By Rachel Cohen

The January transfer window ended at midnight last night. During it four players have joined Tottenham and six have left (four on loan; one permanent departure; one loan recall).

That means we are now two transfer windows into Vilahamn’s tenure as manager, so it is a good time to take stock of what Spurs’ squad looks like. This article does this, going position-by-position to consider what options the manager now has.

Most recent window.

Incoming: Wang Shuang; Charli Grant; Matilda Vinberg; Amanda Nildén (loan with option).

Outgoing: Shelina Zadorsky (loan: West Ham); Ria Percival (loan: Crystal Palace); Grace Pearse (loan: Charlton); Asmita Ale (loan: Leicester); Angharad James (perm: Seattle Reign); Zhang Linyan (loan recall).

Continuing loans: Lenna Gunning-Williams (to Ipswich); Nikola Karczewska (to Bayer Leverkusen).

Ongoing injuries: Drew Spence (out since November with a hamstring); Luana Bühler (thigh, but on the bench last game); Ashleigh Neville (twisted ankle injury, 3-5 weeks from late Jan).

Read full squad list with contract length here.

Style

Robert Vilahamn plays a very consistent style, with Spurs typically lining up in a 4231, although this sometimes looks like a 442. In selection Vilahamn prioritises players who are good on the ball, whether that involves passing or dribbling. The team seeks to play out from the back but are also willing to play passes over the top to strikers or wingers. He has repeatedly emphasised that the point is to outscore opponents, and the priority is goalscoring rather than clean-sheets.

You can read more tactical analysis of Vilahamn’s set up in Harsh’s data breakdowns of Spurs games.

Keeper

In the first half of the season – up until the two pre-Christmas games against Manchester City and United – Becky Spencer was the first-choice keeper. Spencer has been at the club since the first season in the WSL (2019-20). Previously she played at numerous WSL teams (including Chelsea) and more recently had a great 2023 World Cup with Jamaica. Barbora Votíková, arrived this summer, but up until December had only played in cup games, mostly against lower league opposition. Then, after a good cup performance against Arsenal, and Spencer’s mistakes against the Manchester teams, Votíková got a WSL start and was player of the game in the WSL North London Derby. She has kept the starting position since then, despite mistakes in a couple of games (mostly borne of miscommunication with a changing backline), with Spencer’s only 2024 minutes coming away at Southampton.

Spencer is clearly superior on the ball, with the confidence to take on an onrushing attacker (a confidence that is most often, but not always, justified). But she is weaker at shot-stopping and is notably poor at penalties. Votíková’s distribution is pretty good with long-ball success that is similar to Spencer’s, but she is less confident with the ball at her feet. This is compensated by her shot stopping.

When she came to Spurs Votíková was something of an unknown, having been out injured at PSG for almost a season. From what we have now seen there’s evidence that she could end up a very good keeper, but there are parts of her game to iron out still, including communication with the backline. Conversely Becky is a known entity. With some aspects of her game world-beating, but also limitations. She has also had repeated periods of injury and so unlikely to be a long-term option as number one. Third keeper, Eleanor Heeps has not played enough minutes to have a clear opinion on her.

This is therefore a position in which there remains more short and long-term uncertainty than most others.

Central defence

This is the position in which the squad is currently thinnest. The good thing is that – once current injuries clear up (which they look to nearly have done) – there is typically little need fro within-game substitute centre backs.

Molly Bartrip is Spurs’ vice-captain and has played every minute of every WSL game this season as well as almost every minute for the preceding two seasons. Of our centre back options she is both the most confident on the ball and most consistent defensively. Although not left-footed, she currently plays on as left centre back. Bartrip’s strengths include positioning, willingness to fight for every ball and distribution. Her passing has improved a lot this season and she is currently at 89.5 percent pass completion. Her main limitations are a lack of speed and aerial vulnerability (most clearly revealed in defending Bunny Shaw). But she is a player who has developed her game under Vilahamn and is flourishing.

The right centre-back position was in early season taken by Luana Bühler, who formed a nice partnership with Bartrip after joining the club in the summer. Despite Vilahamn noting her lack of English, communication seemed good. Like Bartrip she is calm on the ball, with a nice ability to produce diagonals that break the lines. But Bühler suffered a thigh injury late in 2023 and was out for a few games. Before that, she also looked vulnerable against Leicester and against the Manchester teams as well as early on against Arsenal, perhaps related to the recurrance of this injury. Replacing her, Amy Turner offers more defensive solidity and tackling ability if less distributional quality. Turner was excellent against Arsenal at WHL. Unfortunately she seems strangely prone to defensive errors, the most recent a miscommunication with Votíková produced an own goal for Manchester City.  

We have seen Eveliina Summanen and Ash Neville both filling in here. In neither case was it a great success, with even Turner’s detractors happy to see her back in the lineup. It is possible that one or both of Summanen or Neville might adapt, but in both cases they are first choices in other positions and so using either at centre back reduces the team’s strength elsewhere. With Bartrip seemingly a lock for starter having the options of Bühler and Turner should be enough for this season, but this is clearly a position in which we would want to strengthen next summer.

Full back

Had you asked pre-Christmas full back would probably be the position that most Spurs fans pointed to needing to strengthen. But strengthen we did.

If we’re talking Tottenham full backs it is impossible not to start with Ashleigh Neville. First off, with the departures of Angharad James, Asmita Ale, Grace Pearse and Shelina Zadorsky, Neville is the only player to have played at full-back for Spurs in any pre-Christmas game and to still be at the club. A natural right back, Neville has for most of this season (and some of previous seasons) played at left-back. She is known for her hard tackling (she has topped the league in tackles made and successful tackles across the past three seasons), as well as her interceptions, driving runs, dribbling and occasional bangers. She has also been at Spurs since the team’s first promotion to the Championship (2^nd tier), going professional relatively late (at age 25). As such it is hard to overstate how impressive it is that as the team has undergone dramatic changes and improvements, with multiple waves of recruitment, Neville continues to find new levels.

Neville is now joined by Charli Grant (aged 20) and loanee Amanda Nildén (aged 25). Nildén especially looks silky smooth on the ball, with a lot of speed. While Grant’s physicality is perhaps her most notable attribute. We have also already seen Grant score a goal inside the box from a set piece. Both Grant and Nildén are attacking fullbacks, and both have a lot of scope to grow in and with this team (assuming Spurs exercise the option on Nildén’s initial loan). Expect us to see one of these two starting at left-back with Neville at right-back. But with Neville injured (and likely out for most of February) we may have a few games in which we see Grant on the right.

We also got a glimpse of Ramona Petzelberger (normally a midfielder or winger) playing at right back late in the game against Manchester City. Vilahamn may see her as the new Angharad James (insofar as she’s a midfielder who seems relatively comfortable in defence should it be needed and suggested as much in his most recent press conference). Expect this to be mostly as late cover, but it provides comfort that there is a fall-back option with James leaving the club.

Central midfield

Spurs’ two Finnish players have pretty much nailed down the starting berths in central midfield. Bringing a mix of steel and polish Eveliina Summanen and Olga Ahtinen have a lovely partnership that provides defensive cover and creative options. Both know where they are going to pass the ball before they receive it and with them on the field Spurs play through the middle of the pitch more fluidly and more rapidly. Summanen has always had the ability to get stuck in (in ways all fans love) and, a sign of how frustrating she is to opposition players, is regularly getting fouled. This year, playing within a more organised structure we have seen her distribution come to the forefront. Ahtinen, new in the summer, has become Spurs’ fulcrum, her pinpoint passes, creating chances.

Competing for these spots are Kit Graham and Ramona Petzelberger. Both had previously played further forward and neither got many minutes in early-season. But then the Finns were injured, and both took their chance and put in good displays, especially in the two North London Derbies. Graham is very strong on the ball and is able to make direct driving runs. She also has a weirdly good aerial game (for someone who is not tall), while Petzelberger is a tidy passer of the ball but also happy to put in a tackle.

With Angharad James’ (permanent) and Ria Percival’s (loan) departures the only other player who has played minutes in central midfield is Drew Spence. But early season (pre-injury) Vilahamn preferred her as a #10. Grace Clinton was also given a few minutes in central midfield in a cup game, but that was when it was already pretty-much a dead rubber.

The wings

In most games this season the starting wingers have been Grace Clinton (left) and Celin Bizet (right). Both are young (20 and 22) and great ball carriers. But while Bizet is more of a traditional winger, who can hug the touchline to get past players, Clinton most often cuts inside with the ball. This is Bizet’s second season at Spurs, and she has grown a lot, becoming much more consistent as Vilahamn has worked with her on end product (both shot selection and passing). Meanwhile, Clinton has been a revelation – her ability to go through multiple onrushing defenders is a joy to behold and she has started to rack up goals (scoring four so far) but as a loanee from Manchester United, she is a player that cannot (at least at the moment) be factored into long term planning.

The good news is that there are now other options. These include new signing Matilda Vinberg, a left-footed winger who offers a very different possibility on the left to Clinton; much more of a speedy cross-delivering winger, but also someone happy to go one-to-one and take a shot.  On the right we have seen Rosella Ayane and Ellie Brazil also getting minutes. Ayane has been at Spurs a long time with relatively little product (outside of cup games in which she seems to thrive). But if Vilahamn can harness her undoubted skills but unpredictability as an impact sub in ways that previous managers have not this is to the good. Brazil suffered an ACL soon after joining Spurs in autumn 2023 so we have seen little of her. Like Ayane, she is very fast and good on the ball, but it’s not clear what her final product is going to be or if she will break into the team.

We also have had a brief glimpse of Shuang Wang on the left. Her on-ball skill, ability to get through tight spaces and progress the ball was immediately apparent, making her a very exciting option. Since she has just signed on a relatively long contract we are likely to see her figuring into future plans.

Attack (#10s and #9s)

Many of the players Vilahamn has used as a #9 he has also used as a #10. That includes this year’s top scorer so far (Martha Thomas) and last year’s top scorer (Bethany England). Therefore this section discusses both positions together.

With England out for the first nine games, Thomas typically started at #9 with Drew Spence behind her as a #10. But this changed with Spence’s injury in late November and the return of England. The most frequent combination since late December has been Thomas moving back to the #10 with England in as #9.

Bethany England’s record signing in January a year ago felt like the start of Spurs (the club) taking the women’s team seriously. It was still a painful half season, but England’s twelve goals in twelve games meant relegation was avoided and provided evidence of how lethal she is in front of goal. That the goals she scored ranged from headers to solo runs to one-on-ones with the keeper showed her level, and won her a recall to the Lionesses squad. Now, after hip surgery and a long recovery, she is back. But it is only since the new year that England has managed a full 90 minutes. And despite two goals in the Conti Cup, she inevitably looks a little off her best. That said, if she needs time to regain her form, the good news is that her best is very good. And even a rusty Beth England is a great option to have.

Whether by luck or design, Spurs hit the jackpot in replacing England with Martha Thomas. With seven league goals Thomas has been one of the most prolific scorers in the WSL this season. In her early games for Spurs she dominated the front line, creating her own opportunities from pressing the defence and keeper as well as latching on to loose balls and disposing of them efficiently (outscoring her xG by 2.4). Now playing a deeper role she has shown that she can link up play and still get on the end of balls, as most impressively in the North London Derby. This deeper role appears to be where she will be starting now. Of course it will take a little while for her and England to develop an understanding. But there seems every reason to believe that it will work.

Add to this mix Jessica Naz. Still only 23 Naz, like Neville, has been at Spurs since the club’s tier 2 (Championship) days, joining when she turned 18. In previous seasons she has perhaps lacked strength (and has had multiple long injuries), but she now seems stronger and is winning 50-50s. Her style and speed clearly worries defenders, as was obvious in the two North London Derbies and more recently against West Ham. Consequently, despite only starting three times, she is one of only four Spurs players to have featured in every WSL game so far. In other words, even if she does not start, Naz has become a consistent part of how Spurs play, and especially the way the team finishes games. Early in the season she was used on the wing, but Vilahamn seems to have decided that her best position is central, typically as the farthest forward of the strikers, with either Thomas or England dropping back to maximise Naz’s threat running in from behind.

It is yet to be seen where Drew Spence fits in the pecking order on her return from injury (she has been out since November). Early season despite starting most games she did not complete any full 90s. The conundrum with Spence is that her on-ball skills and ability to thread a pass sometimes seem unreal, but she can also at times drift out of games. It is about finding ways for her to continue to deliver the quality she possesses, even if it is across fewer minutes.

In addition to England, Thomas, Naz and Spence we have seen Clinton and Graham at #10 and Brazil at #9. In Clinton’s case Vilahamn has discussed this as the position she may play eventually, but she has not yet seemed as comfortable there as on the wing. Meanwhile Vilahman has chosen to move both Graham (and Petzelberger) further back. It is also possible that we will see Shuang Wang as a #10, since she hasn’t yet played enough minutes for us to know where she will fit best.

In addition, Spurs have two relatively young strikers out on loan: Nikola Karczewska (currently joint top scorer in the Frauen-Bundesliga, with six goals) and former Academy player, Lenna Gunning-Williams (scoring freely at third-tier Ipswich). In both cases their contracts extend beyond the end of their current loans and so it is possible we will see them at Spurs in the future.

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What this overview highlights is that in almost every position Spurs now have good quality backup. There are of course positions where those players are a little weaker than the starters, but there are also players – Jess Naz is perhaps a case in point; but so too is Wang Shuang or Matilda Vinberg or whichever fullback does not start – where there are players who can come off the bench to create new options for how to play in their position and that will offer new threats. This feels very new. For most of last season Spurs’ bench contained worse versions of whoever started and was typically used to manage injuries or, on a good day, maintain energy levels.

There is of course still scope to strengthen come the summer. It is likely that will minimally involve recruiting to central defence and, depending on how the rest of this season pans out, goalkeeper as well as adding depth at full-back. Inevitably other needs will also arise or exciting players become available. There is also always the threat of unexpected injuries. But in the meantime this is a newly comfortable place for Spurs. So let’s enjoy it.

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