Bristol City head coach Lauren Smith says that her side need to choose the right moments to hurt their opponents in the Barclays Women’s Super League this season.
The Robins travel to East London to face Tottenham Hotspur this afternoon. The fixture is the club’s second since being promoted back to the top flight.
Given Bristol City’s newly-promoted status and the fact that many other clubs have greater financial resources, The Robins will face a battle to avoid an immediate relegation this season. Head coach Smith believes that her side need to keep building on the foundations and choose their moments to hurt the opposition wisely.
“It’s about making sure that we consolidate what we were working on last week and choosing moments to go in the game rather than going all out constantly,” Smith said when speaking in a Bristol City press conference. “It is difficult but you’ve got to do it, you’ve got to find ways.
“At the moment, nobody is in a rhythm so that helps us. We are only in game two, so you’ve got an option to disrupt before a team finds that they are strong at home or strong away. That’s an opportunity so early in the season.”
Smith went on to say that she expects this afternoon’s opponents Spurs to dominate the ball given their impressive new style of play under head coach Robert Vilahamn.
She said “They definitely look different to last year, they’ve got a real identity. We’ve watched the game from last week and some of the stuff from pre-season and I think they are going to want to have a lot of the ball, they did that against Chelsea. They had a lot of possession and build-up play and that’s certainly a different Tottenham.
“We are expecting to still not have the ball as much as we would want to but we need to find ways to catch them when we are in possession.”
Smith spent a short spell at Spurs as an assistant to former boss Rehanne Skinner in 2021. She says that a lot has changed in the two-year period since she was working for the North Londoners.
“Being at Spurs gave me the opportunity to work in club football again after leaving Wales,” Smith said when reflecting on her time at the club. “It was something that I knew I enjoyed and loved.
“It kind of re-ignited club football for me and also, being able to get that taste of WSL football at that time as well. I know it was short but I did enjoy it.
“It doesn’t feel like I’m going back somewhere (familiar), I’m pretty sure that most of the staff have left since then. It seems like a new-look Spurs on the pitch but behind-the-scenes as well.”
Bristol City’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture at Tottenham Hotspur kicks-off at 2pm this afternoon.
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