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Tottenham Hotspur head coach Martin Ho said that he couldn’t have asked for anything more from his side as they beat Everton 2-0 at Goodison Park on Sunday afternoon.
Olga Ahtinen and Cathinka Tandberg got the goals as The Lilywhites made it two wins out of two in this season’s Barclays Women’s Super League.
When speaking in the post-match press conference, Spurs boss Ho admitted that his side delivered everything that he had hoped for.
“We built on last week,” Ho said. “I asked for more from the players, especially offensively; to be brave with the ball and play more with the ball is how we want to play moving forward. First half, we did that quite well and I asked for more oportunities at goal. We had 19 shots today with eight on target but more importantly, off the ball, we were outstanding.
“What I expect at Goodison when you play an Everton team for example, are aggressive hard plays, aggressive pressure, very good in the duel, hard to break down, hard to beat, fight, passion. I thought they could give me that today and I couldn’t have asked for any more from them.”
Summer signing Tandberg scored a stunning goal from 40 yards out and Ho has been more than impressed with his new addition.
He said “The kind of courage to do that and the risk taken to do that is big and that’s what she’s built on. I thought overall, her performance was brilliant. She’s still got lots to learn and lots to build on, but she deserved that goal.
“Her ability to withstand pressure from behind, she can lead play really well, she’s very creative and instinctive in the box and around the attacking third. Her finishing qualities are phenomenal. We see it in training every day; you give her half a yard and she’ll punish you. Her shot-to-goal ratio in training is very high, so I know in around the box [she’s dangerous]. She’s not even knowing where the goal is, so that’s the sign of a really talented player.
“When you’ve got Beth [England] and Cathinka who can both score a lot of goals, it’s a big threat for the opposition. I thought they caused Everton a few problems today.”
Ho was on Everton’s books as a player in his youth while he was assistant coach of the women’s team between 2015 and 2018. He went on to discuss the enormity of Everton Women playing at Goodison Park.
He said “I think for it to be the first game here for the women’s team on this now being their home ground, it’s a really nice moment for me, but it’s just a nicer moment for everyone who’s around the club like the staff and so on. A lot of people have been here for a long time and to be able to have this as a women’s home team ground consistently moving forward is big. It’s a big occasion for the club, for Brian [Sørensen], for his team and also for the wider staff.
“It’s an amazing opportunity for us to play here. I told players how to embrace that because playing in these stadiums and especially a unique one like this which has got a rich history to it, we need to make sure that we come in and embrace these moments.”
Tottenham Hotspur are back in action on Friday night when they host Manchester City at the BetWright Stadium.
