Matthew Chadder

Tue 28 November 2023 10:10, UK

Tottenham Women experienced a humbling reality on Sunday (26 November) as they were beaten 7-0 by Manchester City Women, but the club’s players must keep their heads high.

Spurs’ trip up north proved to be a sobering experience and it is fair to assume that the coach ride home would have been a very quiet one for Robert Vilahamn and his players.

With a result such as this, there is often very little to say or few positives to take, but Spurs tried to summarise the heavy defeat as best they could via their official X platform (27 November).

Overall, this is a wake-up call for the club. They had made such a fantastic start to the season and had not tasted defeat since a closely fought 2-1 loss against Chelsea Women at Stamford Bridge in their opening game.

This was a chance to close the gap on the WSL’s top four and prove that they could compete near the top this season and disrupt the norm. In the end, the opposite proved to be true, and the result is not just reflective of Tottenham, but rather the entire division and the heavy gap in quality that exists.

Chelsea, Arsenal Women, Manchester City and Manchester United Women all currently occupy the top four spots in the WSL, the same four teams who have finished within those positions for the past four seasons. It is clear that there are four top teams and then the rest and Tottenham aren’t quite ready to make that transition from the rest just yet.

Although it might sound strange, there were some positives the squad could take from the match. Spurs did manage to register four shots on target and still had 43 per cent of the ball, which shows that the performances are moving in the right direction and Vilahamn’s style is being implemented.

However, the quality of Manchester City’s players is simply just a level above, particularly in defence.

Captain Molly Bartrip experienced an especially difficult evening defensively as she won just three of her seven ground duels and one of her three aerial duels, while being dribbled past twice (Sofascore). Her partner in central defence, Luana Buhler, struggled as well, making just one tackle and one interception.

Rebecca Spencer had an evening to forget between the sticks, saving just three of the 10 shots on target that she faced, although it is hard to place much blame on her doorstep.

In contrast, Bartrip’s 92 per cent and Buhler’s 90 per cent pass completion rates show that there is quality within the Spurs team on the ball. Ashleigh Neville provided one accurate cross into the box, one successful dribble attempt and one key pass among the 73 per cent she completed from left-back, once again demonstrating potential.

Overall it is clear that the performance wasn’t that of a 7-0 thrashing, but City just showed their quality and experience in the right moments.

Vilahamn will hope that his players can swallow this bitter pill and learn from this, and they will have a great chance to show they have done that after the international break when they host Manchester United on 10 December.

The path is there, and this loss shouldn’t deter from that, the players and staff just need time.

In other Tottenham news, one star from the men’s team experienced a sucker punch of his own during the 2-1 defeat against Aston Villa.