Ho “really happy with where the Squad’s at” ahead Preseason Test in Madrid

After a win against Liga F side Granada on Sunday, Tottenham Hotspur continue their performance campaign in Spain with their second pre-season friendly against Real Madrid at the Pinatar Arena on the 12th of August. Speaking ahead of the match, Martin Ho affirmed his confidence in his side as they look to capitalise on the strength of their new signings and a successful start to their pre-season campaign.

Learning from Last Season and Ambitions for the Next 

After a strong finish and performance in the league last season, Ho was open about his high hopes and ambitions for the club going forward into next year, and how they can continue on an upward trend:

“You never say you should finish there (in the top three), you have to earn that, as you know, and I've said this before, I think, we come into every season, wanting to be competitive, to build on a strategy that we've set out, which I think we're well in line with and we're moving forward really well with. Our ambitions are to win, and to make sure we're successful, not just in the WSL, but also in the cup competitions as well as qualifying for Europe.”

Ho also spoke about the importance of maintaining a winning mentality and ensuring the team continue to progress and bring home silverware:

“We should be competing at the top part of that table to make sure that silverware, whether that's a cup competition or a league, that they're coming back to, to Tottenham Hotspur, coming back to the training ground, coming back to the stadium. And we make Tottenham a team that's not just spoken about amongst a small group of teams, it's spoken about amongst everyone. And I think now, with maybe the progress we had last year [..] I think people spoke to us and started properly to respect us more. But we have to now, with having that respect, you have to maintain that.”

Summer Signings

Ho was confident in his new signings, after five of them gained their first minutes, and several starting, in their 1-0 win over Granada, and evidently believes them to be great additions to strengthen the squad:

“Yeah, I think all the ones we bought in, we felt, we needed more strength and depth, which we said, in some more different characteristics and certain positions, like, it was different profiles, which enables us to attack and defend and play in different ways.”

However, he asserted that Spurs have been selective with the players they’ve signed, ensuring they’re the right fit for the team, and they also believe in and wanted to be a part of the project that Spurs are building:

“We wanted to make sure that was the right players, with the right personalities, the right character, which we bought in some really good people, and some really good players at the same time that were wanted not just by us, but wanted by a lot of teams within England and Europe. But we've been very, very selective in terms of the type of play we wanted. We've got some real world class talent in the team now. [..] And the players chose to go to Tottenham because they believe in what we're doing.”

Team cohesion has clearly been an important focus this summer, and it appears that new players are settling well into the team:

“I've definitely seen a really cohesive group and just before we started this press conference now, there's a group of them playing board games and car games together in the lobby and within that group, I think there was like 9 different nationalities playing games together and that tells you a huge group of people, a huge group of players who, yeah, people who have only been with us maybe 3 weeks, but the ability of this group and these individuals on a personal level, to be able to connect, understand one another, and and bring each other together is important”

Real Madrid - Challenges and Pushing Ambitions

When asked how playing Real Madrid will help to push the ambition of team as they look towards a time where Spurs may play European football, as well as how this friendly will help push the players before the start of the season, Ho responded:

“It gives us a reference of where we sit within European football, which I think is important. It's a different experience for the players. They can't individually assess and know the capabilities of maybe those individuals as much as they do in the Women's Super League, because they play them regularly, they know more about them. So when you come up against these players, and also the playing culture and the style of play is different from these teams.

There might be times where we have to accept and suffer without the ball, because these teams will dominate at times and that'll enable us to work on certain aspects we want away from the ball. But also, it'll enable these players to understand references within Europe, as I said, and we can really benchmark where we're at compared to where we want to be. If you want to be a top team, you have to play against these teams to see where you're at. I'm looking forward to it.”

Ho was fully aware of the challenges that Real Madrid’s attack pose to Spurs’ defence, and how they will push them:

“Their front line is very dangerous, not just from open play, but in terms of in transition, [..] transition from opposition and possession. So we know they're gonna be dangerous. They possess the ball really well. They've added some really key signings to their squad and I think for us to be able to go and play against some really top players, will give our players, as I said, a benchmark of where we're at individually, collectively, but to go up against a team like Real Madrid, that’s not something you get all the time, and I think it's a really nice opportunity for these players”

Spurs’ New Number 9 - Cathinka Tandberg 

After being asked about what he expects from Cathinka Tandberg after her breakout debut season at the club, and step up from wearing the number 19 to the number 9, Ho was open about his full confidence in her, and his belief in her skill:

“I think someone who puts on that number 9 shirt for this football club has got a lot of pressure, and has to have a lot of personality, a lot of character, and has to kind of take that with them, and I think someone like Cathinka, she expects a lot of herself, she puts a lot of pressure on herself. She's not phased one bit about putting the number 9 shirt on, but she knows the expectation that comes with that. 

She now really understands what being in this environment of what she needs to do to deliver at the top level. I think the first 12 months enabled her to settle in, she got in the national team at Norway and I think she can take that shirt and moving forward she just needs to find the consistency in her game, but I think in a dressing room and off the pitch and on the pitch, even for a training perspective, yeah, the personality she has is infectious, her passion, you can definitely see kind of is infectious on other people. [...] I'm excited to see what she can deliver this year. I think she'll have her own ambitions and her own desires for what she wants to do now. But I have no doubts when we get her in the right positions to finish, she's one of the best finishers in world football.”

New Captain?

Ho revealed that he has chosen Beth England’s successor as Spurs’ new captain, but did not reveal who his choice was:

“I have, and hopefully, you'll get that in the next couple of days [..] I want to be really diligent with making that decision [..]  And as I said, they don't just represent themselves, (they) represent club, team, community. They represent everyone.”