Impetus Football

Above: Martin Ho. Photo: Tottenham Hotspur.

Tottenham Hotspur head coach Martin Ho has highlighted the midfield battle as crucial and praised Sonia Bompastor’s Chelsea ahead of a pivotal clash at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Ho began his conference by providing an update on team news and revealed that there are no major changes from the previous fixture against West Ham.

“The same as it was for the West Ham, apart from, obviously, Drew or myself through suspension, um, but yeah, there’s a lot of good progress from all the other players who are still long term.”

Tottenham will be without key figure Drew Spence for the fixture, and Ho shared his thoughts on her absence in such a high-profile match.

“I think she’s been a standout throughout the season. What she brings to us is in terms of a calmness and an experience with the ball and a really dynamic approach with the ball,” he said, adding that the midfielder “sets the tone and the bar for how we want to defend on the front foot and really wearing a Spurs shirt with pride and compassion and really kind of puts forward how we should approach games.”

The Liverpool-born coach also spoke highly of Chelsea, despite their recent results.

“Yeah, they’re a wonderful team and if anyone thinks that them losing two games turns them into a bad team, then you’re very mistaken. They’re a wonderful team.”

Expanding on his praise, he noted that the Blues “have wonderful players, a wonderful manager and yeah, they played Arsenal and Manchester City — two top teams — and in those games it’s kind of nip and tuck who takes the chances at that level.

And unfortunately Chelsea have been on the back end of that and, um, you expect the response. You know they’re going to be dangerous. And we know what the threats are going to be like — very dynamic players in the front line, very good players in central areas.”

The Tottenham boss singled out the midfield battle as an integral part of the game plan.

“They’ve got some of the most decorated central midfielders in world football. So we need to be aware. We will be, but what that doesn’t do is we have to show no fear in that. We have to apply ourselves correctly and focus on ourselves and what we want to do.”

This will be Ho’s first match as head coach at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and he expressed his excitement about managing at the iconic venue.

“Really excited because it’s my first game as a head coach at the stadium and I’ve said that before, I feel it’s the best stadium in world football. It’s authentic, it’s iconic. And when you’re stood there, you feel like when you stood inside.”

He explained that he hopes his players focus on performance rather than the occasion of playing a London derby at such a stadium: ‘You have to remove all the emotion attached to the game and just focus on performance, which is easy for me to say because I’m not one of those players that steps out onto the pitch and plays.

But I’ll do my best to remove that pressure as much as possible and just give them really key focus points on what they’ve delivered so far and what we’ve done so far.”

Ho also emphasised that a London derby often goes beyond football, with bragging rights across the capital at stake.

“I think when you play a London derby, maybe a lot of your form and those sorts of aspects go out the window because it’s more of a, it’s more bragging rights and a battle.

But we just need to focus on what we’ve been doing. I think against the top teams, if you want to call it, we’ve had some good performances and we’ve built on those performances.

We maybe were unfortunate with some of the results, the back ones just before Christmas against United where we drew, but we’ve actually performed better in those games.

It takes time to build the team back to where you want it to be and it takes time to build confidence and momentum in a group. And I’d certainly done that and the players are now relishing the opportunity to play against Chelsea at the stadium.

That will definitely bring an edge to us. It brings excitement, definitely, because you’re playing in front of your home fans at the stadium. And we just want to make sure that the performance backs up what we’ve been doing.”

The London derby between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea kicks off at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 8 February at 2:45pm UK time.

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Above: United celebrating last season’s 1-0 win. Photo: Matt McNulty / Getty.

Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur will meet this weekend in the WSL as they fight to keep their places in the top three and top five respectively.

With both sides having won their last WSL fixtures after losses and draws, they are hoping to start a new winning streak in the league.

United are currently in third place in the table, they hold a one point lead on Arsenal and Spurs and trail slightly behind Chelsea who sit in second. In fifth, Spurs have the same number of points as Arsenal with goal difference dragging them down.

The Reds are striving to keep their place in the top three with Spurs aiming to score goals and stay in the top five.

Ahead of their clash this weekend, Impetus heard from both clubs’ managers.

Marc Skinner: United need to be “aggressive”

Coming off the back of a Champions League loss, United’s manager, Mark Skinner, hopes to take “learnings” from playing against this top side into Sunday’s match against Spurs.

Skinner recognises that these lessons from the loss to Lyon “will be immense in the future” and is proud of the way his team moved the ball during key moments in the match.

Taking this pride in positive moments of play with them, Skinner’s side aims to “be really aggressive with and without the ball” when faced with Spurs this weekend.

United know that they must be “alive” with Spurs having been in “good form” this season.

The focus will be on defensive solidity with Skinner emphasising the need to keep a solid backline.

Facing criticism for his squad rotation against Lyon, Skinner was keen to clear the air.

“I see the players day in and day out. I see who’s physically at it, who’s mentally at it,” said Skinner.

He uses these observations to decide who he will choose to play stating that he does not think his “job is to necessarily make the players happy”.

Rather it is to “keep them focused and ready so they can make their impact when they get the opportunity”.

It is this focus and alertness that will allow the Reds to be “aggressive with and without the ball” this weekend.

Against Spurs they will “not be passive in any moment” and remember that as a team they “can hurt anyone”.

Tomorrow’s match will be “a tough task” for United but one that they are “looking forward to”.

Martin Ho’s “full focus” has been on this game

Spurs’ manager, Martin Ho, knows that United are “competing for the title”, that they “have word class players and they’re playing the big stages of the Champions League”. However, he also knows that “with the right attitude” and correct application his team could take away a win.

This league game has the team’s “full focus”, and he will not “rest or rotate players for the sake of it”.

Ho want to win every game and recognises that his job is “to put out the team most competitive to start the game”.

Coming off a big with last weekend against Aston Villa was “huge” for Spurs. In this fixture the side had excellent “attitude and resilience” while being faced with adversity from international break injuries.

One of the squad’s recent injuries was to Jess Naz, a strong and dependable forward. Ho said that her ACL injury is “disappointing and frustrating, especially when she has done one before, but she’s been in good spirits the last few days”.

Even with the injury to Naz, and other long-term injuries to his players, Spurs “can be competitive” – Ho has “full faith in the group” who will “go in with confidence and the belief” that they can win.

If Spurs to get the win tomorrow, they will see their best ever start in the WSL after eleven games.

This is exciting for Ho, but his focus is on development with an emphasis on improving “every week, every session, every game”.

There is a focus on the players and the staff and if that elicits points and is “written in the books” then that is “brilliant” for all involved.

This week, focusing on the players and staff involves keeping a strong mentality and remembering that the team have the capability to beat United.

Aiming to control the game on and off the ball, Ho’s side are feeling prepared for tomorrow’s fixture.

Manchester United v Tottenham kicks off at Leigh Sports Village at 14.30 UK time and can be watched on YouTube.

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by Boh Blythin (8/9/24)

Above: Grace Clinton in action for Tottenham Hotspur last season. Photo: BBC.

Grace Clinton has made an emotional farewell to Tottenham Hotspur after her season-long loan spell, ahead of her return to Manchester United.

The typical idea of a season-long loan is to send a player somewhere they can develop and are more likely to get a higher amount of game-time. However, Clinton exceeded these expectations, becoming a key contributor in the Tottenham Hotspur side.

Many Spurs fans have been left devastated by the loss of England’s up-and-coming superstar. Just before she made her departure from the club, the midfielder was given the supporters’ Player of the Season award.

The energetic youngster developed into a strong midfielder last season, being viewed as one of the most exciting young talents in English football. With the expiration of the loan deal and United recalling the star, Tottenham Hotspur have a big hole left in their squad.

Despite her time at Spurs being brief, the midfielder’s overall performance impacted the club greatly. With standout attributes including the likes of ball control and passing range, she read the game well. Clinton’s ability to make key passes under pressure helped split the opposing defence and create goal-scoring opportunities. Being able to link the defensive and attacking players helped the game transition from defence to offence smoothly.

During her time in North London, the 21-year-old had developed deep chemistry with Bethany England. With her vision and ability to make consistently precise and accurate long attacking balls, she linked well with England’s effective positioning and finishing ability. Their strengths combined created strong chemistry and more attacking chances for the Spurs side. You would often see Clinton provide assists or key passes to create attacking opportunities, which lead to important goals.

On her departure, Spurs have lost a massive amount of creativity in midfield. As an energetic youngster, Clinton was able to offer many opportunities to improve the side’s attacking and defensive play. She displayed this through the likes of her high pressing work rate and defensive support when out of possession.

The midfielder would often drive forward with the ball, creating many goal-scoring opportunities. She was also capable of dropping back and disrupting the opposition’s play by intercepting passes. Losing Clinton may also disrupt chemistry thus affecting the smoothness and effectiveness of the North London side’s tactics.

Upon her return to the Manchester United side, the young star has improved to a greater depth as a midfielder viewed as a more tough and confident individual. She’s well prepared to take on and contribute to the club’s ambitions during the upcoming season thanks to a consistent work ethic and development of her play and self-belief.

Competing in an intense league with high standards and putting her up against such talented opponents more frequently is something she wouldn’t have got as much access to if she stayed with Manchester United. Due to the club’s top talent, there is competition when fighting to be in the starting lineup. As Clinton was only young and lacking in experience in the league, the likes of Ella Toone and Leah Galton were ahead of her in the pecking order.

The WSL brings huge demands and features top-tier talent. Alongside Clinton’s increase in game time and experience on the pitch, she has upped her physicality and intensity to another level. Overall improving her mental and physical toughness including strength and stamina, is essential for a young and energetic player who aspires to become one of the best.

In the upcoming years, Clinton could become a key player in the Manchester United side. The midfielder is more than ready to contribute significantly to the squad.

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