Spurs vs Aston Villa (WSL) | Robert’s preview: “We have taken our own steps from that game”
Fri 16 February 2024, 15:00|
Tottenham Hotspur
Robert Vilahamn says we will have to be at our best to overcome a tough Aston Villa side at Brisbane Road on Sunday afternoon (2pm) in our final Barclays Women’s Super League game ahead of the international break.
It was a memorable afternoon when we faced Villa in the reverse fixture earlier in the season, as Martha Thomas’ treble inspired us to a 4-2 victory at the Bescot Stadium, but a lot has happened since then.
Carla Ward’s side have certainly turned a corner in recent months, after failing to win in their opening five games, they have won four of their eight fixtures and climbed to eighth in the table, while reaching the semi-final of the FA Women’s Continental Tyres League Cup.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Thursday, and asked about Villa’s form, Robert said: “I think when you looked at them last season, they were very impressive in how they played and how they won most of the games against the teams below them.
“This year, they came with the high expectations and had some tough results at the beginning, but I still thought they had some good performances and just failed to turn those into results. They are a good team and they have a very good coach so, of course, if they have a good day then we will have a really tough game.
“On the other hand, we have taken our own steps from that game [in October] to now, so I think we are now in a good shape where we know we can dictate a game against them and win the game if we reach the level we want to.”
Just in our last five games in all competitions, we have only conceded four goals – which included two fixtures against Manchester City in two different competitions – and Robert has highlighted that improved defensive display in recent performances, but is keen to implement it alongside the attacking brand of football.
Robert added: “When you come in as a new coach to a new club and you want to bring in a new identity then you need to start with the first very step, which was attacking football.
“So, we went quite all into that in the first half of the season and, we will still do that, but we need to show the fans that we can defend and we can get some good results against the top teams.
“We focused a little bit more on how we wanted to defend together and showing the fans that we can win games in different ways. I think, now, we are getting to the point where we want to focus a lot more on the attacking football once again and also keep the defensive performance so, hopefully, we can take steps against Aston Villa.”
