Five things we learned from Tottenham Hotspur's huge opening day win
Spurs smashed Crystal Palace 4-0 in their first game of the season, but what does that result tell us about Robert Vilahamn's team?
Spurs started the season with a 4-0 win over newly promoted Crystal Palace. This was the biggest margin of victory in Robert Vilahamn’s managerial tenure. Here are the key takeaways from the game.
Getting it done
With tough games looming, Spurs needed three points from this game and while getting the win is not wholly surprising, the manner with which Spurs dispatched Palace was remarkable. The team looked a class above the WSL newcomers and the four-goal margin was deserved.
Palace had a few decent chances in the first half but lacked players on the end of them. As the game went on and both managers turned to their substitute bench, the gulf between the teams grew. In Spurs’ case, the substitutes contributed goals with Olga Ahtinen scoring and Bethany England getting an assist.
Meanwhile, Palace got less organised and allowed the home side more space. Using bench players to change or maintain energy without dropping quality is something Vilahamn has tried to add to this side. It’s also a key attribute of top WSL teams. Spurs’ ability to do this will be key to getting them over the line in more tricky games.
Chance creation
Last season, Vilahamn repeatedly mentioned that he would prefer to win 4-3 than 1-0, yet Spurs struggled to create good chances and in 12 of their final 16 games scored one or fewer goals. Therefore, kicking off the season with four goals, 26 shots, 17 of which were on target according to FotMob data. Spurs also had 46 touches in the opposition box which shows significant progress. Yes, the finishing needs to get more clinical but it’s a truism that you can’t score the shots you don’t take. That said, Martha Thomas and England are probably both kicking themselves for not exploiting excellent one-on-ones against Palace keeper, Shae Yanaz, who had a good game, despite conceding four.
Meanwhile Spurs’ wide attacking players both got a goal. Hayley Raso showed her class from the off. Consistently dangerous down the right, she received more progressive passes than any other player (14) and made 11 progressive carries (FotMob). These aspects of her game were at play in Spurs’ opener. Raso received a pass from Eveliina Summanen from deep, and then carried the ball into the area, dribbling around Palace players before shooting from wide right.
Unlike Raso, dribbling is not Jess Naz’s strong point and in the first half she looked less comfortable on the other wing, getting trapped out wide in one-on-ones. But in the second half she came inside more and her goal came when she was central and pressing. Naz made a challenge that dislodged the ball. Drew Spence collected it passing it directly back to her, enabling Naz to run beyond the defence. While Yanaz got a hand to her initial shot, Naz continued her run and pounced on the rebound to score. This was a reminder that allowing Naz to start from a more central position and run through on goal will produce chances.
Midfield magic
Maite Oroz has only been at the club a week. Therefore, her start, in the midfield alongside Summanen, with Spence ahead, signalled the faith Vilahamn has in her. She’ll need another few games to cement relationships and adjust to the rhythms of WSL football, but in this first game her passing skills were on display as she kept the ball moving and the tempo up.
Alongside her, Spurs three existing midfielders all had good games with Spence and Ahtinen each scoring stunning goals and Summanen providing the assist for Raso. Spence looked particularly sharp back in the more attacking position that she started in last season. That she maintained this across the whole 90 minutes (which she has not been able to across previous seasons at Spurs) speaks to Vilahamn prioritising fitness in preseason. All told this looks like a fun midfield and one that will find ways to keep and progress the ball.
Hunt and Bartrip click at the back
Clare Hunt was brought in to improve Spurs’ defence, particularly when it comes to playing it out from the back and competing in the air. In this game we saw evidence of both and that her partnership with Spurs’ most consistent centre-back Molly Bartrip, is already up and running. Both remained relatively deep but worked well with the midfield to build up from the back. Bartrip can make driving runs forward with the ball but usually when other options are limited. Palace’s seven corners went without incident. Palace had zero shots on target (four shots total), showing just how well the whole backline closed them down. There will be more dangerous attacks to come this season but this was a good start.
Ashleigh Neville still has it
In this game Ashleigh Neville, now 31, was at her imperious best, giving a player-of-the-match performance, racking up a game-high eight tackles (with 100 percent success rate), 10 recoveries, three interceptions, according to FotMob data. She won 12 of 15 ground duels and made four successful dribbles. In the second half she seemed to be everywhere, winning the ball back, playing neat one-twos, carrying it 50 yards, or just providing an outlet to escape an, admittedly increasingly ineffective, Palace press.
It is a minor miracle that Neville, who came up with the club, joining Spurs in the Championship from the third tier (already aged 25), year after year, even as new waves of internationals join, continues to raise her game. New full-back and England Under-21 international Ella Morris joined this summer with a lot of hype around her. She had a minor injury and was unavailable for this game. But if Neville continues putting in performances like this competition for the right-back spot will be the fiercest in the team.
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