Presser Points | Spurs vs Liverpool (WSL) | Robert Vilahamn | OneFootball

Robert Vilahamn spoke to the media on Thursday afternoon ahead of our Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Liverpool at Brisbane Road on Sunday afternoon (2.15pm KO).

Here’s what he had to say…

Team news

First up, he was asked about the latest team news and an update on Ella Morris…

Robert: “Ella Morris is training on the pitch but also being monitored, so we need to wait and see whether she can be available for this weekend. Luana [Buhler] did her first minutes back this week and everything went well. The rest of the players are in the same phase, so Shuang [Wang] and Amy [James-Turner] will not be options for this game, but they're still taking steps on the grass. I's a matter of a few weeks, I would say.”

Liverpool

Robert was asked about his thoughts on Liverpool and what he took from last season’s 1-1 draws with The Reds…

Robert: “They have a coach who has been in this league for a long time with great success and you can tell that he knows how to win games and come back in games. His teams are strong and work hard, so I feel like when you play them, you know that you’re going to have a tough game. We also had two good games in small parts last season, but they came back and scored against us so we need to make sure we can manage those games as well. They have signed a few new players as well so, I mean, it's going to be a tough game, but we have had a good start to the season and we know that if we have a good day, we have a good chance to beat them.”

Liverpool has two points but no wins in the first two games, is it a good time to play them?

Robert: “We come with a good feeling in our bodies and I feel like they probably come with wanting to have more points, they had two leads in those games and ended with two draws. I think they would want to beat us, but I know that it's a new game, the players will be ready to compete.”

Olivia Smith

Canada international Olivia Smith joined The Reds in the summer and got her first goal of the season in the 1-1 draw with West Ham. Robert was asked if he would change approach to contain the threat she poses…

Robert: “She's been great in the first games and I feel like she's a talented player with enormous power. The finish she did was really great, she’s a great pressing player as well but we will never adapt just because they have good players. We need to be aware of them, but we have our strategy, how we want to play, we have our tactics, how we want to break the press, defend against them as well, but I'm impressed by her, I think she’s a great player.”

Jess Naz

Our number seven grabbed her second goal of the campaign in the midweek victory over Charlton and Robert was asked ‘how big of a season could it be for Jess?’

Robert: “Her x-factor is one of the best in the league. She's so strong, powerful and quick, and she has the potential to be one of the top players in this league and in the country. Her next level will be to be consistent and to handle more phases of the game, but she's still quite young and she's still learning that so we're working very much to be consistent with her and still have that x-factor stuff that she has. Just give her time to grow into this role, don’t expect to do those goals every game but make sure she contributes to the team. She presses so well, she’s great in the lead up and great at threatening so she just needs to be given time before she's starting in the national team. But I'm sure she will get there because she's so good in some areas where I don't see any other player in this league can compete with her.”

Centre-back partnership

Robert was asked about the centre-back pairing of Clare Hunt and Molly Bartrip in the first two games…

Robert: “They work well together, I can tell that they communicate and help the people around them as well, so they are organising the team in a good way. I feel like they are both good players in possession, that can handle the ball and want to make sure they are playmakers for us. I still think there’s a few things they can take steps with, how we can break the opponent’s press, making sure we have different options in those scenarios. But I must say they play well together and they help the team in a good way. Out of possession, I feel like our defence work has been better this season by defending the box with crosses and they've been great with set pieces as well. I feel like we are building some good relations there, but it was also nice to see Luana score and come back, Amy is hopefully soon back as well. We have four really good centre-backs, but Molly and Clare are playing really well.”

Upcoming fixtures

Robert was asked ‘five of the next six games are against teams who finished above you last season, how exciting is that to test yourself against them?’

Robert: “It's going to be very interesting to have a lot of those games in a row because I feel like we want to be better in those games, we want to compete against these teams. I don't think people expect us to win all those games, but we also expect to be better than last season so we're going to make sure we compete in these games. When you have played all those games, you can summarise and say, ‘are we ready to compete against these teams or not’. If we are, we're going to have a good position in the table but if we're not, then we need to make sure we take the steps quickly so we can fix it during the season. It's more to get an answer on where we are, where we are going, and see how we can improve even more. I feel like last season you didn't really know and you kind of hoped that you would get a good result but this season we’re going into it to make sure we get a good result - that's the big difference.”