs have the option of using multiple strikers with different profiles up front. But they need to find ways to create chances. That means not simply relying on Naz’s pace to dig them out when facing bigger teams. Rather, they need to find ways to create more open play opportunities for Thomas and England. But with just three games to prepare for the FA Cup Final, it will be interesting to see what Vilahamn does. Is he going to double down on Naz as the main striker with England/Thomas as the 10, or will he retain Naz as Plan B, while looking for new ways to create more for his traditional strikers?
Thank you for reading.
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