‘I want to build a winning mentality’ – League Cup success important for Spurs says Ho

Tottenham Hotspur head coach Martin Ho has reiterated his desire for the club to lift this season’s Subway Women’s League Cup and build a winning culture.

Spurs have never won a major domestic trophy, but the future looks bright under new boss Ho with the team performing well in the first half of the season.

Tottenham Hotspur travel to Manchester United for a Subway Women’s League Cup quarter-final tie this weekend and Ho says that competing for the silverware would mean a lot.

“It’s really important,” Ho said when speaking in the pre-match press conference. “I will not disrespect any competition. I want to win, this club wants to win and the fans want us to win.

“I’m not in it just to take part; I want to bring success to this club, bring trophies to this club. When I’ve rotated, I’ve done it for the best of the team to win the game. It won’t be much rotation and I want it to continue to be that way.

“I want to build a winning mentality, a strong culture and if we do that now, we can be successful in the long-term. I want to win this competition.”

Spurs faced Manchester United in the Barclays Women’s Super League last weekend. The Lilywhites were three goals to the good before Manchester United pulled it back to 3-3. Reflecting on the emotions of that game, Ho was keen to see the positives.

He said “There were two different emotions from the game. To go in-front and to perform the way we did [was pleasing]. When you go to Leigh, it’s a tough place to go and play, they don’t really concede much in terms of chances and opportunity. They definitely don’t concede many goals.

“Really good emotions in terms of the performance for 75 minutes, but we need to make sure that we defend a little bit more diligently in moments and I adjust things a little bit differently tactically to make sure we are more efficient and solid.

“I couldn’t have asked any more, they gave me everything.”

Discussing the novelty of playing the same team back-to-back, Ho said that both sides will be questioning what they need to adapt to improve.

He said “You can look it at from different perspectives. All I see is Manchester United in-front of us and how we can better what we were good at, but then really evolve what we suffered with at times in the game.

“It’s my job as head coach and there’s a pressure on me to make sure we go into the game with the right attitude and behaviour, we go in tactically with the right ideas of how we are going to execute those moments. The players have to go in and enjoy their football, perform to the levels I know they can.

“When you play the same team back-to-back, both clubs are probably thinking ‘What do we adapt?, What do we change?’ We will have the same situation in the New Year with Leicester. It seems to be something that’s happening a lot at the club.”

Tottenham Hotspur’s Subway Women’s League Cup quarter-final tie at Manchester United kicks-off at 1pm on Sunday afternoon.