Robert Vilahamn’s Pre-Manchester Utd Press Conference, 18th April 2024

By Rachel Cohen

In his press conference the Tottenham Hotspur manager talked about staying focused on the league, building thriving on-pitch partnerships, Martha Thomas’s strength and Jessica Naz’s development. He also revealed that Sunday’s win had made Daniel Levy very happy and that his plans for the team had the full backing of Spurs’ Board.

Sunday’s opponents: Manchester United in the WSL

Spurs manager, Robert Vilahamn kicked off his press conference by confirming that his team has no new injury worries. That means that the whole squad is available for selection, except for Grace Clinton who, because she is on loan, cannot play against her parent club.

Vilahamn confirmed that the upcoming weekend’s game would not simply be a dry run for the FA Cup final. “This is a game where we can try to fight to be fourth this year. So I think we’re only focusing on this game and how to beat Man United. And when we’re done with that game, we can use this game in, in for the final course. But …the final is too far away right now.”  He recognized that there are not many games left in the WSL season but suggested that “it’s of course hard …but we have a chance. So we need to go for it for this game.”

In terms of the challenges posed by Manchester United he suggested that “when they have a good day, they are one of the best teams in this league. They have quality players and also have a strong bench and so if they have a good day, we’re going to struggle and need to work really hard in the defense. And then on the other hand, they have not been that consistent in their performances. So I think we have a good chance to actually complete this game and make sure we can play our style.” And he reiterated that we’ve already seen this season that “We can beat the top teams.”

Looking back to the last game Spurs played against Manchester United (a 4-0 home loss), Vilahamn described it as the “one game I’m kind of angry at myself” about. Specifically he said that following Spurs’ big loss away to Manchester City he had approached it “with a defensive mode that we’re gonna be in a low block and try to counter attack and we didn’t really give ourselves the chance that game.” As such he suggested that that game was not about Manchester being great, but rather Spurs not being “brave”. This time round he is aware that the team needs to be “brave and also be clever.”

In an answer that speaks to both this Sunday’s game and the FA Cup Final Vilahamn dismissed concerns that he would struggle without Grace Clinton, suggesting that there were players who could cover Clinton’s absence. “Someone else will have the chance to show what they can do. So of course we’re gonna miss her because she’s a great player, but I have a plan.”

FA Cup Finalists

In discussing the aftermath of Sunday’s semifinal win he said that on Tuesday when the players and staff returned there was “an amazing feeling” “and everybody was happy”, but after giving them Tuesday to enjoy the day “without thinking too much about tactics”  it was back to work on Wednesday morning, and they were now focused on Sunday’s match against Manchester United.

When Vilahamn was asked about the ticket allocation for the FA Cup final at Wembley he said that he’d have liked to have more tickets available for Spurs supporters to go to the final but also that it was impressive that Wembley would be sold out and was excited about playing to a full stadium including (at least) 12,000 Spurs fans. He also said that they would be pushing for more tickets next year (if the team made it back to the final).

Building On-Pitch Partnerships

Vilahamn reiterated that he does not want his team to keep on winning 1-0 and wanted to see more goals and more chance creation. He did however make a concession to pragmatism, noting that “we’re winning games right now and that’s actually what football is about, so we start there.”

Vilahamn emphasized the importance of on-pitch partnerships and relationships as the way to get “the magic”. And suggested that what determined who was picked to play where was related to who else was on the pitch. “If Martha is playing at 10 or 9, Beth playing 10 or 9, or Celin playing left or right – everything is connected to who they play with, at the fullback and everything.” He also suggested that relationship biding “takes time and sometimes it works, sometimes it’s not working and then we need to work on that. But they’re very clever players, very smart players and they want to play together so we will find ways.”

When asked to identify partnerships that were working well Vilahamn highlighted the backline: “if you look at the last four games with Becky, Luana and Amy, relations between those three have been amazing. And we have four wins in a row.” He noted that this makes his life difficult now that Molly Bartrip is back from injury and available “because I think Molly is an amazing centre-back as well, but sometimes the relations is also worth adding to that when you pick a team.” 

Robert Vilahamn noted flourishing partnerships in other parts of the pitch, including between Ashleigh Neville and Celin Bizet on the wing and between Grace Clinton and Bethany England in the middle of the pitch, a duo that had combined for the goal against Bristol City.

Martha Thomas

Vilahamn was effusive in his praise for the former-Manchester United striker who scored the winner on Sunday. “I think you saw her energy on the field. She almost scored before she scored that goal”. He emphasized that Thomas wins duels, fights for the team and that she is a very clever player who “will have a huge impact on the team”. He also highlighted both Martha Thomas and captain Bethany England as key leaders in the squad.

Jessica Naz

Vilahamn discussed the progress of  Spurs’ longtime player and another of Sunday’s heroes, Jessica Naz, over the course of the season. “When we started working together, I saw that when she’s fit and doing those stuff, she’s a really quick, strong play with good finishing. But she didn’t really find the right way to do it during the whole game. She lost self-confidence and so we started building her out with like the fitness first of all and then trying to find the right position. And in the beginning [she] was a great substitute, coming in the last 30 minutes, giving us a lot of good options. And then she played a few games from the beginning and came out.”

“But now after Christmas, I would say or after that Conti Cup game against Arsenal when she played 90 minutes and scored two goals, she has taken steps.” He highlighted that Naz is “knocking on the Lionesses door.”

“And when you see her in this game, how she can be a threat all the time, both as a winger and as a nine, then you understand that it’s quite nice to have that kind of player on the pitch, but also how we press and want to be a high pressing team. She’s very quick to press them, which is also good for us. And now she added the finishing, which she works a lot with Anton, the assistant coach on.”

“So I just love that she’s doing everything now. She can run, she can work hard and she can be sharp and smart in the finishing. So she has a really high level and she can be a top, top goal scorer in this league. Absolutely.”

Club Support

After the quarter final Robert Vilahamn had said that Spurs’ owner, Daniel Levy had texted him to say how pleased he was. This time round it was easier to see that he “was very happy because he was there watching the game and I think especially after the loss the day before for the men’s team, I think he was even more happier.”

Vilahamn was positive about Levy, describing him as “so supportive.” And said that he would not have signed for Spurs “if I’m not sure that they’re gonna support me. That was one of the main things I asked them during the interviews.” And that he was happy with the support and that the club is “willing to buy into everything we do as long as it’s sustainable and not just, you know, smashing a lot of money and go for it. They want to do it in the real way. And I think that’s the way we should do it.” “And every time we ask for stuff, they actually help us to make sure we take the next step with this club.”

He also emphasized that the aim was to “close that gap” and “compete for titles”. “But the main thing is we don’t need to rush that because some teams do that and then they break down quite quickly. So we’re gonna build this team together as a really strong team.” As part of this he reiterated what he’s previously said about building a team with “young talented players that we can develop instead of just buying the most expensive players in the league.” And noted that “we know what we’re doing and we’re gonna take it step by step and the board is with us with that and they want to do it the long way.”