(10/11/23)
Leicester City
by Beth McCowen
Leicester City are confident heading into their WSL fixture against Arsenal this weekend.
Ahead of Sunday’s match, head coach Willie Kirk confirmed that Shannon O’Brien will be out for “a couple of months” after a scan has revealed a calf injury. Kirk praised O’Brien’s “mental resilience” and emphasised that the club maintains a high level of support for the players on a daily basis.
The Leicester boss detailed that the team is, frustratingly, “carrying a couple of knocks” with Australian international Remy Siemsen “getting close to being back on the pitch.” This pair aside, he was believed that everyone else would be available.
Kirk has been awarded October’s Manager of the Month award. Regarding this, he reflected on the team’s growth since their 3-0 win over Brighton and Hove Albion back in May. He explained that “the club has worked tirelessly trying to improve things.” Kirk also said, “I always think the first Manager of the Month award is a true reflection of the work you’ve done in pre-season.”
Touching on Missy Goodwin and her first goal of the season against Liverpool, the manager described the forward as a “young talent.” He also referenced her “relaxed” character and explained how they have been working closely together to get her “learning something new every day and pushing herself.” Kirk appears optimistic about Goodwin’s future, declaring that for the forward, “the sky is the limit.” The head coach also mentioned the club’s responsibility to “nurture her in the right way.”
In terms of his assessment of Arsenal and preparation for playing them, Kirk noted that it is “a good game to follow Liverpool” despite frustration at the team’s most recent result. The Leicester manager sees this as a chance to perform well in front of home fans.
Revisiting what has changed over the last year to enable such strong form from Leicester, Kirk again explained that recent successes are a result of “months of hard work”. He described last season’s big win against Brighton as “a breakthrough moment” and touched on the fact that such a huge result has yet to come this season for the team.
Additionally, the Foxes boss emphasised about the importance of budget, player trust, and standards off the pitch. Kirk also described the King Power Stadium as “a great place to be.” He emphasised the value of having an enjoyable environment in a workplace, and highlighted the fact that everyone plays their role. “Even plays who are frustrated at not playing understand that they are part of a bigger thing and a bigger purpose.”
Speaking on the competitiveness of the WSL this season, Leicester’s head coach maintained that he believes “the top four will be the top four” but that his side are “aware of the process we’re going through.” So far, Leicester has managed to stay in the mix of the stronger teams in the league, but Kirk remains mindful of the significance of their “continual climb” up the league table over the years.
Commenting on Arsenal’s quality and squad depth ahead of Sunday’s game, Kirk referenced the fact that the Gunners’ season has had something of a “slow start.” Jonas Eidevall’s side might be feeling slightly disappointed having been knocked out of the Champions League in the earliest stages, but Kirk explained that this could leave the team either “fresh” or “frustrated”, and that it’s up to his Leicester side to “try and capitalise on that.”
Kirk described the return from the recent international break as being “really tough” for players. Courtney Nevin got back from Australia at 2pm on Friday last week, according to the head coach. He explained that this was “frustrating” as she was only able to participate in one training session prior to the match against Liverpool.
The media also heard from midfielder Janice Cayman as part of this press conference. Cayman is a player renowned for her ability to make an impact almost anywhere on the pitch.
Ahead of the game against Arsenal on Sunday, Cayman confirmed that Leicester are confident, feel “excited” and ready to be “bouncing back from the Liverpool defeat.” Cayman explained how Leicester have had intentions to “learn and analyse” following this loss.
Talking about Leicester’s head coach, Cayman described Kirk as a “very positive person for this club.” She believes they have a “very solid squad” and are ready to push forward. She also described the club as having a “positive and professional approach to the game.”
Finally, focusing on the team’s superb start to the campaign, Cayman declared that “it’s important for us to take it step by step.” She said “every step closer to the big four is a positive one” and reiterated that in both domestic and international football, smaller teams are creeping up.
Tottenham Hotspur
By Rachel Cohen
Coming after Spurs Women’s three victories in a row under new coach, Robert Vilahamn, last Sunday’s home draw against Everton felt like a bump in the road. But the team is lying third in the WSL and continues to outperform expectations, so Vilahamn’s pre-match press conference was upbeat.
Reflecting on his team’s last game, the Spurs boss had praise for both Drew Spence and Martha Thomas.
“She (Drew) gives us so much being actually good on the ball. Calm it down. Make sure we can control and dictate the ball higher up the pitch. And I’m not using her too much in the build-up, so I’m gonna have her higher up to make sure we can dictate the game in their half as well. Last game she did an assist and she was brilliant in that phase.”
He also was full of praise for Thomas who, for the first time in a Spurs shirt, did not find the back of the net. “I don’t think Martha was happy with the performance, but I see how it was creating really good chances and there’s a goalkeeper in Everton doing a really amazing saves on those.
“It’s more for herself to make sure that she believes that she’s a really good footballer because she is. You know, this game was the same as the other game. She was excellent. She created chances. She pressed her opponent to win the ball for us (to score the goal) so I just hope that she can get the goals anyway, but it’s good for the team to score those goals.”
Despite their attacking verve, Spurs have now conceded three penalties in five games, the last two from clumsy fouls on the edge of the box and Vilahamn explained that this is something they have focused on in training. “how can you actually make sure you defend in a different way in the in the box and outside the box.” “We just need to not do the same mistakes twice. That’s the thing I want to improve basically.”
Against Everton, 20-year-old loanee Grace Clinton put in an impressive performance and scored before conceding the late penalty. Vilahamn noted that defence was a part of her game he was working on with her. “Grace Clinton is a very young player who is really great offensively and in the press, but she’s not so used to defend the last five minutes in the Women’s Super League, so she needs to learn from that as well, right?”
More generally Vilahamn said he was pleasantly surprised by Spurs’ development. “I was thinking like until Christmas, we’re probably going fail quite much, but we haven’t failed too much, so I’m happy about that.
“I still think we’re going to come to those games where we don’t succeed. But I’m very happy with how we have succeeded with the game style. The last game when we created that many goal chances, that was also a good thing because in the preseason we didn’t really create goal chances. We had a good build-up, but we didn’t really take that. And I think in other games we haven’t received so many goal chances. This time we didn’t score so many goals though, so now you need to focus on, ‘OK, how do you score goals?”
Vilahamn has started the same 11 players in four of the five WSL games so far (the fifth game involved just one change: Jess Naz for Drew Spence). But with Spurs’ squad all fit except Beth England, the Spurs manager faces a new problem – managing players who are not getting minutes. Vilahamn explained that this is “the hardest thing. As a coach, I think to make sure everybody understands and accepts.”
“I think that’s my biggest working area right now to deal with the 25 players who want to play. So I think I spend more time with the players outside the squad than in the starting 11 right now, trying to make sure to show them where are they in the hierarchy.
“I’m trying to be as transparent as I can be, and make sure that they know what to work on. And the good thing here is that we have a very professional environment. So you can give them the feedback, the video clips, and make sure they know it, and then if they don’t accept it, I just need them to work hard anyway because you know that’s the environment we have here.”
Vilahamn explained that the reason for starting with a consistent 11 was that those starting players then feel trusted and are clear about how to maintain their spots “You know if you’re in, you’re actually playing until somebody beats you out and you’re not.”
Looking forward to Sunday Vilahamn described opponents Liverpool as playing “good football and they press really good and they have some really talented players, I think they are one of those teams who compete with us to try to break into the top table. And I think they are performing very well. They are good. But hopefully we are still a little bit better than them because I want to be before them in the table when this season ends.”
The upcoming game is Spurs’ second home game in a row. Spurs play at Brisbane Road a stadium they share with Leyton Orient and the two clubs worked together to improve the quality of the pitch over the summer.
Vilahamn was very positive about outcome and the grass that he described as “really good” and enabling Spurs to “play the style we want to.” He also gave a nod to the club’s home fans, whose presence gave the team a boost when “they’re actually singing with us and cheering for us in the last five minutes.”
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