Martin Ho spoke to the media at Hotspur Way on Friday morning, ahead of our Barclays Women’s Super League trip to Manchester City at Joie Stadium on Saturday (12noon UK).
Here are some key points on what he had to say…
On reflections from the defeat to Everton…
“I felt we didn't get going. There's no excuses from us. We weren’t good enough with our pressure, which we usually are good with. With the ball, we were okay, we had some moments in the first half, flashes of moments, we conceded too many transitions, far too many and, then in the second half, we changed structure, we had more of a foothold in the game for a good 20-25 minute period, we capitalised and got the goal. But then, again, we allowed another transition and we got punished for it. But, being honest, we didn't deserve anything from the game.”
On looking for a response against Man City…
“We should get a response because it's uncharacteristic of ourselves to be the way we were. But you can have those games in football, that's part and parcel of it, we can have an off day, but we can't have too many of them. I don't think we've had too many of them, if I'm honest. You must embrace it; you have to look at it and evaluate what we've done. I evaluate it as a coach on how we approach the game, how we set up and what we've done - and that lies with me. We need to make sure we go into this game with confidence and belief to put that result right.”
On why City have been the ‘cut above the rest’ and currently leading the standings in the WSL…
“Just the flexibility and freedom Andres [Jeglertz] gives them. They're so much more dynamic tactically, they're so much more versatile, and then you have some really good cutting edge. If you look at their goal scorers, I think they've had eight or nine, ten different goal scorers in the season, so their goals are coming from an array of areas on the pitch. They have a very dangerous front line and midfield backing that up, and then their depth within the squad supports that. I think more their tactical flexibility and their freedom in their play is something that you can see.”