Tottenham boss Robert Vilahamn has said his squad needs to be better at “game management” as they prepare to take on Liverpool in the WSL this weekend.
The north London club are currently third in the table two games into the new season. Their four points so far is the same as Arsenal and Manchester City.
Spurs walked away from their opening game with a win against newly promoted Crystal Palace, but struggled to stay ahead after scoring first in their most recent clash with Aston Villa, which ended 2-2.
Speaking about the team’s performance, Vilahamn said: “We should have just killed that game, but we ended up in a little bit of a miscommunication and [Villa] scored in the end.
“Game management is one of the things we need to better at and looking at how we can win those games 2-0, rather than 1-0. We need to look at how we can be really sharp in the last minutes.”
Although Liverpool sit seventh in the standings after successive 1-1 draws, Vilahamn praised the “power and strength” the Reds possess. “You can never sleep and we need to be working until the last second. They have a coach [Matt Beard] that makes sure they never give up.”
After Spurs face the Merseyside club they will come up against Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City in the weeks that follow.
“I think it’s going to be very interesting to have a lot of those games in a row because I feel like we want to better in those games,” Vilahamn reflected.
“People don’t expect us to win all of those games, but they do expect us to be better than last season. We are going to make sure we compete and then once they are done, we can summarise and ask whether we were ready or not.
“And if we are, we are going to be in a good position in the table, and if we are not, then we need to make sure we take the steps quickly to fix that during the season. So, it’s more about getting an answer on where we are and where we’re going. We know that we have a good chance to play good football and to compete like last season and that’s the difference this time.”
There’s so much excitement surrounding forward Jessica Naz right now, especially after she made her senior debut for the Lionesses earlier this year. Her goal was instrumental in helping Spurs clinch a win over Charlton in their first group stage fixture of the League Cup in midweek.
Assessing her performance and future, Vilahamn said: “I think her X-factor is one of the best in the league. She’s so strong, powerful and quick and she has the ability to be a top player in this league and in this country. She’s still quite young and we are working very much to be consistent with her.
“I feel like it’s about giving her time to grow into this role and not expect her to score goals every game, but to contribute to the team.
“I don’t see any other player in this league that can compete with her.”