Last month we got three Spurs fans (Harsh, Hannah and Dave) to pick their March Spurs Women player of the month. This month they’re back and picking the April Player of the Month, with shouts for Jessica Naz and Bethany England.
To provide a little context for anyone who’s forgotten, in April Spurs played three matches. The first was our FA Cup Semi-final extra-time victory over Leicester City. That was followed by two draws, a 2-2 away draw with Manchester United (our upcoming opponents in the FA Cup Final) and a 1-1 home draw against Brighton.
Read Harsh, Dave and Hannah’s Player of the Month picks below. And let us know in the comments what your choice would be.
Jessica Naz
By Harsh Mishra
Tottenham Hotspur Women played three games in April and in all three games Jessica Naz had minutes leading the line. It started in the Leicester game, where she was moved up-front with the team looking for a leveller and on the verge of being knocked out of the FA Cup. She showed up big-time, finessing the ball into the bottom right corner of the goal, after running through on goal.
She has previously had a couple of good performances playing as the 9, under Robert Vilahamn. The Conti Cup group match against Arsenal probably being her best. But until the game against Leicester City, she always seemed to be Vilahamn’s Plan B. Whether it was coming off the bench around the 60th minute or getting starts against big teams, to take advantage of her pace & relentless running, but then being withdrawn. But after Leicester she started as the sole striker against Manchester United and then again last weekend against Brighton, although Bethany England moved back to the striker position around the 70th minute against Brighton and went on to score the equalizer.
We therefore have clear indications this month that Naz playing as lead striker is no longer a Plan B and she will probably start there come the FA Cup final. And even if Vilahamn changes his mind in the next week and a half, Jessica Naz, has done enough over the last months, and especially in April, to be a guaranteed starter at Wembley.
Bethany England
By Dave Puckridge
With three goal involvements in three games, Bethany England would already be a shoe-in for April’s Player Of The Month but it’s the way she’s adapted her game that has truly impressed.
England joined the club just over a year ago, coming into a side in the middle of a wretched run, devoid of confidence and about to sink into a relegation battle. Her super-heroics in front of goal single handed saved our WSL, earned her a recall in the Lionesses World Cup Squad and rightly saw her receive the captaincy under new coach, Robert Vilahamn.
Her hip injury requiring surgery at the beginning of the season threw all of that off. During her playing absence from the pitch Spurs Women rapidly developed, coalescing a style that entertained the fans, energised the players and saw much improved results. Despite not being able to contribute on the pitch, England leant into her leadership qualities, attending all the games, giving motivational team talks and being her teammates’ biggest cheerleader in training.
Her return to full form may have been slower than we all hoped but seeing her evolution from Spurs’ One Great Hope to the inspirational leader of an exciting side now approaching its first every FA Cup Final has been a joy to watch. And April has seen her play every minute, contribute two goals, one assist, cover every blade of grass, provide no-nonsense defensive cover and humbly accept the Player Of The Match award against Brighton by insisting there were better performances from her teammates shows why our Captain is so very deserving of Player Of The Month.
Jessica Naz
By Hannah Chadwick
It was a hard choice as every player has been brilliant this month but I have chosen a player that has been on her top form and giving everything to the club.
Jess Naz has recently entered the 100 club for spurs having made 100 appearances for the club. She has also been on top goal scoring form and has been involved in most of our goals this month including scoring great goals against both Manchester United and Leicester City in our FA Cup semi-final for the FA cup.
Hopefully we can see her scoring and having a massive impact against Manchester United at Wembley in our upcoming FA Cup final.
Those are the April PoTM selections from our contributors. But who would you have picked? Reply in the comments below.
And in case you missed them a couple of pieces of Spurs media from this month.
- Jess Naz talks about reaching 100 appearances for Spurs:
2. Spurs MatchDay Uncut from the FA Cup Semi-final:
Spurs Women Blog 