View: Neville shines while Thomas softens England blow despite Tottenham Women defeat v Chelsea
Martha Thomas made a goalscoring start to her Tottenham career while Ashleigh Neville shone during the club’s 2-1 defeat to last season’s WSL champions Chelsea on the opening day of the season.
While it was by no means the start brand-new head coach Robert Vilahamn would have been hoping for, there were still plenty of positives for the Swede to take away from Stamford Bridge on Sunday (1 October).
Tests won’t come much tougher than a trip to Chelsea and Spurs showed that they are ready for the fight this season after an underwhelming campaign last time out.
Prior to the season starting, the news broke that Tottenham Women’s top scorer from last season, Beth England, was set for a spell on the sidelines.
Despite only arriving last January, England would go on to be named both the Adult and Junior Supporters’ Player of the Season for the 2022/23 campaign, striking 13 times in 14 appearances in all competitions.
She was recently named club captain by Vilahamn, although as confirmed by the player herself via her official X account (6 September) it will be “a while” until she can lead the team on the pitch.
In her absence, a new striker needs to step up to the plate, and summer signing Thomas proved against the Blues that she is ready to do just that.
The experienced Scottish international joined the North London club from Manchester United on a two-year deal on WSL transfer deadline day and grabbed a goal during her first competitive appearance for her new team.
In addition to her 76th-minute strike, which proved to be no more than a consolation, she managed five shots on target and also hit the woodwork (Sofascore), demonstrating that she is more than capable of causing issues for opposition defences.
It is a performance which will certainly fill Vilahamn with optimism that the team can score goals in the absence of England, especially when taking on lesser opposition.
As well as Thomas’ fine debut, defender Neville showcased plenty of quality throughout the clash. The 30-year-old earned an 8.1 match rating via Sofascore, the highest of any Spurs player and fourth highest overall on the pitch.
The full-back made two clearances, including one off the line, five tackles and five interceptions while winning nine of her 12 ground duels and both of her aerial duels.
Going forward she also displayed some promise, completing 74 per cent of her passes, with one of those being key, registering a shot on target and completing 100 per cent of the dribbles she attempted.
Next up for Vilahamn’s side is a home game against Bristol City on Sunday (8 October), and if they can perform in a similar manner to the way they did against Chelsea, they will certainly have every chance of achieving their first win of the season.
In other Tottenham news, finance expert Dan Plumley has been left concerned after Tottenham launched a new fan token.