Returns and Debuts

A rotated Spurs Women side beat Coventry United to go top of their Conti Cup group | Previewing another away trip to Reading

As could reasonably have been predicted, the Conti Cup match against Coventry United provided the perfect opportunity for Spurs Women to bounce back after the defeat to Chelsea.

Tottenham 5 - 1 Coventry

There was a little more rotation to the starting XI than I was expecting, but I was very much in favor of Rehanne Skinner's changes. Tinni Korpela kept her spot in goal, but Gracie Pearse came into the center-back pairing (her first start for Spurs!) next to Molly Bartrip to give usual captain Shelina Zadorsky a rest, while Amy Turner shifted out to right-back and Kerys Harrop finally returned to action at the left-back spot. Angharad James got the captain's armband for the day and was joined by her usual midfield companions, Eveliina Summanen and Drew Spence. Chioma Ubogagu also got her first start of the season at left-wing, Jess Naz shifted to the right-wing spot, and Rosella Ayane completed the lineup as striker.

So overall, there was a mix of experienced players and younger talent, although some of the players with more WSL experience are still fairly new to Tottenham, making for an interesting dynamic (read:  the occasional moment of sloppiness in possession). Notable omissions on the bench were Ashleigh Neville and Celin Bizet, who surely enjoyed the rest after playing heavy minutes so far this season.

We hadn't seen Harrop since the end of last season and she did seem to be shaking off a little bit of rust at the beginning of the match, but by the end of her shift (she was able to play the full 90, which is reassuring on the injury recovery front) she was back to the same player we know and love. I'm not sure why Spurs' social media is crediting her with an assist, because I have watched the goal highlights back several times now and she definitely did not have a direct assist... However, she made two pre-assists that led to great crosses from Ubogagu and Cho, so credit is due to Kerys for keeping the left flank productive from an attacking standpoint. She also scored a legitimate, bonafide goal in the 25th minute with a volley off a Summanen corner kick, and is proving herself to be a great option on set pieces (remember her headed goal against Chelsea last season?). I highly recommend watching her post-game interview to soak in her obvious joy at being back on the pitch at last—and to hear why Rehanne would also have been pleased with her performance.

The major theme of the match was scoring goals from set pieces. (Kerys' goal wasn't the first of the match, I just wanted to talk about her first because I was so happy to see her back.) The first goal, in just the 6th minute, actually came from a rebounded corner which James sent back into the box for Summanen to head in for her first-ever goal for Spurs—believe it or not! There was another headed corner goal in the 60th minute from Amy Turner, who also found the back of the net for the first time in a Spurs shirt. We do seem to love first-time goals in Conti Cup action.

The other two goals came from open play, starting with the aforementioned Harrop pre-assists. For the first, in the 14th minute, Ubogagu found Ayane poised to strike in the box and Ros pulled off a tricky first-touch finish at the near post under pressure from her Coventry marker. I think Ayane's performance tailed off a little in the second half before her eventual substitution, but she had some very bright moments in the first half. If her finishing had been a little more clinical, she could easily have had a hat trick just like she did in last year's 11-0 routing of Watford in the same competition. One chance, in particular, was notable because it came from a brilliant through pass by Pearse—great to see the youngster has such a pass in her locker.

The other goal from open play came in the 90+3rd minute, when Cho's cross over the box found Lenna Gunning-Williams at the far post for yet another header on the day—something we don't often seen a surplus of from Spurs Women. And it was a very confident header, I must add, for a player making her debut for Spurs at just 17 years of age.

Another Academy player, Ella Houghton, also made her debut in the second half and while she didn't notch a goal on her first appearance, she showed no hesitation in taking a few (quite powerful) shots, one of which was on target and forced a save from Coventry's keeper.

The only damper on the day was that Coventry scored a goal just inside stoppage time. Fran Orthodoxou capitalized on a poorly headed clearance from Pearse (unfortunately, not her first of the match—another such instance led to an important save from Korpela) with a worldie of a shot that second-half keeper Becky Spencer had no chance of stopping. Spurs quickly responded with that goal from Gunning-Williams to end the match 5-1, and while it's good to see the mentality to not let a goal concession go unanswered, it's still a worrying trend that we've conceded so many goals near the end of matches that we've otherwise comfortably controlled.

On a side note, it was nice to see Esther Morgan getting some game time with Coventry——though unexpected, since I figured Spurs wouldn't want her to be cup-tied if she returns to Spurs' first team in January as has been rumored.

The only other notable moment of the match happened when Cho took a pretty hard shove into the advertising boards near the end of the game, but since she was able to return to play and was smiling & cheerful in some of the post-game Twitter content, I'm going to assume she doesn't have any terrible after-effects. The team's injury situation is looking much improved overall, with Nikola Karczewska returning for a brief cameo after missing the Chelsea game, and Ayane seeming to have rebounded from her early-season fracture without any lasting issues. Kit Graham has been dropping some hints that her ACL recovery is taking a bit longer than expected, but hopefully, she'll be back on the matchday pitch soon enough.

The win against Coventry puts Spurs top of the group stage table on six points with a healthy goal difference of +5. We only need a draw against Southampton in the final game to advance top of the group (and avoid the potential "best of the rest" qualification route into the quarter-finals), but I would be very surprised if we didn't finish the group stage with the maximum nine points possible. With Champions League qualification already looking like a very distant possibility this season, I would love to see Spurs make another deep cup run like last season, when we reached the semi-final for the first time.

If you, like me, listened to the audio commentary helpfully provided by Paul Wheeler (who even persevered through some Brisbane-Road-related tech issues, so cheers, Paul!) but would like to watch the video replay of the game, it's up now on the FA Player or SpursPlay (I opted for the latter for Micheal McCann's more Spurs-centric commentary). If you prefer a condensed version, check out the goal highlights:

Fingers crossed the FA gets their act together before next season's group stage and makes it a priority to televise and/or stream all of the matches in some capacity. I don't understand the reasoning behind only featuring one match for living streaming per match round. Baffling.

Reading sequel

Forgive me the book pun, I couldn't help it.

We are playing Reading for the second time this season, but this time in regular league play rather than the Conti Cup matchup that took place earlier in the season. Having won that first match (which was also an away fixture) 1-2, and also having seen improvements in the attack since then, I feel confident this will be a much-needed three points for the WSL campaign. We just have to be wary of getting complacent and letting Reading catch their second wind late in the match, as they did in the cup fixture.

It's probably fair to say that Reading have also been improving, but they're not getting results for the most part. Their only win in the league was against last-place Leicester, and even that was a narrow 2-1 result. Their other win of the season came against Southampton this past weekend in the Conti Cup, a solid 0-3 scoreline. Otherwise, they only have a 3-3 draw against Liverpool to contribute to their WSL points tally. They nearly lost that one but got a last-minute equalizer thanks to substitute Sanne Troelsgaard. So the evidence would suggest that you can't ever count this Reading team out, even if they often leave themselves with far too much ground to make up at the end of matches.

I would expect to see Neville and Bizet return to the starting lineup after sitting out the weekend cup match. Spencer started in goal the last time we played Reading, and since Rehanne typically rotates her and Korpela every couple of games, she's likely to start this one too. If Karczewska is fit enough to start at striker that would be great, but Ayane did enough against Coventry to suggest she can get the job done from that position in Niki's stead.

I've written many times already this season about the nigh-insurmountable disparity between Spurs and the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal, and the Manchester teams, but this fixture is going to be an important test of where we're actually at with the current squad compared to the rest of the league. Reading are second-to-last in the WSL table and are the kind of team that Spurs must be beating regularly if we want to at least maintain the progress gained last season. We can't afford to drop points to relegation-threatened teams as we did at times last season, because some of the other teams in the "best of the rest" pack (Aston Villa, West Ham, and Everton) have strengthened over the summer and are going to be competing with Spurs for the 5th spot all season long. As it happens, Aston Villa and West Ham have both beaten Reading already this season, both scoring three goals as well. So let's just consider three goals as the minimum standard to reach on Sunday.

It's an early kickoff, 12:30pm UK time/7:30am ET. The match is streaming on Paramount+ for US fans, which is nice. As always, check out the THWFC Supporters Club for updates on away tickets.

Let's end things on a festive note, because I don't know what it's like in the UK, but post-Thanksgiving in the States we are in full-on holiday mode.

My personal opinion:  tinsel, when used strategically (and sparingly), can be a lovely addition to the rest of your holiday decor. Here, it makes Ros look like she's about to go explore the Arctic. So, use with caution! 😛

I hope y'all are having a nice start to the winter holiday season, whichever holidays you celebrate.

And I promise the Men's mid-season recapstravaganza is coming soon, I've just been too wrapped up in the World Cup group stage (despite my best intentions) and holiday stuff with family. Soon! *ominous voice* Soon.

COYS

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