Swooping in for Three Points
Stealing from the Seagulls' nest, etc.
(Honestly, cheers to Brighton for being such a great source of football puns thanks to their mascot).
Spurs Women didn't score as many goals as we are quickly becoming accustomed to in the latest Players Cup match, but did claim all three points. We needed the win after dropping points in the first league phase match. And with only one top-flight opponent left (Crystal Palace, of the recent 0-7 statement win for Spurs), the path to reaching the knockouts is looking much more smooth.
In this issue: Brighton & Hove Albion recap | News from around the Lane
I'm going to keep things short and sweet this issue, just a quick match recap and some news tidbits. Incredibly, Spurs Men still won't be back in action yet this weekend thanks to the extended international break, but we do have one more Spurs Women match before they head out on their own break—and it's a doozy of a derby.
Players Cup MD 2 | Brighton & Hove Albion 0 - 1 Tottenham
Holdt 36'
This cup result was much more straightforward, with no bonus penalty shootout involved. Spurs scored fairly early—by our recent standards, anyway; it was the first time we'd scored in the first half in four games, five if you don't count own goals!—and put in a professional team performance to maintain the clean sheet and hold out for the win.
Selma Panengstuen got another start in goal and demonstrated why she is a reliable backup to Lize Kop, if not a potential challenger for the WSL starting spot.
Alice Sombath also got another cup start, but is still looking a bit off the pace. Still, it's a long-term positive for her to get more game time alongside Tōko Koga.
Olivia Holdt scored the only goal of the game off one of many through balls attempted by Spurs' midfield, this one from Victoria Pelova. For those of you keeping track at home, that's six goal contributions in the last four games for Pelova.
It was another game without a goal from our designated striker, and Matilda Vinberg is still yet to score this season. But it's easy to excuse the lack of output from some of the forwards when we are finding goals elsewhere. Though at this point, maybe we do have to count Holdt as a winger since that's where Martin Ho has been playing her most often.
Spurs perhaps benefited from Brighton not playing their strongest team, either, but we were able to control the flow of the game for the most part and didn't see much sustained attacking play from Brighton until close to the end of the match, which made for a nervy ending. Even more concerning was the clear penalty that Shekiera Martinez got away with on the final kick of the game. I was astounded that the referee blew the whistle for full time rather than a penalty kick for Brighton, but since it let us avoid a second straight penalty shootout, I am not going to complain.
I don't think this game is going to stand out in our memories for very long, but we got the job done and jumped up to 7th place in the league phase table, and that's what matters.
Notable & quotable:
• This was Spurs' second clean sheet in a row in the Players Cup and fourth straight in all competitions.
• Olivia Holdt scored her first goal since her hat trick against Crystal Palace.
• As mentioned above, Victoria Pelova has four goals and two assists in her last four appearances in all competitions.
• Spurs are now unbeaten in six games to start the season, across all competitions; the unbeaten streak extends to nine games if you include the end of last season.
• Martin Ho acknowledged that this result wasn't as flashy as our recent WSL scorelines, but found plenty of positive takeaways:
I think you always want to be good with the ball, and you want to obviously excite with the ball, but we have to show a side of us where we are willing to work hard, bite down, be aggressive off the ball, be good in the duel, make sure that we're organised, defend the box when we have to do it properly and make sure we put ourselves in front of the ball. I thought we'd done that really well.
We need to rest and recover now, but I think in this new format we've got in the Players Cup, you need to make sure that you win games so you finish in those top spots and qualify for that next part.
News from around the Lane
• The club took a combined squad photo with all players from the Men's and Women's teams (with at least one visible Photoshop job that I could see...)
• It's time to vote! Spurs Women had heavy representation for the monthly WSL awards for September:
Voting is also open for Spurs' club Goal of the Month and it would be a crying shame if Kirsty Hanson's rocket against West Ham lost to a consolation goal from Conor Gallagher. I'm just saying is all. She's ahead at the moment but it's too close for comfort! In a month where Spurs Women scored fifteen (15!) goals to Spurs Men's three, it feels like an easy choice.
(No disrespect intended to the Men's Academy scorers, there are some real ballers in their ranks, but please also note that the Women's Academy teams never have any nominees in these monthly polls...)
• Speaking of the Women's Academy, the U19s have secured a Division One berth for the second phase of the Professional Game Academy League for the first time in the team's history. This second phase begins in October, and they will compete against the U19 teams from Arsenal, Chelsea, Brighton & Hove Albion, and Bristol City.
• Meanwhile, in the Men's international break, two Spurs players have reached milestones with their international teams:
Up next:
October 4 | Spurs Women vs London City Lionesses
Team news — No changes in availability from the last game, and no new additions to the matchday squad from the long-term injuries just yet, though Jess Naz and Maite Oroz are getting closer to a return
Y'all, this is a massive fixture with meaningful stakes, for two reasons:
- It's our first match of the WSL campaign against one of the teams contending for a top 4 finish (at least by the accepted media narrative; this is perhaps harsh to Liverpool, who should still be considered top 4 hopefuls if we're looking at the current standings)
- It's a matchup of built vs bought squad, playing-style identity vs star power
Although London City Lionesses are only in their second top flight season, they have quickly become a real rival to Spurs, and not just because of proximity. Spurs' ownership has been slower to get truly ambitious with the Women's team, while Michele Kang has shown a willingness to spend big to take a shortcut to the upper half of the WSL table. But it's a mark of how smartly Martin Ho has assembled his squad that we can realistically compete with the likes of multiple Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas and Champions League mainstay Daniëlle van de Donk.
We've seen ample evidence so far this season of the team's cohesive, attacking identity on the pitch, but this will be the biggest test of that identity so far. In previous seasons, when we didn't have as strong of a bench to call upon for reinforcements, Spurs managers (including Martin Ho in his first season) would take a more conservative approach to their tactics against the most formidable teams in the league. I suspect that with this game against London City, we will finally see a bolder strategy emerge against high-quality opposition. There will be two more similar tests in the near future, with Chelsea and Arsenal fixtures coming up just after the international break.
But for now, let's focus on the excitement of this immediate matchup and prepare to be truly entertained.
On a programming note, there will only be one issue a week for the next few weeks since there aren't any more midweek matches for Spurs Women until the end of the month.
But with Spurs Men returning to action next weekend, I'm sure we won't be lacking for drama.
COYS
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