Martin Ho spoke to the media at Hotspur Way on Friday afternoon, ahead of our Barclays Women’s Super League trip to Everton on Sunday (2.30pm UK).
Here are some key points on what he had to say…
“It was the attitude, commitment, desire and passion that we haven’t seen a lot of. The players sticking together, being resilient in a lot of moments and time to apply a lot of the things we’ve spoken about, being more expressive with the ball and being brave, which is something they’ve not been as accustomed to. There’s still a long way to go and a lot for us to build on. For the players, not having a win in 9 months is difficult for anyone, but I wanted to make sure we could get off on the right foot, which we did. Three points will give confidence and belief.”
Martin on returning to Everton…
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“I spent a lot of time there, I have a lot of respect for the club. The club, the staff the people there, they gave me the opportunity when I was younger. Being at Goodison Park, I’ve been a part of the Women’s team when we’ve played there before, but to go back there will be really nice, to see some familiar faces and there are some players still there from when I was there. Everton are a wonderful team, we know it’s going to be a real big tough game for us. We’ve got to make sure we stick to it. I’ve got every faith and confidence in the group to do that.”
Martin on Brian Sorensen…
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“I’ve got a lot of time for Brian. Me and Brian are good friends, we get on really well. When you look at last season, the injuries they had, they suffered a bit but now he’s been really backed. They’ve now got a really solid team, they’re competitive, they contest possession and he’s really high demanding off the ball. We’re the same, we have familiar ideas of the game. It’s going to be a real tough game, but both teams will leave everything on the pitch, definitely.”
“\[It’s\] really important. In Toko, you can see a really mature performance for a 19-year-old; someone who is calm, composed, but her game intelligence is really high. There’s never going to be a ceiling on what she can achieve. She has a wonderful player, wonderful person, she has gone above and beyond in her understanding. She has taken really well to the environment and the culture. She’ll continue to add parts to her game, her physicality and intelligence will knit together nicely. I’m hoping for a big performance from her on the weekend.”
Martin on Araya Dennis after her first WSL start…
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“Araya deserved the opportunity. She trained well and she’s been doing that throughout pre-season. The training performances are big for me, there’s 90mins that everyone lives for but there’s 10 hours of training that probably everyone dismisses because they just want to start the game. Her performance was good, she had a lot of solid opportunities, the moments she had one-v-one, and some movement off the ball. With Araya, it’s more confidence building and maturity. Just maturing her in certain situations tactically, trying to give her the experience that she needs, to be able to take the right steps. Araya can achieve big things in my opinion and I think she’s got the environment to do it now.”