Presser Points | Liverpool vs Spurs (WSL) | Robert Vilahamn

Robert Vilahamn spoke to the media at Hotspur Way on Friday afternoon, ahead of our Barclays Women’s Super League fixture at Liverpool at St Helens Stadium on Sunday (12pm UK).

Here’s what he had to say…

Robert on the latest team news…

“No new injuries and Charli [Grant] is back training as well, so it's only the two suspensions with Drew [Spence] and Eveliina [Summanen] this weekend."

Robert on finishing the season strongly…

“It's a mixture of trying to get some good energy into the last few games to get the result, but the bigger thing is where we need to improve and try to get better for next season. You can’t fix everything that’s been going wrong this season in these last three games, but we’re learning a lot, we need to make sure we close this season over the goal line, we need to make sure these last three games we get some points, get some wins and go to the summer break with a better feeling, and make sure we fix everything we need to fix to look better next season.”

Robert on Ella Morris’ performances…

“When we scouted her last season, we were like “yes!” - that’s a Spurs player. That’s the kind of recruitment we want to do. Great character as well, great physicality and a good age to make sure she can develop to the top. She had a tough start with injuries here, I think she adapted quite well in pre-season, but she had some injuries, some set-backs from that, but the consistency now, the way she’s taking steps even if we’re not over-performing in the games, that’s very impressive. The bravery she has, she’s knocking on the door for the next step with England now and that’s why she has a long-term contract with us, so we can invest even more in her. Even if it’s a tough season, she’s one of the shining things.”

Robert on regaining confidence…

“We started a few weeks ago. We needed to find a way to play better, create more goal chances to get ourselves the results, we have improved. We play better, we dictate the game better, but we still need to find ways to win, which is very frustrating. Obviously, there’s a big thing on me there where I find better decisions, better tactics, to find a result before we go to the break, but this season isn’t over yet, we have three more games and we have a chance to win a few games. It's a chance to show the fans and media that we are taking steps, I think the players can show some more steps because a lot of them are going to play the Euros. We have a lot of stuff to do, even if the league (position) is not the most fun to watch right now, but it’s basically trying to get the energy, making sure those players who need to be picked up, are being picked up, the energy is everything to make sure we get the result. In the last game, 2-0 down, we actually got back to 2-2 and almost got to 3-2, we lost anyway, but you see the character of the players, you see what we’re doing and we need to find some good ways to balance the defence with the offence. We’re still creating chances, hopefully Liverpool can be the start of three good games before the summer break.”

Robert on Villa’s late winner last weekend & whether we should have played for a draw…

“You can say that if you go for a low block in the last 10 minutes, go for one point and if you succeed, it might be ok. We don’t want to be that kind of team, we had the momentum to score more goals and I think we actually had chances before that goal. It’s not like we went crazy, we played our normal style, we came back from 2-0 down and kept going, it’s not like we were pushing a button to keep going even more. You can definitely push the button to stop attacking but I want to develop this team to be a machine that wants to attack, score goals and be brave, so if I say to be not brave and protect a draw, that’s not me and that’s not this Club. We can definitely make better decisions in the game, it was not because of tactics that we conceded that goal, it wasn’t too much attacking but it was a mixture of quality and decision making.”

Robert on Liverpool…

“They changed coach, they have had a few really good results and I think they have a decent squad. We are quite near them; it's a game where we want to show we are better than Liverpool. We want to show that we are “best of the rest”, or whatever you want to call it, from the top four, and they are “best of the rest” according to the table, so we need to make sure we start winning against them. It’s a tough game, they have some good players and had some results lately.”

On Kit Graham’s recovery…

"She's following a plan, she's supporting the squad, and she's now on the grass, running and training on her own, so there's not enough time before we end the season to have her in collective training and in games, but she's taking the right steps. I think she will be ready and hopefully with the squad once we start up after the summer break, but you never know with these injuries, one month here and one month there, but the good thing is that she's in good spirits and looking very happy with the steps she's taking."

Robert on Martha Thomas’ form…

“We, collectively, have had an issue with not scoring too many goals, I think Bethany has obviously had really good moments, but the rest of the squad, we need to make sure we score more goals. So, we’ve worked on goal chances, but also being clinical in those situations. Martha is scoring a lot of goals in training so it’s when we get those moments in the games where she’s scoring. I’m a former striker, I know exactly how she feels when she’s waiting for that goal because it means so much for a nine, but she works so hard for the team. She’s always pushing and training hard, it’s just a matter of time before she gets that goal, then it’s going to be even more goals.”

Robert on Jess Naz being back on the scoresheet…

"She’s one of those (players) who we believe very much in and she’s taking big steps since I came to this Club. She had a setback this season when we didn’t really perform as a team, she didn’t nail the chances we created, and then she had a few games on the bench, but she took that so well. She had an assist against Leicester, then scored this goal, and her performance as well, she was really good one-v-one in this game, and also against Leicester. Now, she’s showing Sarina [Wiegman] why she should be in that [Lionesses] squad.”

Robert on Bethany England’s impact…

“With any players that has great leadership, they have a big impact on the squad. So, even if she didn’t do an assist or goal, she still has an impact, whether she’s in the squad or on the pitch. She trained well this week, didn’t have any setbacks from those minutes, so she can probably take more minutes in this game. Then it’s a question of how many minutes, being able to start her or bring her on, but that’s the decision for tomorrow. She’ll definitely be on the pitch for the minutes she can because she’s that good and you want to maximise the minutes you get with her. I also think she wants to come back and score a few more goals before the summer break because she’s very determined to show who she is, and who knows, there’s a Euros coming up, the form she had before her injury, if she scores a few more goals and shows character here, it’s never too late to get back in the national team.”

Robert on how to replace Drew & Eveliina for this weekend…

“We are aware what kind of players are not available. We have a plan, and you will see it on Sunday.”