‘These are the games that the players want to play in’ – Spurs boss Ho previews Manchester United test

Tottenham Hotspur head coach Martin Ho says that this afternoon’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Manchester United is a game that should fill his players with excitement.

Spurs play host to The Red Devils at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as they look to improve their recent form.

The North Londoners have battled out two rollercoaster games with Manchester United this season. The two sides drew 3-3 in the reverse fixture while Manchester United came from behind to defeat Spurs 2-1 in the Subway Women’s League Cup.

When speaking to the media in the pre-match press conference, Spurs boss Ho said that this afternoon’s fixture is one that should fill his players with excitement and energy.

“You should go into these games with excitement,” Ho said. “The last [league] game was definitely exciting for the neutral. They’ve come back in the last part of the game. We managed it quite well but they have a player in [Fridolina] Rolfö with a lot of quality and she pops up in two moments to score two goals.

“Maybe tactically at the end of that game, it could’ve been better from myself in terms of how we set-up and did things but we can take a lot of confidence from that game. We controlled large parts, created numerous opportunities and our execution of the tactical game plan was very good.

“These are the games that the players want to play in, especially in the stadium and you’ve got to make sure that you’re competitive in it. If we want to push in the future, we’ve got to be competitive in these games.”

As highlighted by Ho, Manchester United forward Fridolina Rolfö has been a thorn in Spurs’ side in the last two meetings, scoring three goals and providing one assist across those games. The Spurs boss explained how his side need to learn to manage world-class attacking players.

He said “You have to make sure that your players can concentrate over longer periods. You try and also refresh your squad when they do that, so that you don’t become reactive, you become progressive in how you want the game to evolve when they do things. It’s about making sure that the players are aware of the individual qualities of those players, knowing what their strengths are and being able to nullify and stop that.”

Spurs have lost both of their previous games at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this season and Ho summarised where his side can improve from those performances.

He said “In the Chelsea game, we needed to be more ruthless in their box. We had numerous chances to convert and we didn’t but I thought the performance was relatively good.

“In the Everton game, we just didn’t get going. It was one of those performances where we didn’t get any rhythm or consistency and we weren’t aggressive enough with the pressure. We came out second-best on the day. We are not perfect and we won’t get it right every time but it was definitely one of those games where we’ve been off it.

“We need to find consistency and make sure we play the game and not the occasion at the stadium.”

Tottenham Hotspur’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Manchester United kicks-off at 12pm.