“For me and this club, it means more” Martin Ho previews Spurs’ Subway League Cup fixture against Aston Villa

Spurs Women boss, Martin Ho spoke to the media ahead of his sides Subway Women’s League Cup game with Aston Villa on Wednesday.

📸via tottenhamhotspur.com

In the eight seasons Spurs have been a Women’s Super League club, they have always managed to falter at either the Group Stage, or Quarter Final stage of the Women’s League Cup, with another Group Stage starting in the competition. Ho’s side found themselves drawn in a group with Aston Villa, Birmingham City and Bristol City. 

For many clubs in the league and pyramid, the current format of the competition has been critiqued in the past, but Martin Ho is making no bones about his ambition in the cup competitions this season.

“I’m not just here to take part, neither is the team. For me and this club, it means more to us. It’s not just a cup competition or a chance to change the teams. You want to be competitive in all competitions.” 

Looking at the wider context of the competition and the history, only three sides have won the League Cup in the last 14 years, Arsenal with seven titles, Manchester City with four titles and Chelsea with three, with those three sides dominating the WSL trophy cabinet also over the last 12 years. For Spurs fans and their manager, it’s all about closing the gap on those sides. 

“Every squad is different. The level of strength in depth is key. You can rotate more in different competitions and that makes a difference. I believe in the squad we’ve got, we have a good squad. If you are looking at the league, it’s not a secret they have moved ahead but it’s not a case of cant catch them or wont, you need a good level of consistent performance and framework to do so. 

:”We have work to do to get there, but more importantly my job whilst I am here is to close that gap, and we will make sure to do it whilst I am here.” 

The N17 club were brought back down to earth with a bump on Friday night, with a 5-1 defeat to Manchester City a disappointing way for Ho’s perfect start to come undone as Spurs boss. 

📸via tottenhamhotspur.com

“There were positives. Before we conceded the first goal I thought we were the better team, but lapses in concentration, areas we could’ve defended in better and to be honest, we could’ve prevented two or three if I am honest. 

“We took big steps forward in general, you’d have taken six out of nine at the start of the season sitting here as a coach, but we cant be on the back end of conceding goals that we could have stopped. We didn’t show our true colours for large parts of the game, built the accountability and responsibility lies with me and when it doesn’t work, I have to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.”