Why optimism reigns for Tottenham Hotspur despite latest thrashing by Manchester City
In the wake of a 5-1 loss to Man City, Rachel Cohen analyses what we've learned from Martin Ho's first three matches as Spurs manager
It’s not all gloom.
Spurs lost 5-1 to Manchester City.
Friday’s scoreline did not lie. Per FotMob, Spurs gave up 25 shots (for a combined xG of 4.56) and managed only six shots (xG = 0.47).
After the game, manager Martin Ho was damning, describing it as “a step back in terms of the aggression, in terms of how we pressed, the intent to defend.” Despite some good spells and a “brilliant” goal, he pointed to “too many off moments where we were too hesitant.”
Similarly, captain Bethany England talked about her disappointment and “anger” about how Spurs played, suggesting that the team gave too much space to City and were punished for it.
Yet there are probably some positives – at least if this game is seen alongside the previous two: a 1-0 home win against West Ham and a 2-0 away win over Everton.
Targeting not the top four
First, it is worth reiterating that Spurs were never expected to beat City. The team’s record against City has been abysmal.
Other than the penalty shoot-out FA Cup win in 2024 (which was also notably the fourth time the two sides met that season) and Spurs ‘Hand of Ros’ win in 2021, there have been a dozen losses, seven of which have been a three-goal margin or more.
Famously, Bunny Shaw has scored three hat-tricks against Spurs in that period, while Spurs failed to score in half of the previous encounters. And while supporters hoped for a result against City, not beating a top team is unlikely to radically change the season. While beating teams outside the traditional top four is. Here Spurs have achieved. Before last weekend, Spurs had failed to beat Everton away on six previous occasions.
Pressing matters
Second, even in this game, and even while they suffered from City’s pressing, you could see how Spurs press has improved under Ho. It was this that forced City into turnovers (with Spurs having 122 passes in the opposition half – relatively close to City’s 144). Moreover, on Friday, as was the case in the previous two games, Spurs scored immediately after winning the ball back high up the pitch.
In this case, the goal came from Olivia Holdt and Eveliina Summanen doubling up on Grace Clinton. The corollary of how essential pressing is to the ways that Ho’s team creates chances is that the manager is leaning heavily on players who are effective in the press.
Jessica Naz is a case in point. The long-time Spurs player has been criticised for sometimes attacking with blinkers and a lack of positional awareness in defending the box, but she presses with impressive acceleration, which is likely why she remained on the pitch all game.
Bench impact
Third, Spurs’ substitutes made a difference. This is ostensibly the purpose of substitutes, but recent Spurs’ managers have made very few or very late substitutes (Robert Vilahamn era Spurs) or had insufficient quality on the bench to introduce players who are not clear downgrades (Rehanne Skinner era Spurs).
Against City, Matilda Vinberg came on in the second half and created new threats down the left, Josefine Rybrink shored up the back line, and Maite Oroz and Olivia Holdt showed an ability to combine creatively going forward, with Holdt the scorer of a fantastic individual goal.
These players could not overturn a three-goal (and later four-goal) deficit, nor radically change the rhythm of the game, but their introductions addressed specific problems that were visible on the pitch and speak to Ho’s ability to make in-game adjustments – something that we also saw in the games against West Ham and Everton.
New arrivals
Fourth, Spurs new players have been impactful. For years, Spurs have been cycling through players – half a dozen or more leaving and coming each summer. Too often, the quality of those incoming has barely, if at all, improved upon the leavers.
This summer, the only departures were fringe players and the two young incoming players were a level above. Both have had almost instant impact, with Tōko Koga voted the club’s player of the match in the first game of the season and Kathinka (Tinka) Tandberg winning this accolade for the second following her ridiculous one-touch goal from thirty-five yards out.
Even against City Koga and Tandberg showed what they can do. Koga’s decision-making and ball control under pressure were evident and she produced a goal-line clearance. At times she pushed up and was caught out of position but even then her positional awareness was evident in how she tracked back – for instance, in the build-up to the third goal, she was chasing Kerolin but still managed to go around the Brazilian and position her body in such a way as to block the attempted shot.
Tandberg, who was electric against Everton, struggled at times to get in the game against City. Nonetheless, we saw her competitiveness in aerial duels (she won four of four) and her determination to get into the box whenever possible. Two players are not enough to radically raise the quality of an entire team, but if the logic of this window is repeated in January and then again next Summer, we might (finally) see evidence of the ‘journey’ the club leadership have claimed is the plan.
Safe hands
Fifth, keeper Lize Kop has been a steady presence. That seems a strange comment on a game in which Spurs conceded five. But Kop made a few excellent saves and stopped Shaw’s penalty with a low dive. She also had an 80% passing accuracy, including completing 11/19 long balls (FotMob). Kop in goal has been part of the clean sheets Spurs achieved in the two previous games and given the importance of confidence for goalkeepers, the upside of this game is that her performance is unlikely to initiate a crisis for Kop (or the manager’s trust in her) in the way that happened for Becky Spencer after the 7-0 loss to City in 2023.
Sticking to a plan
Sixth, we have seen tactical continuity with adjustments. Clearly, Martin Ho had put some thought into how to play against City. And while the team retained much of the shape with 10/11 starters from Everton starting here, they were set up in a slightly more conventional 442. Against West Ham and Everton, we had seen a lopsided 4231 with the left-back playing high and the right-sided winger dropping back at times. The focus on continuity but making game-to-game adjustments is likely to, in the longer run, if not here, be productive in ensuring the squad is both familiar with what is expected of them, but also able to compete in different games.
For all of that, the problem with playing City, is that their goal threats are everywhere and, three games into the season, Andrée Jeglertz’s team is starting to really flow. You do a good job marking Shaw and there’s Vivianne Miedema. You play Charli Grant to counter the speed of Lauren Hemp and then face different problems once Kerolin replaces Hemp. You focus on the attacking players and Kerstin Casparij pops up. Aoba Fujino comes off after scoring and Grace Clinton comes on and scores. There are undoubtedly ways to stop this team, and maybe in the reverse fixture Ho will have identified these and – ideally with a couple of additional winter signings – the squad will get a result. But sometimes in football, the better team is just better.
That does not mean, however, that Spurs supporters start looking to the floor. After last year, there was huge scope for improvement. The early signs are that this will be a significantly fitter, more organised and more competitive team. If not one that can consistently compete with the top four.
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