“We have to be authentic” – Tottenham ready for West Ham test | OneFootball

Samara Watts

Manchester City coach André Jeglertz named Tottenham in the running for the title after their fifth place finish last season and strong recruitment over the summer.

Ho isn’t getting carried away though. “I’ll never put a ceiling on anything,” he said. “We still got a lot of work to do. We can’t just have one season and expect ourselves to be this world class team, but I believe we can be competitive in those cup competitions.”

Tottenham turned heads with their signings this summer, bringing in UWCL winners Victoria Pelova from Arsenal and Lyon’s Alice Sombath.

Ho’s recruitment approach reflects Tottenham’s gradually increasing revenue, targeting both developing new talent and WSL experience: “We had to be proactive to get ourselves on a level playing field with the teams around us, but we have to also follow ourselves and be authentic and organic with what we do.”

Despite not featuring in preseason, Sombath is central to Ho’s plans. He said: “I want to make sure that we have Alice for the long term and not just in short term spells with injuries. We’ve managed that ourselves to make sure that she becomes more robust to get used to the intensity of this league.”

Pelova, meanwhile, is easing back in after returning from an ACL injury. Ho described her as bringing “a lot of quality, personality, creativity, a lot of energy off the ball.”

His priority now is rebuilding Pelova’s confidence: “Just helping Vic get the confidence and motivation and enthusiasm back after the injury she had to make sure that she knows the levels she can reach.”

Tottenham also signed forwards Kirsty Hanson and Shekiera Martinez, who was West Ham’s top scorer last season.

Ho is especially excited by what Martinez can offer: “We’ve got some player on our hands. She’s dynamic. She’s quick. She can finish in front of goal, as everyone’s seen. We just need to make sure we get her in the right positions to score, and we give her the right service to enable herself to finish.”

Losing prolific goal striker and captain Beth England to Crystal Palace is a blow, but Ho believes the squad and its new signings can share the leadership collectively.

He said: “I expect each individual to lead and show some accountability and responsibility for their behaviours, their actions, their performances.”

This filters down to his approach as head coach, which he has reflected on since joining the club last year.

Ho said he will bring “a lot more delegation, a lot more support for the players, a lot more support for my staff, and me being better at making brave decisions, bigger decisions.”

Tottenham open their campaign against West Ham, which will give the team a chance to address some of the issues they faced in transitions against Real Madrid in pre-season, which Ho puts down to miscommunications and defensive mix-ups.

“What a good way to start: a London derby,” Ho said. “We know West Ham are physically very strong, very dynamic as a collective, but very robust and organized as a defensive unit. They have some very dangerous players in that forward line that they’ve recruited. It’s going to be a different look, West Ham, compared to what we faced before.”

“They’ve got three forwards, they’ve recruited two of them, and one of them is probably the fastest in the league in Ebony Salmon,” he added.

Tottenham are also bolstered by a squad with more depth and different characteristics and profiles.

“I’ve said to the players, everyone needs to be ready,” he said. “It definitely gives you the opportunity to be more unpredictable when you bring players on.”

Ultimately, Martin Ho is confident about the team’s progression and what they are building.

He said: “We should be spoken about in a team that wants to compete at that end of the table, not this end of the table. And I’ll make sure that we do everything we can to be spoken about in that way.”