Kerr-plunk

Spurs Women suffer another loss to a top 4 team | Previewing the next Conti Cup group stage match

Chelsea 3 - 0 Tottenham

Let's not sugarcoat it:  Sunday's Spurs Women match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge was not a fun experience. Chelsea's relative edge in quality was on full display, particularly in their attack, and the loss was not unexpected. However, the actual run of play would have suggested a more narrow scoreline than what we ended up with in reality.

The only goal concession that I feel truly annoyed with was Chelsea's first goal, a 12th-minute shot from Sam Kerr (yeah, her again). Neither Tinni Korpela in goal nor any of our backline defenders came out looking good in that situation. Tinni was too far off her line, and while I admire the attempts from the center-backs to pull off a last-ditch goal-line clearance, none were successful. The astonishingly accurate through ball that Millie Bright played to Kerr was a big factor in their lack of anticipation, I'm sure. The other two goals were of the difficult-to-prevent variety; Erin Cuthbert was definitely allowed too much space to work with on a set piece, but still had to pull off a worldie shot to curve the ball past Korpela in the 26th minute, while Guro Reiten scored her 36th-minute goal from the PK spot. You can make an argument that the penalty by Ash Neville on Lauren James was soft (and possibly not even in the box, but rather just outside), but once the kick was awarded there was little chance of Reiten—a superb penalty taker—not converting.

I do think Asmita Ale did an admirable job of keeping James quiet for the majority of the game, a feat that very few defenders across the league have been able to do. We also had some strong build-up play through the midfield, which hasn't always been the case this season against the top teams. Unfortunately, that build-up tended to fizzle out once the ball got to the attacking third, where the decision-making was not as strong on the day. I was particularly frustrated with some of the shot selection from the likes of Drew Spence (playing against her former team, so perhaps there were some nerves involved), Jess Naz, and Ash. We had a little more luck near the end of the second half, by which point Chelsea had subbed out many of their star players and we'd brought on Rosella Ayane and Chioma Ubogagu for some fresh legs. Ros had a chance to score on nearly her first touch, but couldn't get the ball on frame. Chioma provided some great crosses but we didn't have someone in the box often enough to take advantage. That was one of the numerous ways we missed Nikola Karczewska in the lineup, who was out with an injury.

We were also hampered by first-half yellow cards for both Neville and Celin Bizet, the latter receiving hers in just the 9th minute. Bizet showed a bit of her youthful immaturity in the second half with some risky challenges coupled with visible frustration and was thankfully subbed out before she could pick up a costly second yellow. We really can't afford to have either player suspended for a game, but Ash is perilously close to a suspension for yellow card accumulation with four yellows already in just six games.

Besides some of the improvement seen in the midfield, I was also heartened by the team's resilience. They never let their heads go down and kept trying to get a goal back, even if they were unsuccessful in the end. There still seems to be a gulf in talent between Tottenham and the top 4 teams (especially when it comes to squad depth available from the bench), but the one thing you can always say about Spurs is that we don't capitulate. Ultimately, you want to maintain a consistent style of play in order to keep progressing over time, so I'm glad we have continued to give it a go when playing the top teams and not just revert to defensive football. This strategy will pay dividends sooner rather than later, especially if coupled with some more strategic investment in the next few transfer windows. That's a whole other topic that could have me sitting here typing for quite some time, so I won't go there today, but we'll revisit it closer to January.

This result dropped Spurs down to 7th in the WSL table after wins from Aston Villa and West Ham gave them both a three-point lead. We'll have to wait a couple of weeks to get back to winning ways in the league because the Conti Cup is up next.

Show no mercy

There's real potential for a blowout scoreline (in our favor) in the next group stage match, a home fixture against Coventry United. Coventry are having a pretty miserable season, with their only win coming in the first round of the Conti Cup group stage over Southampton. In their actual league—the Championship—they have lost every match and have struggled to score goals. I definitely recommend reading this piece from commentator Paul Wheeler, which explains some of the challenges Coventry United are facing this season (investment relative to other teams in the Championship, a young squad, and semi-pro status, to name a few).

They will hopefully be getting a boost from Esther Morgan, on loan from Spurs until at least January and newly returned from injury. Esther has great passing vision and will provide a new spark to Coventry's attack even as a defender. Of course, she can't play against her parent club, so they will have to do without her for the Conti Cup matchup this weekend. Eleanor Heeps is on loan at Coventry, but recently broke a finger and will be out until the new year (h/t to the aforementioned Paul for being a great source for Esther & Eleanor loan watch info).

Sympathetic as I am to Coventry for their frustrating season so far, Spurs should be looking at this match as another opportunity to boost their own confidence and shake off the Chelsea defeat. And since we don't have a midweek game to contend with and face Reading the following weekend, I wouldn't think rotation would be a huge concern for this game. On the other hand, it would be great to see Kerys Harrop finally get some minutes under her belt, and the Conti Cup is always a great opportunity for young players like Gracie Pearse to make their mark. Other than those two players, I would like to see most of our go-to starting lineup.

No news yet on if the match will be shown live on SpursPlay or only available for replay, but I can confirm that is definitely not on the FA Player. Why they only choose to show one match from each group stage round is beyond me. I'll share any new info I hear regarding streaming on Twitter.

COYS

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