Canada head coach Bev Priestman believes that the environment in which defender Shelina Zadorsky finds herself in at Tottenham Hotspur is bringing the best out of her.
The 28-year-old joined Spurs on loan from National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) club Orlando Pride in August and the move was recently made permanent.
Zadorsky has played in all-but-one of Spurs’ 10 Barclays FA Women’s Super League fixtures to date and she has impressed. The player has been included in national team boss Priestman’s initial 29-player Canadian squad for next month’s SheBelieves Cup and the pre-competition camp. When speaking about Zadorsky, Priestman told FA Women’s Super League Full-Time that the player is clearly enjoying the environment that she is working in at Spurs.
“I think that Shelina is enjoying her football which is often the sounding board or starting point for a player to perform well if they are happy in their environment” said Priestman.
“I believe that she is, it is getting the best out of her which is fantastic.”
Canada have not played a competitive fixture since they participated in the Tournoi de France last March. Even though the nation have been starved of international football, the club performances of some players have been put under the microscope. Priestman went on to add that she is pleased in what she has seen from Zadorsky in a Spurs shirt.
She added “I went to watch Shelina against Chelsea in person when I first took the role.
“She was playing against Sam Kerr who is a fantastic forward and I felt that defensively, she coped really well with Sam.
“With there being a new coach at Tottenham, they are starting to adapt how they play but by all accounts, she (Zadorsky) is adapting really well.”
Priestman will cut her squad from 29 players to 23 prior to the beginning of the SheBelieves Cup on 18 February, however, Zadorsky is expected to be retained and could add to her 66 senior caps during the tournament in the United States.