2024/25 Women's Super League Season Preview

In this issue: Grading the transfer window | State of the team | Predicting the starting XI | Narratives across the league | Bonus predictions!

The Women's Super League season begins this weekend, with Spurs taking on newly promoted Crystal Palace. That means it's time to assess the summer transfer business, take stock of the squad, and consider the narratives that will define the season both at Spurs and around the league.

I'm using the same format as my Men's Premier League preview with both Spurs-centric and league-wide topics, so grab a beverage of your choice, sit back, and get ready for another intriguing WSL season!

Grading the transfer window

The WSL transfer window closed on September 13, with Spurs making one deadline-day signing in addition to five new permanent signings and one incoming loan. There were also three "like new" signings that I'll explain below. On the outgoings front, there were nine permanent departures from the senior team, one player leaving on a half-season loan, and two Academy players going out on dual registration loans.

My score out of 10: 6.5

The transfer window giveth and the transfer window taketh. The big losses were Grace Clinton staying at Manchester United after all upon the conclusion of her loan with Spurs... and Celin Bizet choosing to follow her. Hopefully the club learned a valuable lesson about contract lengths and release clauses so that we don't end up in another situation where a player leaves for much less than she's worth. On the positive side, the funds from Bizet's release clause enabled us to make an exciting deadline-day swoop for Maite Oroz, formerly of Real Madrid.

While the Manchester situation was one of disappointment and betrayal, that wasn't the only challenge that popped up during the window. Kit Graham tore her ACL again and will surely miss the entirety of the season, so we had to absorb her absence from the playing squad somehow. While neither Oroz nor Anna Csiki represents a like-for-like replacement for the role Graham was playing in the team last season (defensive midfielder, primarily), Robert Vilahamn is a known tinkerer and will likely find an unconventional solution in the existing squad.

Hayley Raso's signing was announced just before the news leaked about Bizet's surprise exit, and that is a clear-cut replacement—and likely a more reliable source of goal contributions, as well. Vilahamn clearly feels positive about the swap:

Losing Celin, she was obviously a good player for us. Hayley Raso is kind of an upgrade; you get a really experienced winger who can give us great stuff. We should never try to convince players to be here if they don't want to be here.

That comment could not possibly be more pointed, and I am here for it.

As for Oroz, she'll be filling in the role of creative playmaker vacated by Clinton, with a slightly different flair.

Backing up to earlier in the window, we brought in some defensive reinforcement with centerback Clare Hunt and a promising young right back in Ella Morris. Hunt will be a useful addition with her prowess on aerial duels, while Morris should be a smart succession plan for Ashleigh Neville (much as I wish Ash could play forever).

The big wildcard of the window was the loan of goalkeeper Katelin Talbert, joining us from West Ham United until the mid-season break. It's almost like the universe heard me reminiscing about Alex Morgan's time at Spurs and said, "Here, have another American!" I mean, it's not quite the same, but I'll take it. Regardless of my personal delight at having some USA vibes in the squad again, this signing truly came out of left field and didn't make me feel any better about the goalkeeper depth chart in the long term—though the half-season nature of the loan could suggest that we have another target in mind who won't be available until the winter window.

There are three players who I'm considering like new signings, even though they technically aren't. Araya Dennis signed her contract back in February but was on a loan for the remainder of that campaign and just now joined up with the senior squad in the pre-season. Amanda Nildén saw her loan contract converted to a permanent one, as expected. And Lenna Gunning-Williams looks to be playing a key squad role this season after a couple of successful loans.

The majority of the departures needed to happen—players who weren't getting much game time anyway or had already been out on loan the previous season—but a couple of them were still tough on an emotional level, like seeing longtime club servant Ria Percival leave. As of this writing, she is still without a club. And then there was the somewhat surprising loaning out of Rosella Ayane, which was surprising simply because she's been such a mainstay in the squad for several seasons. Although she never managed to find a consistent run of form, she still provided some huge (and hilarious) moments for the team. She will probably go out on another loan after her half-season at the Chicago Red Stars is up unless they decide to make a deal to keep her.

While the last-minute signing of Oroz did boost my mood slightly, the overall transfer business was a bit underwhelming and geared towards short-term gains—which seems to run counter to the goals of Vilahamn's project. However, there's some potential upside if Morris and Csiki end up pleasantly surprising us. Plus, we retained enough of the core from last season to feel fairly confident of at least maintaining our level from the 2023/24 season. I'm just not sure if we'll be able to make significant progress without a marquee signing or two in January.

State of the team

Now let's take a look at the remaining squad in conjunction with the new transfers.

I already touched on the goalkeeping contingent before, so to everyone reading this: say a prayer for Becky's back to stay injury-free until the final whistle of the final game. I really fear for our season if she has a lengthy spell on the sidelines because the backups are basically unknown quantities. I do wonder if we will finally see Eleanor Heeps make her first senior competitive appearance this season.

The defense, on the other hand, is looking much more injury-resilient. We've got two players for every position across the backline and a nice mix of young talent to develop partnered with experienced players. Only time will tell if we can fix the persistent set piece defense issues, but I think Clare Hunt should be a big help with that.

With Kit Graham injured, the defensive midfield will likely be a rotation of Olga Ahtinen and Drew Spence, although Molly Bartrip was spotted there during pre-season (if match report substitutions can be believed). Eveliina Summanen could also fill in at DM, though I have my reservations about her defensive nous. The attacking midfield will be an interesting one to watch, with Oroz expected to take primary duties with occasional shifts from the forward pool. Recall, if you will, how many games last season we saw a combination of Beth England and Martha Thomas in the #10 and #9, trading places from game to game. Anna Csiki and Wang Shuang are both capable of playing at the #10 as well.

The forward line is where we really have a glut of options, even with our old go-to sub out on loan. Jess Naz proved how versatile she can be last season, playing across every position but standing out at striker especially. She has Lenna Gunning-Williams as an understudy, but they'll both be fighting for those striker minutes with England and Thomas. Throw in new signings Csiki and Hayley Raso and the already-promising Matilda Vinberg and we have a variety of combinations for Vilahamn to surprise opposition with.

My main concern is that we still lack star power in the squad compared to the teams we are supposedly hoping to compete with for Champions League qualification—at least, that's what Vilahamn said the goal was for year two. There's always a chance that a few players will make a significant leap (or continue to leap, in Naz's case), but until then we will be reliant on the experienced players to make up the difference. If we are to improve upon last season's 6th place finish it will be another case of general overperformance relative to the squad's level on paper. I do have faith in Vilahamn's coaching skills, don't get me wrong, but there's still a long way to go to bridge the gap and be competing week in and week out with teams like Chelsea, Arsenal, and the Manchester clubs.

Predicting the starting XI

Once again, we didn't get to watch any of the pre-season matches, so this prediction is based more on instinct than any real knowledge of how our summer signings might play under their new coach. For that reason, I tended to favor the players we (and Robert) already know and trust—with a couple of key exceptions.

Here are my picks for matchday 1 against Crystal Palace:

My big calls here are the midfield pivot of Ahtinen and Spence to support Oroz and Thomas at striker over, well, our captain. It's not that I don't think England will play a big part in the season ahead, but Thomas had a strong pre-season stats-wise and has the hot hand. Plus, against a weaker opponent, it's a good opportunity for Vilahamn to get some new signings into the lineup and bedded in before the more challenging opposition comes along. Therefore I can't see England popping up in the #10/false #9 role she often played last season when Oroz needs the minutes under her to start building chemistry with the team. From what we could glean from the friendly match reports I am very eager to see Csiki in action, but I sense it'll probably be from the bench for this first game. She could feature in the midfield, but with a new player already at the point of the midfield it might be better to rely on some players who know the system well. I opted for Neville over young Morris at right fullback for the same reason. And y'all know I can't leave Naz out, so it's time for more super-sub Vinberg this year.

Who would y'all have in your starting XI? And who would be your first player off the bench?

Narratives across the league

For the final section, let's take a look at some of the other teams in the WSL and the key storylines for the 2023/24 season.

Will Manchester City finally put together a solid, consistent season?

They came so close to wresting the WSL title away from Chelsea last season and have inarguably strengthened since then, particularly with the free (!) transfer of Vivianne Miedema. Risa Shimizu will have to be one for the future as she tore her ACL at the Olympics, and Jill Roord is just coming back from hers, but there are other intriguing new signings like Aoba Fujino and Bristol City's Naomi Layzell. I will continue to ask questions of their manager, Gareth Taylor, but he does seem to have slowed the exodus of players from the club that set them back a few seasons. How they handle the dual responsibilities of a title chase and the Champions League will be interesting to see play out. Side note: they better not disrespect Bunny Shaw ever again.

Have Crystal Palace done enough to avoid a yo-yo relegation?

With an ambitious manager (Spurs alumna Laura Kaminski) and some quietly decent transfer business... maybe? I wouldn't put money on it (not that I am a betting person to begin with), but I think there are enough positive signs to give their fans hope. On the downside, one of their loan players, Jorja Fox, has just torn her ACL and will be returning to Chelsea for rehabilitation.

And guess who's back in the relegation conversation once more? Poor Rehanne Skinner. It's never a good situation when a manager is speaking out in the media about the lack of stability at the club due to short contracts. West Ham notably lost several key players over the same, including Mackenzie Arnold, Hawa Cissoko, and the aforementioned Shimizu. Skinner will need big performances from Shelina Zadorsky and Viviane Asseyi on opposite ends of the pitch if they're going to squeak safety again.

New managers abound

There was a lot of turnover in the league's managerial ranks last season, some of it by club choice and some not. The statement departure was Emma Hayes leaving Chelsea to coach the USWNT to a gold medal (🦅), now replaced by former Olympique Lyonnais manager Sonia Bompastor. But it would be easier to point out which clubs did not change their manager than to list all the new ones here. We could potentially be in for some exciting new styles of play at teams that desperately needed a refresh—or we could also see certain squads struggle to adapt to new methods. It worked out well for Spurs last season to the tune of making a cup final, but it's never guaranteed to be a perfect fit, especially when you add new transfers into the mix for the playing squad. It will be interesting to see who thrives under innovation and who could have benefitted more from continuity.

A new era of parity?

Big question mark for this topic, because I truly don't know if the WSL is there yet. But as the NWSL starts to see a small handful of teams outpace the rest it also faces an era of change; a new CBA bans trades without player consent and has eliminated the college & expansion drafts. I'm curious if the WSL is about to go in the opposite direction, not from a squad-building rules perspective but merely from seeing a better balance of talent throughout the league's teams. I cannot help but compare and contrast the two leagues as a big fan of both.

I'm going to limit myself to just one prediction this season, which is that Spurs will finish 6th again but make another cup final. Am I really just trying to manifest the latter bit? Perhaps. But to dare is to do.

It's funny to feel both more and less optimistic than I did at this point last year. More in the sense that there are fewer unknowns now that Vilahamn is settled in, but less in the sense that I just don't think we've done enough with the transfer business to make a significant leap again. I am hoping to be proven wrong by our plucky Lilywhites.

If you still need more Spurs Women 2024/25 season preview content, check out this podcast episode from N17 Women:

Let's all get behind the team no matter what!

COYS

Thank you for reading! If you’re enjoying the newsletter, feel free to buy me a Ko-fi. Your support keeps the newsletter running and is much appreciated.

Email subscriptions to the newsletter are always free, so make sure to subscribe and get every issue in your inbox!

You can also find me on Twitter and podcasting at N17 Women and The Tottenham Depot.