13^th December 2024

By Rachel Cohen

Robert Vilahamn spoke to the press ahead of Tottenham’s final game of 2024. He discussed the upcoming game against Brighton, reflected on three wins on the trot and discussed some key players.

Current mood

Spurs have secured three consecutive wins (two in the League Cup, one in the WSL) for the first time this season. Manager, Robert Vilahamn emphasised that the team had shown that they had “a good character to come back” after some heavy defeats. He said that they were “taking steps now to make sure we can be more stable in the performances and make sure we get more points” and noted that Spurs had demonstrated that they could defend and press better over the last few games.

Upcoming Game

The final game of the season is against Brighton who sit one place but six points above Spurs, having enjoyed a better-than-expected start to the season under new manager, Dario Vidosic. Over the last two seasons Spurs have had remarkable success away at Brighton but the manager was clear that this would be a tough test.

Vilahamn described the upcoming matchup as an “Important game. Could be a very good win.” And characterised opponents, Brighton, as “quite similar to where we were last season.” Noting that they had “A new coach coming in, some quite good signings and they have performed very, very well.”

In terms of aims for the game – and season – Vilahamn said that “Brighton were one of the teams that we want to be better than so we need to go and show that we are.” When pushed he described the upcoming game as a bit of a “dealbreaker if we want to compete for the top five, or top six.” He did, however, then go on to note that “on the other hand there are quite a few games left” and even if they lost Spurs might be able to compete for fifth place.  He noted that although Brighton are very good “they have some moments in the games where they struggle.” And that “we know that if we have a good day we have a good chance to beat them.”

Captain

Vilahamn said that he was pleased – especially for her – that Captain, Bethany England was scoring again (after she netted two in the previous WSL game to move up to joint-fifth top WSL scorer). He described her as “this great person and character, and we know that she’s got so many goals in this league before.”

But Vilahamn emphasized that for him England’s contributions went beyond her goals: “she works so hard all the time and try to make sure the teammates are good as well. …Her play the last games has been really good – both in and out of possession. I think she’s taking steps in the relationship with the players around her. There was a talk way back that she can’t play with Martha, but they have shown that they can play really good together. I think Hayley loves to play with Bethany; Jessica Naz loves to play with her. Bethany have played with Drew before… So if you use Beth in the right way she’s a great, great player and she makes the plays around her really good as well.”

Team mainstays

The most recent game involved a heavily rotated lineup – with just two outfield players (Molly Bartrip and Ashleigh Neville) alongside keeper, Eleanor Heeps, starting in both last Sunday’s WSL matchup against Everton and Wednesday’s game. Vilahamn was asked about the resilience of Ashleigh Neville and Molly Bartrip, who are also the only Spurs players to have played every minute of every WSL game so far. Vilahamn described both as “amazing against Everton and amazing against Crystal Palace” and said “I’m happy to have them.”

Vilahamn explained that Bartrip and Neville’s minutes are both because “they are very consistent in the fitness to make sure they can handle this amount of games.” But also  that their presence enables other players to better fit within the team. “It’s of course who they are as characters, and the way they play and they very much are the players that suits the way we want to play. And if you bring in new players, they are very good too to help the other players play the way we want to look. So if you play as a winger in front of Ash, you know that she’s going to help, that winger to look the way we want to look as a team. Same with Molly. If you have a center-back, or a new center-back comes in and a new left-back comes in and a new pivot,… I’m trusting Molly very much to make sure that those players around her will look very good, just because Molly’s great to look and to help others.”

Talking about another mainstay of the team, Drew Spence, Vilahamn emphasised that she was a “role model for the younger ones. …The younger ones need to keep up with her and try to get to her level”. Noting Spence’s improved fitness this season has meant that she can better press as a #10 Vilahamn said that he was “Extremely impressed how she play and how she wanna get better,” praising her “mindset” and hard work during training.

Player Rotation

Asked about Wang Shaung, who has been at Spurs a year now, but played very little football and whose first start of the season was as a second half substitute away at Crystal Palace in a game in which she looked bright. Vilahamn confirmed that he was “really happy with the 45 minutes.” And explained that she had been “really good” in pre-season (and had scored) before incurring a foot injury and that her slow return had been about Spurs having “a lot of competition in these [attacking/wing] positions” – citing Lenna Gunning-Williams and Araya Dennis as players who had been “taking steps” in Wang’s absence. Gunning-Williams has had a few substitute appearances in the league and two Cup starts. Dennis joined Spurs last January when she turned 18, and in midweek in her second minutes for Spurs senior team (both appearances coming as substitutes in the League Cup) she got the second goal – a lovely strike on the turn.

In the game against Crystal Palace Finnish midfielder, Olga Ahtinen played 90 minutes, the first 45 in #10 position. Asked about this Vilahamn confirmed that despite her minutes at #10, he continues to see Ahtinen as a six or eight – and that “she’s very good there”.

Winter break

The manager said that he would spend some of the upcoming break in the North of Sweden enjoying “some snow”. The team will then come together before the New Year to start training and will play a friendly in the first week of 2025 before they face Everton away in the FA Cup.

We should also expect to see “a few players in and out” in the January window. With the Vilahamn saying that they “we always look for how we can improve the squad.” He also confirmed – in very unsurprising news – that one of those would probably be from a Scandinavian league.