Tottenham Hotspur determined to climb the WSL table ahead of first trip to Hayes Lane
Tottenham Hotspur Women look to move into the UEFA Women’s Champions League spots with a win over newly promoted independent club, London City Lionesses.
Goalkeeper coach, Chris Williams addressed the media ahead of the first fixture between the two sides which will determine whether Spurs can continue their positive start under head coach, Martin Ho.
The opposition
On London City Lionesses and this weekend’s clash, Williams steered the focus towards Spurs’ individual performance and what they have been doing well, whilst also complementing the opponents:
"From our own point of view, obviously, we can only speak about ourselves. It's the old cliché of we're just looking at the next game ahead and taking things from there. We've set ourselves short, medium and long-term goals across the season to go for, and we're running into those nicely at this moment in time. We are obviously aware that London City Lionesses are a good team as well. They've recruited well over the summer and started the season well.”
On the strength in attacking positions with Captain, Bethany England and Cathinka Tandberg’s strong starts to the season, Williams emphasised the importance of healthy competition in helping both players reach new levels:
“Ultimately what we want within the squad is competition so, from that point of view, they're both putting pressure on each other, then challenging each other and pushing each other to new levels, to help the team help each other, and obviously help themselves as well. It's a healthy competition between the two of them, and they're working well together to progress.”
On London City Lionesses’ attacking threat, the goalkeeper coach highlighted the specific strengths of the opponents, in order to prepare his team accordingly:
“What we have to do is look at what the opposition's strengths are, which obviously clearly - they do score goals. So, in preparation with the goalkeepers, we prepare them for what potential threats they've going to face and then link that in with the back four and midfield units as well, to make sure they're aware what threats they're going to do and how we then work on the training pitch, on how we're going to nullify that.”
Spurs’ goalkeeper trio
Sophie Jackson received her first international call-up for England Under-19s last month. Aged only seventeen, Williams spoke highly of Jackson’s performance and hard work to earn her international opportunity:
“I think, ultimately, what we want as well is healthy competition within the goalkeeping group. They’re three good people that work together really well. Sophie's obviously gone away with the international set-up for the first time, and she managed to earn her way. I spoke to the goalkeeping coach [at England] and he told me that she's earned the shirt, that it wasn't given, so she's actually performed well within the training environment to give herself the best opportunity to go and play. Then she's got in the games and she's done well. It's all a learning curve for Sophie. It's early days for her, but things are moving in right direction for her.”
Shifting focus to Spurs’ number one, Lize Kop, Williams was full of compliments for the Dutch goalkeeper and praised her progress and importance to the team’s overall performance:
“Lize’s your typical goalkeeper, really. She's a really good character, both on and off the pitch. She's certainly ambitious, which is something that we saw within her when we went through the recruitment process, and she's delivering on that. There's things that we highlighted when she first came in, that me and Lize both spoke about, but we’re working towards those areas and she's making good strides on that. I think she's a really important part of us, as a goalkeeper is within the football team, and her performances on the pitch so far this season have been very good, both in possession and out of possession.”
However, the coach was certain to compliment the defensive performances as a whole, without singling out the goalkeeper. Tottenham Hotspur have been recognised for their defensive contributions and number of clean sheets so far this season, which is a testament to the hard work at Hotspur Way:
“The results off the back of that link to the back four and the rest of the team and we are keeping more clean sheets this season. It's a priority for us to do that, but it gives us a platform to be able to push on and win games.”
Williams’ journey in Lilywhite
When asked about his time at the club, the goalkeeper coach reflected on the team’s poor performances last season and emphasised the need to continuously push to improve and make steps in the right direction:
“It was a disappointing (last season) for us - there's no doubt in that. But this season we've made significant changes within the coaching staff, and obviously we've progressed the way we have, and the results are starting to show for us, which is pleasing for us to see. But what we're not doing is getting carried away with that and allowing ourselves to get settled behind that. We want to keep pushing, we want to keep pushing ourselves as staff and we want to push the players as well.”
Within the squad and staff, the belief is growing on the back of an exciting start to the season. Williams exclaimed the importance of taking each game at a time and maintaining the right mentality:
“We only focus on the game that's in front of us at this moment in time because there are three points on the table for us this weekend that we can potentially pick up. It's not as easy as just going and picking them up, we have to be in the right mind set, we have to have the right mentality and approach. But the feel within the group is really good and the building over there is bouncing. Obviously, we're picking up points along the way, which is good for us, but I think that ‘one week at a time’ approach is the important way of doing it. We're not taking our eye off the ball that's right in front of us and not looking too far ahead.”