By Rachel Gore (13/9/25)
Above: Martin Ho. Photo: SpursWomen on X.
Tomorrow, Spurs face Everton away in their second game of the 25/26 season.
Prior to the game, and after he led Spurs to their first win in 9 months, Martin Ho spoke to the media about the “precious” victory in their season opener, his relationship with Everton and expectations for the upcoming fixture.
In his first game as manager Ho delivered; his squad kept a clean sheet and came away with 3 points putting them in fifth place in the WSL table. This position came as a result of players’ “attitude, commitment, desire and passion”, attributes which Ho believes the side “haven’t seen a lot of” before.
These qualities were evident as Spurs’ players were “more expressive” and “braver” with the ball against West Ham. Whilst Tottenham’s only goal was scored via a penalty, the victory has embedded “confidence and belief” into the team and has taken “a weight off their shoulders”.
Ho hopes to “keep the momentum” and bring their winning “energy” into this weekend’s fixture against Everton.
Everton is a club which Ho knows particularly well; as a youngster he played for the Liverpudlian side and he began his coaching journey in Everton’s boys and girls academy set ups. As a result of these experiences he has “a lot of respect for the club” and therefore recognises that the upcoming fixture will be a “tough game” whereby “both teams leave everything on the pitch”.
One of Everton’s players who left everything on the pitch last weekend was 20-year-old Ornella Vignola. Her hattrick on her Everton debut made a statement about what she brings to the table.
To nullify Vignola, Ho said: “we want to focus on what we can do defensively”. The manager will pull on the defensive strategies that his team successfully utilised against West Ham. In and around the box, the Spurs players won duels, made tackles and kept the ball out of the goal. According to Ho, “the best moments in that game were the ones which looked a little bit ugly”.
One defender who had an exceptional performance last weekend was 19-year-old Toko Koga. Speaking on Koga, Ho said: “In Toko, you can see a really mature performance for a 19-year-old; someone who is calm, composed, but her game intelligence is really high.” Adding to this, Ho mentioned that he is “hoping for a big performance from her on the weekend”.
Whilst Koga, and her fellow defenders, were successful last weekend, Spurs only took one shot on target during the game. Commenting on this, Ho mentioned that he wants his players to “sustain attacks for longer”.
Striker Araya Dennis is one of the ballers that Ho hopes will drive these attacks and bring in goals. Dennis, who like Koga is just 19-years-old, made her first WSL start against West Ham last weekend. Speaking on this monumental moment in Dennis’ career, Ho said: “Araya deserved the opportunity. She trained well and she’s been doing that throughout pre-season.”
Against West Ham, Dennis was strong in one-v-ones and had some nice movements off the ball. Throughout the season, Ho aims to build the forward’s confidence and will work on “maturing her in certain stiuations tactically” through “trying to give her the experience that she needs”.
Kit Graham was another player who made a statement last week as she returned to the pitch after suffering from an ACL injury. Ho was pleased to see her “perform really well” and “put in a big shift”. Moving forward, the manager will “keep integrating her slowly”.
There was less certainty from Ho about when he will utilise experienced Spurs player Ashleigh Neville. Neville did not appear in any of the team’s preseason friendlies and was not in last weekend’s matchday squad. Ho stated that she “had a bit of a knock” which has been recovering from. She was however back on the pitch training today so it is likely that her return to the matchday squad is imminent.
Tomorrow, Spurs’ matchday squad will travel Goodison Park, which is now the official home of Everton’s women’s team. In this new home, Ho anticipates that “Everton are going to be really competitive this year”.
The Spurs manager is expecting “surprises” thorughout the ninety minutes and simply wants his teem to “impose” their game plan. He knows that his side “can adjust and readjust” and looks forward to watching his players.
Both on the pitch or off it, Ho has spent the last 6 weeks working with his entire squad to “build relationships”. The weeks of hard work were rewarded last weekend but Ho recognises that there is much more to be done. He said: “I don’t think there’s anyone in the team who wants to win more than me. I kick every ball with the players, I head every ball with the players”.
The new manager’s determination and motivation is evident and fans will be excited to watch him lead Spurs against Everton this weekend.
Everton v Spurs kicks off at 14:30 on Sunday at Goodison Park. The match will be shown on the BBC.
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