Presser Points | Man Utd vs Spurs (WSL) | Robert Vilahamn

Robert Vilahamn spoke to the media at Hotspur Way on Thursday ahead of our Barclays Women’s Super League clash against Manchester United at Leigh Sports Village on Sunday (12.30pm UK).

Here’s what he had to say…

Team news

First up, Robert was asked about the latest team news…

Robert: “We still have Amy [James-Turner], Shuang [Wang] and Ella [Morris] who are not back in the squad yet. We then have a few question marks, but we'll have to wait and see for Sunday on a few other players. Other than that, everyone should be able to play.”

On Man Utd

Robert was asked on how he plans to break down a United side that have yet to concede in their opening two games…

Robert: “They have started very well with two clean sheets and two wins. We played them in our final pre-season game before the league started and we know they are very strong defensively and Marc [Skinner] has worked with them for a few years now. They have a good structure and a good balance, but one thing is that we are in quite good form and scoring goals. We have scored eight goals in the past three games and we have good attacking patterns, we have some really good players so, in one way, we want to make sure we play really good football and create chances. We have some quick players that can be useful in this game, but we know they're going to play a really strong team. So, obviously, we need to be very sharp in all the chances we get.

The follow up question was regarding United’s postponed fixture against Chelsea, ‘do you expect Man Utd to be well rested and fresher, or a sharpness that could help your side?’

Robert: “If they get an extra weekend off, then they’re going to use that to train very well and have good self-confidence, it's going to be good for them. For us, we come from a tough fight, we obviously lost a game, but we came away from a really good fight. We want to come back and try to win this game, so we're going to use that for our energy and be prepared. We're going to be really fit for this game, it's going to be a good game. We cannot blame the schedule.”

Clare Hunt

Robert was then asked, “What are your thoughts on how Clare Hunt has become a valuable asset she has become to this squad in such a short space of time?’

Robert: “Trying to adapt to this league is not the easiest. She obviously a really good player, playing a lot of games for the national team, but to adapt to this league and to manage this league, it's been impressive how she does that, out of possession especially and how she deals with set-pieces, she's a very good footballer to dictate the game. But then you still see some mistakes she's doing, back and forth with the tempo of the play in this league, so it's a journey for her to adapt, but I think in the long run, she will be one of the best centre-backs in this league because she's so good in and out of position. She's strong to handle the big strikers in this league as well, it has been a great first month with her but also even more potential. The last thing is her leadership, she's only 25 years old, but she she's speaking and acting like she's 35.”

Bouncing back from Liverpool game

Robert was asked about the motivation in his squad to bounce back from last weekend’s defeat to Liverpool…

Robert: “Liverpool are one of the best teams in the league, they finished in fourth-place last season. They’re so difficult to play against is because they are really aggressive, they press very well and they’re quite straight forward with how they play. So, if you make a mistake or anything like that, they are there directly and that's tough. I feel like the first half was tough, but then we found a way to get back in the game and I feel like we actually dominated the second half in a good way. We created chances, we scored two goals, but then they scored to make it 2-1 and, in the last minute, they got a penalty to make it 3-2. Obviously that's really hard for us to have a good half but to still lose the game in the last minute. The players have worked hard and trained very well, so we are prepared.”

Reflecting on the first three games

Robert was posed with the question, ‘Where do you feel you are currently for where you want your team to be at the minute?’

Robert: “If you look at the three games, we have scored eight goals and that's a good number to get. I feel like how we have conceded goals has been quite easy so, if we can remove them and keep scoring goals, that will look good. But the other thing, if you look at performances, we haven't dictated the games and actually dictate it for a long time, especially against Aston Villa and in the first half against Liverpool. We need to take steps on how to be better in those three halves because we should create more chances, we should have the ball more and make sure we dictate the game. Crystal Palace was a good game, the second half of Liverpool was a good game so we just need to find ways to dominate the games more.

“We're not there yet, but we're taking steps. We score more goals, we create many goal chances, perhaps we didn't convert a lot of those chances, but when you look at the opportunities against Liverpool, we have five or six in the second half where I feel like that could have been a goal if we were a little sharper in those finishing moments. I'm not stressed about that. It's more about the toughness of this league, it’s so competitive so you cannot expect us now to win 3-0 every game because it's too tough right now. We need to learn how to take every new game as it is and find a way to win, and still do the game model and play the Tottenham way at the same time – that’s the balance. We are in a good spot, but we have a few really tough games coming up so we also need to focus on getting points, but also make sure we develop our game.”