Another week and another game, this time our Lilywhites take on league leaders Chelsea in a re-arranged fixture that was cancelled back in December due to positive Covid cases within the Chelsea camp. Tottenham last faced Chelsea in the league on the opening day of Tottenham’s debut season in the WSL where 24.564 people attended the London derby which saw Chelsea beat Tottenham by a goal to nil thanks to a screamer by Beth England.
Most recently Tottenham took on Chelsea in the Conti Cup in a game in which the host’s really had to work hard with late goals from Cuthbert and Leupolz to earn victory for the Conti Cup holders.
Transfer news.
Since the departure of Alex Morgan, Tottenham have been added a few new additions to the squad. Lauren Smith has joined Tottenham as Skinner assistant after leaving her post with the Welsh senior squad.
Smith previously worked with Bristol for 7 years starting out as a coach for the under 13’s before becoming an assistant coach with the senior squad in 2014. Smith was part of the 2016 team that saw Bristol finish second in FA WSL 2 and earning a return to the WSL for the 2017 season.
Another new addition to the Tottenham squad was the loan signing of England international Abbie McManus.
The defender joins our Lilywhites from Manchester United where McManus joined in 2019 upon their promotion to the WSL from city rivals Manchester City where McManus spent 12 years. Mcmanus started her career with Manchester City in 2011 and was part of the team that won the league and promotion to the National Divison in 2011. In 2013 Mcmanus joined Sheffield United for one season where she won the Premier league Northern. In 2014 Abbie Mcmanus returned to Manchester City and she went on to win the FA WSL Cup after defeating Arsenal 1-0 in the final. Mcmanus has enjoyed a successful 2nd spell at City and has won a total of 6 titles since her return including 2 FA Cups, 3 League Cups and the WSl title in 2016. After 12 years at City, Mcmanus swapped the blue side of Manchester for the Red in 2019 finally fulfilling her dream of playing for the team she has supported since she was a child. Mcmanus made her England Debut in 2018, replacing an injured Steph Houghton for the 2018 SheBelieves Cup which kick-started her career with England. Mcmanus went on to represent England at the 2019 World Cup in France making 3 appearances in the tournament. Abbie’s first Tottenham Interview can be seen below.
Another new arrival is South Korean Captain Cho So-Hyun who joins our lilywhites on loan from London Rivals West Ham until the end of the season.
Cho started her career at the Hyundai Steel Red Angels in 2011. Cho enjoyed a successful time with the Red Angels going on to win the WK League 3 consecutive times before being loaned out to INAC Kobe where Cho went on to win the Empress’s Cup with Kobe after scoring a penalty in a shootout beating Albirex Niigata. In 2017 Cho returned to Red Angel and added another WK League title to her collection before departing in 2018 for Norwegian side Avaldsnes IL. Cho made history in becoming the first South Korean to ever play in the Norwegian league, unfortunately for Cho she was unable to add more titles as Avaldsnes finished 9th in the league and were knocked out in the round of 32 in the Champions League to Barcelona after losing 6-0 on aggregate. In 2019 Cho signed for West Ham United and was part of the historic West Ham side that made the FA Cup final in their first year in the WSL with Cho scoring the decisive penalty against Reading in the semi-finals. Unfortunately for Cho and West Ham, Manchester City ran out 3-0 winners in the final. Cho’s first interview for Tottenham can be seen below.
Departures.
With these fabulous additions to the side some sacrifices have unfortunately been made. Elisha Sulola had left on loan to Charlton until the end of the season. Another player that has left Tottenham is goalkeeper Sophie Whitehouse. Whitehouse joined Tottenham as cover for Mikelsen from the University of Santa Clara. Whitehouse joins Birmingham City permanently after a deal was agreed by both clubs. The biggest shock has been the loaning of Lucia Leon to Madrid CFF. Leon has been at Tottenham since 2013 and has been part of the team that Karen and Juan built that saw our Lilywhites go from amateurs to full-time professionals for the first time ever in 2019 with promotion from the Championship to the WSL. Lucia has made 42 appearances for Tottenham in her 7 years and has won FA Premier League cup in 2016 and 2017, the Ryman’s Cup in 2016 and 17 as well as the Women’s Premier League Southern Division in 2016. Leon is a player that I feel that has developed tremendously and could quite easily be a first-team starter. We wish Lucia well in Madrid and hope that she returns for next season.
Line ups.
Chelsea went for a 4-2-3-1 with Berger in goal, Mjelde at right-back, Bright and Ericsson in the centre of defense with Andersson in at left-back. Leupolz and ji ahead of the defense with Harder down the left-wing, Kirby in the centre, Reiten down the right-wing and kerr up front.
Tottenham opted for a 4-2-3-1 with Mikalsen in goal, Neville in at right-back, Zadorsky and Mcmanus in the centre of defense with Harrop at left-back. Kennedy and Percival ahead of the defense with Addison down the left-wing, Graham in the middle, Davison down the right-wing with Naz up front.
Match Report.
1st place Chelsea welcomed our 7th place Tottenham to Kingsmeadow after Chelsea set a new WSL record by going 32 matches undefeated while our Lilywhites have created their own piece of history after winning 3 games in a row in the WSL for the first time ever.
As expected the league leaders started the strongest, pressing high up preventing Tottenham from playing from the back. Chelsea had their first chance in the 6th minute when Reiten crossed from the left-wing to find Kerr but she skied her effort from the 6-yard box letting Tottenham off the hook. The Chelsea dominance didn’t last too long because after that Kerr chance it was Tottenham that settled into the game and began to dominate possession. Tottenham’s first chance of the game came in the 13th minute after Kennedy had her effort blocked after great play in the Chelsea box, the deflection fell to Zadorsky whose effort went just over Berger’s bar. A minute later it was Tottenham again that looked the most likely to score when great play by Graham found Percival, who shot from outside the box and her effort hit Berger’s left-hand post. In the 18th Minute, it was Tottenham again that was looking to score when great play by Gemma Davison down the left-wing found Kit Graham who unleashed a shot from the edge of the box but Berger saved well. Tottenham’s missed chances came to punish them on the 26th minute when against the run of play Leupolz scored a with a thunderous shot from outside the area after a pass from Ji. Two minutes later things went from bad to worse for Tottenham when a miskick by Mikalsen was intercepted by Kirby who found Harder with her cross who shot past Mikalsen to put Chelsea 2 up. Chelsea could have had a 3rd in the 32nd minute when Chelsea split the Tottenham defense with Kirby finding Kerr but was unable to put the ball past Mikalsen after her first touch let her down. Tottenham looked to get back into the game and in the 36th minute Angela Addison came close after running down the right-wing, twisting Andersson but Addison’s effort flew just over Berger’s right-hand post. A minute later Tottenham was punished when a Chelsea long ball found Harder who crossed to find Kerr who headed a past Mikalsen to make it 3 for the hosts. Tottenham started so well but after the second goal Chelsea grew more into the game dominating possession as that goal knocked the confidence out of Tottenham.
Second Half.
Skinner made her first substitute of the game at half time bringing on Josie Green for Kit Graham. Chelsea started the as they finished the first half by dominating possession, passing the ball around preventing Tottenham from getting the ball and looking for gaps to punish Tottenham. Chelsea could have had a 4th in the 58th minute when a one-two between Harder and Kirby lead to a rushed soft effort by Harder making it a comfortable save for Mikalsen. A couple of minutes after Beth England was introduced she earned Chelsea a penalty when her cross hit Harrop’s arm, Leopold took the penalty sending Mikalsen the wrong way making it 4 to Chelsea. In the 70th minute Chelsea came close again this time Reiten played in England but her shot hit the Tottenham side netting. A rare Tottenham attack saw Davison play Ayane down the right-wing who centred but her cross almost caught Berger off guard but quick thinking by the German put Ayane’s cross out for a corner. A lot of play took place in the middle of the park and Chelsea enjoyed a lot of possession but with a 4 goal lead weren’t pushing as hard as they could, but instead just enjoyed passing the ball around looking for any opportunity to play any of the forwards through. Tottenham found it difficult to create any chances especially without any natural forward on the pitch. In the 80th minute, a long Chelsea ball was flicked on to Reiten by England but Reiten was challenged by Neville just as she was about to pull the trigger resulting in a comfortable save for Mikalsen. Chelsea kept coming at Tottenham in the last 10 minutes and looked like they wanted a 5th and in the 85th minute after Lucy Quinn was fouled but play continued, Ji shot from the edge of the Tottenham box but her effort was deflected for a corner. In the 93rd minute and with almost the last play of the game Ji again came close when she unleashed a thunderous shot from outside the box but her effort was superbly saved by Mikalsen to prevent a 5th for Chelsea.
Player of the match.
To be honest we didn’t see much from Tottenham after the 30-minute mark so choosing a player of the match is difficult. If we had to choose one player we would have to say that Zadorsky would get our player of the match as she contained Kerr and England giving them very few chances to punish Tottenham further.
Post Match Analysis.
Considering Tottenham were taking on the Champions who have not lost in 32 matches before kick-off, I don’t feel Chelsea were that great and their victory was down to individual errors. Before Chelsea took the lead Tottenham were in control and could have quite easily been 2 up but in every match, you need to take advantage of chances especially when facing a team like Chelsea. If I am being honest I feel West Ham gave Tottenham more trouble than Chelsea and Tottenham took the 3 points maybe undeservedly. It could be said that Tottenham was unlucky to have lost by 4 when you take into consideration that 3 of the 4 Chelsea goals were mistakes which were avoidable but that’s what happens when you play a top side. I think Rehanne got her tactics right and Tottenham frustrated Chelsea for the first 30 minutes BUT chances need to be taken and these individual mistakes can NOT happen at the top level. I have always said that I felt that Mikalsen should be the Tottenham number 1 keeper but her positioning in the first goal and her miskick leading to Chelsea’s 2nd definitely will not help in her overtaking Becky Spencer in goal. I know Mikalsen is better than this, maybe it was nerves in making her debut against the champions, maybe she is still not match fit after her injury I don’t know but whatever the reason she needs to learn from today, work on those mistakes and come back stronger. I still believe she is a much better keeper than what we saw today. My only criticism of Skinner is we need a natural forward to play week in and week out. Naz and Ayane are not natural number 9’s. Losing Williams to injury is a huge blow but we have Rianna Dean (Tottenham’s 2019-20 top goal scorer) on the bench who is not getting a look in this season. Maybe it time to play Dean or Quinn and try something different. Tottenham’s next league matches are games in which Tottenham should take points in before the horrid 4 games against the top 4 from March 28th against Arsenal. Tottenham need to take maximum points against teams of the same status or lower because the matches against Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea will be a real struggle before taking on Birmingham in the last game of the season. Skinner needs to find a number 9 now as we need as many points as possible if we do not want to find ourselves in a relegation battle towards the end of the season. We always knew it was going to be tough against the champions, we did better than against West Ham so that’s a positive we just need to stop making silly errors and making the most of chances created. I believe we will bounce back against Villa and set ourselves up nicely to survive the dreaded 2nd season in the top flight, bring on Villa next week COYS!!!
Next Match.
Tottenham’s next match is away to Aston Villa on Sunday 6th February at 12.30 on the FA Player. Tottenham will be looking to bounce from the Chelsea defeat with 3 points before taking on Bristol in their rescheduled midweek match.
Women's Soccer Fans 