Martin Ho’s first weeks in charge
It was a really strong pre-season. I think for the squad and Martin, it was about getting the fundamentals ironed out, what he is trying to build and laying out the foundations, then applying the creativity and the flair on top.
This, of course, starts with his non-negotiables; working harder than the opponent, making sure that we're incredibly compact and organised when out of possession, but also at the same time being brave and confident on the ball.
I think Martin spent a large amount of time having hands-on coaching with the players, ensuring that they know what’s exactly required from them in terms of game plan. I'm genuinely excited to watch them in the WSL, and whilst you can't read too much into the results in pre-season, you can read into the desire, effort and the type of performances that we put in.
Who to keep an eye on
Drew Spence has looked really sharp for us over pre-season. I think she's a good one to look at in terms of the way that Martin will want to play, who he’s going to look to play through, and I think she's going to bring a lot to Spurs this season.
Alongside Drew, I also asked all of the squad ‘who is one to watch?’ at their Media Access Day last week and a name that came up over and over again was Matilda Vinberg. They said that she has shown a new side in training in terms of confidence and quality, mentioning how hungry she looks and how good technically she has been in pre-season so I think Matilda will be one to keep an eye on this afternoon.
Shekiera, Shekiera….
West Ham’s Shekiera Martinez is such a special talent. She is incredibly dangerous in front of goal and is no doubt still full of confidence following her form at the backend of last season, scoring 10 goals in 12 WSL games. With her impressive goalscoring run last term, she swept the awards for West Ham, but she also league’s Player of the Month awards back-to-back as well, so our defensive unit will have their hands full.
The WSL newcomers
One more thing to touch on this week is newcomers London City Lionesses. We're going to see fairly early on in matchday one when they face Arsenal just how far they've come since earning promotion last season and how their new signings have bedded in. I went down to their Media Day with BBC Radio 5 Live last month and they're doing an enormous amount of work at the training ground to build an infrastructure there. Along with some of the huge additions they’ve made to the squad, it will be interesting to see whether they can cause an upset or two.