Angharad James: “We can gain real consistency now”
Fri 02 December 2022, 10:30|
Tottenham Hotspur
Having played one or two games fewer than all of the other teams in the Women’s Super League, December’s period of three league matches in an 11-day period represents the opportunity to gather some momentum and put some form together.
Speaking ahead of Sunday’s trip to the Select Car Leasing Stadium to face Reading, Angharad James gave us her thoughts on how the season is panning out at Hotspur Way.
Has, it was a good win for us last weekend. What was it like to be a part of?
AJ: It was great. It was about building and making sure we’re consistent with our performances. We performed well against Chelsea and didn’t get the result we wanted but it was about building on that and how we can improve. I think we implemented the game plan well and it was nice to see so many new faces, Kez being back, some debut goals and performances, which were great, and it’s great for the team moving forward.
Lenna Gunning-Williams and Ella Houghton came off the bench in that game and it was Gracie Pearse’s full debut. What can you tell us about the younger players from training with them?
AJ: It was a great experience for them to come up and step on the field and they competed. They did really well, which is great to see for us for now but also for the future. Lenna’s goal was probably the nicest moment of the whole game, with how she’s homegrown and a Spurs fan. You’ve seen how much it meant to her and her family and it was really nice to share that with her. Most importantly, it was about getting the win and making sure we progressed out of the group stage of the cup.
Do you remember your first goal and what that felt like?
AJ: It was a long time ago! It was for Bristol in a cup game and I had the opportunity to play and scored a goal, the same way as Lenna, so I’ll never forget the moment and she’ll never forget it either. I think it’s going to be the first of many for her and I look forward to seeing how she settles into the team and develops in the future.
Proud Dad moment! 🥰 pic.twitter.com/UdsnCbdPmt
— Tottenham Hotspur Women (@SpursWomen) November 28, 2022
This will be your 149th game in the WSL. How far have you seen the league come during your career?
AJ: It’s come a long way. When I first came into the league it was semi-professional so we had to juggle work commitments, uni commitments and then training at 9 or 10 o’clock at night. To see now how the youngsters come through and how lucky and fortunate they are to come into the environment that’s been created now, we’ve got to thank a lot of people for the change in women’s football in general, but also for how the structure of it helps us perform the best we can on the weekend and I think that’s the main thing that I’ve seen change in my time. It’s been a long time - 149! It’s important to keep growing the game and using our platforms to create change and make sure that we leave women’s football in a better place than when we arrived but I think that we’re doing that right now.
How do you feel you’ve settled into London life and life at Spurs now you’ve been here for a few months?
AJ: I’m enjoying my time here. I’ve settled in now and it’s nice. London prices and the lifestyle is a little bit different to up north! But it’s a really nice environment. The girls are great, it’s a challenging environment too. Rehanne and the staff demand a lot and high standards and that’s something that, as a group of players, we’re striving towards and hopefully we can reach the standards that she wants us to. We keep pushing every week in training and games to try to gain that consistency. That’s probably been the thing that’s lacked in our performances - that we have one good game and in the next game we slip up and don’t perform. It can be frustrating at times but I think we’re beginning to get there now and there’s been so many new faces within the group that it’s going to take time to merge together and perform as a group and I think we’re onto that now, so it’s an exciting time to be at the Club and to be a part of.
The squad trains ahead of Reading trip
Back to Reading this Sunday, what are you expecting from this game?
AJ: It will be a tough game. Reading are a great club and have got some great players in there, some which I’ve been on the international stage with. I’ve worked with Kelly [Chambers] and Phil and the staff before and I know how thorough they are in their preparation to make sure they setup in a way that is going to try to hurt us, but we expect that and are going to try to nullify them the best that we can, but this week is about concentrating on us and building on the last few performances. Hopefully we can go out there and get the result that we want.
We beat them 2-1 earlier this season, what do you remember about that match?
AJ: It was a good game. That was probably our turning point so far in the season. From that game, we’ve really kicked on. It was a tough game and they’re a good group and are going to make it hard for us so we’ve got to expect that. We’re preparing in the right way this week and hopefully we can deliver on the weekend.
Looking at the month ahead, we’ve got four games across two weeks before the Christmas break. How much are you looking forward to it?
AJ: I’m looking forward to it. The more games the better and we can gain real consistency. The festive season can wait a little bit until it gets closer to the time. We’ve got a job to do before then. I’m really excited to get back on the field and back with the group.
We’re currently one or two games behind the other teams in the league in terms of matches played. How much appetite is there to put a good run together and climb the table a bit more?
AJ: It’s hard to look at the table at the minute with the amount of games different teams have played. As long as we just concentrate on ourselves and deliver our game plan each week, not focusing too much on the teams around us or above us, we can start creeping up the table. We’ve got a big few games coming up that are games that we’re expecting within the group to win and that we want to win. If we can get the results that we know we’re capable of then we’ll start creeping up the table.
