By Rachel Cohen
5^th September 2025

Martin Ho spoke to the press ahead of his first WSL game in charge as Spurs manager. He was enthusiastic about how the squad has responded during preseason and praised Spurs two young incoming players, Cathinka Tandberg and Tōko Koga. He also talked about the season opener against West Ham, his playing style and ambitions for the team, the Leadership group and provided an injury update.

Reflecting on where the team currently is, Ho was upbeat: ‘we’ve had a really good pre-season. I’ve had a really good opportunity to assess the squad and look at the processes behind the squad, the staffing and how we do things to make it more streamlined. And yeah, I think I’m really excited now.’ Fuller report below.

Transfer window

Given last season’s 11^th place finish it was, perhaps, surprising that Spurs did so little in the transfer market, with only two incomings and four outgoings (one a loan). Ho discussed this, talking about how he’d assessed Spurs current squad and his approach to the transfer window and emphasised that he’d rather try and coach improvement out of existing players than recruit for recruitment’s sake.

‘It’s my job to make sure I give them, which I’ve tried to do in the first six weeks now, try to give everyone an opportunity within my environment and with how we work and the methodology on the pitch and see to make sure they embrace that. So I try to give them that opportunity in the short term. And more importantly, I’ve seen a lot of quality within that. So that’s impressive and nice as a coach.’

‘And then in the window, I won’t just bring in any players that I feel I just want to recruit from a numbers perspective. I want to make sure it’s the right player for the team, the right profile for the team, and they’re going to add value now and in the future. And if that player is not available, then we don’t need to recruit. We have to work harder on the pitch. And that’s something where I feel probably my strengths lie on the pitch in terms of the coaching side, in terms of developing players and making sure the team’s competitive. And yeah, when the right signings are there and the right players are there, we will do it. But I don’t want to just have a group of players that are just here to be happy, but also I don’t want to bring players in for the sake of doing it.’

Ho did, however, admit that as a manager he might have wanted more ‘Everyone wants more. Which manager doesn’t want to spend 5 million in a transfer window?’

Tōko Koga

Ho described Spurs first signing of the window, Japanese centre-back Tōko Koga, as ‘very young, exciting and is going to be a superb player now for us, now and in the future.’ He said that she had settled in well, even though it was ‘a new culture for her, new environment, new country, new language.’ The centre-back played every minute of the three public preseason games (against Sevilla, Arsenal and Southampton) and Ho described her as having ‘done exceptionally well.’ He also said that he can see ‘that she’s comfortable now, she’s settled really well and she understands what we require and what this club’s about.’

Cathinka Tandberg

Tandberg (‘Tinka’) was Spurs’ big deadline day signing – and second summer signing. Ho claimed that she was ‘another brilliant signing for us’ not just for now but for the future. And said that the striker ‘will add depth to the squad, but more importantly, gives us an energy, a commitment, a personality in that final third.’ Ho believes that Tandberg’s potential is ‘very high’ and he highlighted her ‘huge threat in and around of box in terms of goal scoring’ as well as her physical strength. ‘She’s physically strong, she’s powerful, and her work ethic and commitment on the other side of the game is second to none.’

And one for all Spurs fans – he said that she’d said to him that she wants to become a club legend like Harry Kane.

Talking about how Tandberg would fit in the team Ho said that ‘I want to have different profiles in that front line that enable us to play slightly different in certain moments, but also cause the opposition different problems. And if we have the same profile just in that position, or we just have one #9 in those positions, I think you become too predictable. And I want to make sure that we’re a little bit more difficult to play against.’

He also pointed to competition to recruit Tandberg from other interested clubs. ‘I think we’ve done really well to get Katinga over the line because there was big interest in England and abroad. And more importantly, she’s chosen Tottenham.’

Anna Csiki’s departure

There was a late outgoing in the transfer window, with Anna Csiki joining Sunday’s opponents, West Ham on loan late Thursday night. Csiki had played for ex-manager, Robert Vilahamn in Sweden and was given a four year contract last summer but, despite this relationship, got limited minutes over the season and has barely featured in Ho’s pre-season games in charge.

Ho said that the decision to send Csiki out was because of the competition in her position. ‘Anna is a player who’s got a lot of potential, a lot of quality, but maybe in that position where she plays as a number 10, we’ve got probably four to five players in there. And then when you’re looking at the squad profile in general, it’s to make sure that Anna gets the opportunity to develop, opportunity to play.’ He said that he had discussed this with Csiki and that the aim was to ensure she went somewhere where she still got ‘valuable minutes and she’s still going to get them in the Super League’ given the two years remaining on her contract.

Ho’s approach

Martin Ho was crystal clear that he expected to see exciting football. ‘I want the team to look exciting. I want to be able to stand and watch my own team and feel the energy and feel the passion and kick and head every ball with them. And yes, the team’s going to be exciting.’

He describes his approach as ‘Hopefully a bit like me. Passion, desire, commitment. There’ll be a very high intense off the ball in terms of aggression from footed, defending forward, more importantly. Then with the ball, being expressive individual, making sure the players can express themselves with their own personality. But yeah, very direct, very front-footed, very energetic, more importantly, and very creative.’

‘I think what you have to do is you have to allow players to take risk and be brave. And we have to support that, which we will. And over time, when that becomes kind of muscle memory to those players. They’ll be able to do that more consistently with probably a high level of detail. And yeah, I want the team to be exciting and and we will risk the ball at times. We’ll be more aggressive on the front foot in terms of how we press the game. 

Pre-season

Ho was positive about his work with the squad in preseason, saying that ‘they’ve all been brilliant.’ Noting that they had adapted to a new ‘playing style and a change, identity, coach, process, way of working can be challenging for everyone and staff included.’ He said that ‘the players have embraced everything we’ve done. They have made sure that they’ve applied themselves correctly in everything we’ve asked and they’ve gone above and beyond in terms of the intent, the application that I’m asking for.’

Ho also talked about the pre-season games (two wins and a draw) as providing confidence and ‘shifting the mentality of the group’, especially having overcome ‘some adverse moments’. And even though he rejected the idea that in five or six weeks everything would change he said it had taken the team in the direction they wanted to go.

He said that he believed that ‘there’s a lot of talent in this group and there’s a lot of potential in the group, individually and collectively. And …that’s for me to bring that out of them and maybe this change in environments and cultures allowed that.’

Ho pinpointed improvements in a couple of players including Matilda Vinberg who he described as looking ‘brilliant for us in pre-season and [doing] exceptionally well.’ As well as young player Araya Dennis, who is yet to have WSL Minutes but he said had trained really well, been patient and with ‘a little bit of guidance and a little bit more coaching’ is improving consistency and becoming a better player.

Sunday’s home game vs West Ham

Talking about the first game of the season Ho asserted that ‘I’ve said to the players, you’re usually remembered to your first performance in the league. And we want to make sure that’s a good one.’

He said it was important to experience the home experience: ‘I think really nice for me to have the first game in front of the fans and it’s not being an away game. …Me be able to witness what it’s like in terms of the stadium, getting to the game, being at the game. And then more importantly, me being able to look around and see all the fans that come out and their support and the group of players, the club, we need to make sure they want to come back and watch. And that has to come through performance, but more importantly, commitment from the playing group that when they’re on the pitch, they give everything.’

Ho reflected on West Ham and ex-Spurs manager Rehanne Skinner’s legacy at Spurs and discussed her West Ham team: ‘Look, Rehanne has done a wonderful job here. She was successful while she was here. She built and started to build the legacy for this women’s team at Tottenham. And yeah, I’ve been fortunate to come in off the back of her and Robert and try and take this team forward. And yeah, these games are going to be competitive. And West Ham are a wonderful team and we have a good team. And yeah, on the day we need to make sure that where the better team has better edge, and more importantly, where the team can take those opportunities when they come in. I have no doubt Rehanne’s going to have them well organised, and we need to make sure we match that and go above and beyond that.’

He said that he was aware of the attacking threat of West Ham and said that Spurs would ‘have to focus on how we’re going to defend against that’ but also focus on ‘our core principles and identity’ To do that he said that the team would ‘have to be at the top of our game.’ And to ‘focus on what we can control and that’s our performance [and] how we can hurt them as well as trying to stop a goal in the other net at the same time.’

Ambitions

When asked about his ambition he said that ‘we know we need to be better than we was last year. And that will start with me and finish with me in terms of how we play and how we behave on the pitch. …So we’ll push as much as we can and make sure we get as high at the table as we can.’

In talking about ambition Ho emphasised consistency: ‘It’s to make sure we’re competitive and not just a one-off season where we finish 5th and then we finish 11th. We want to be consistent with that. So more importantly, making sure we’re competitive in every game we’re going to, making sure we’re building a very clear structure and strategy moving forward to be successful, not just now, but in the longer term.’

He said that European competition was ‘where everyone wants to be’ but reiterated that it would take consistency to get to Europe and that ‘if you’re saying to me now, are we going to be in the Champions League next season, we’ll be, I wouldn’t be being realistic, if I’m being honest.’

Leadership Team

Martin Ho confirmed that existing captain and Spurs’ talismanic player, Bethany England, will remain captain but saw vice-Captain as a less set position, mentioning various players including Molly Bartrip, Drew Spence, Eveliina Summanen and Olga Ahtinen. In terms of how this might work he explained:

‘Beth will be the captain and she’s led the team really, really well. If Beth’s not on the pitch, then another player will lead and Molly’s done that in pre-season at times. And then if Molly’s not on the pitch, I usually do it based off the feeling I get within the game and kind of the feeling of the person I want to lead in that moment within the game. Sometimes it might be that I need this type of player because I need their kind of passion, their energy to lift the rest of the group.  And usually players and leaders lead by example and most of the time by behaviour. In certain moments, it might be a different vice-captain or a different captain, but more importantly, it’s only because of the feeling I want for the game.’

Injuries

Ella Morris, Luana Bühler and Amy James Turner remain out long-term.

There are several players that picked up injuries in pre-season but the only one that he mentioned as having ongoing concerns was Molly Bartrip who has missed the last games of preseason with ‘a bit of a knock’ that is currently being assessed. Ho said that all other players have trained today and he described the squad as ‘in a really good place.’

Ho also talked about Kit Graham’s return from injury – describing this as ‘wonderful’ after her ‘torrid time’. He also talked about the part she might now play in the team. ‘Kit’s quality in terms of technically with the ball and in improvising and creativity in the attacking third is really big. She influences the game totally different. And yeah, she can play as a 10, she could play as a nine, but more probably as a false nine. She could play off the side and she could work inside the pitch. But I think her best position is probably a 10 in terms of how creative she is and what she can do for those positions. And hopefully now she’s away from those injuries she can start to show everyone more consistently what she can do. And she’s been training really well. She’s in a good place. We just have to make sure that we manage it in terms of in certain moments to allow her to get the confidence back in her body to be able to perform at that level. But everything I’ve seen from her, she’s moving in the right direction.’ Good news for all Kit Graham fans out there.