Tottenham Hotspur head coach Robert Vilahamn says that the run of fixtures between now and Christmas will provide a good marker of where his side are at in terms of competing.
Spurs have taken 10 points from an available 15 so far this season whilst playing an exciting brand of attacking football.
The North Londoners seem likely to be competing for a finish in the middle to higher end of the Barclays Women’s Super League table this season, however, head coach Vilahamn believes that a tough run of fixtures before the Christmas break will show him exactly where his side are.
“If you look at the top four for the last few years, it is hard to beat those teams because they have so many good players,” Vilahamn said when speaking in a Spurs press conference. “For me to expect us to beat those four teams in the first year would be foolish. I think we can do it and I hope we can do it but we need to make sure that we are competing well against the other teams, that’s perhaps the first step.
“Leicester and Liverpool are showing that they want to be up there, Aston Villa as well; they’ve had a bad start but they have the players for it. A lot of other teams want to be there but I don’t know if they can be because they have more inconsistency in their performances.
“I don’t know yet but I know that we can be up there and we can compete against the top four teams. I need more time to know that we can be consistent, I’m not sure yet if we are that.
“Between now and Christmas, we are going to be playing the top teams and I think Liverpool and Leicester could also be top teams. The next run of games will be tough, so we will know by Christmas if we can compete with the top teams or if we are not there yet.
“We are taking steps forward and I’m sure that we are going to have a good year but we are still in the learning process and I see things that we need to improve. The table is there to look at but we need to stay focused on the performance.”
Spurs play host to another in-form team in Liverpool this weekend. The Reds also have 10 points on the board after five matches. Vilahamn is keen for his side to finish above Liverpool in the league this season.
He said “They’ve been very impressive in the opening weeks of the season. We’ve followed them though pre-season too and they play good football, they press really good and have some talented players.
“They are one of those teams that will compete with us to try and break into the top end of the table. They are performing very well and I can see that they have a good coach who has been around for many years.
“They’re good but hopefully, we are a little bit better than them because I want to be above them in the table at the end of the season. We have the potential for that but it is going to be a tough game.”
The Barclays Women’s Super League fixture between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool kicks-off at 12.30pm on Sunday afternoon. Tickets remain on-sale and can be purchased by clicking here.
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