Robert Vilahamn does not have a Robbie Williams song just yet but the comparisons with Ange Postecoglou are clear.
The Swede arrives on the eve of the new Women’s Super League season as a champion but one who is desperate to prove himself in English football.
Inspired by the successes of fellow Scandinavian coaches Jonas Eidevall and Brian Sorensen, he takes over a Spurs side battling the tides of mediocrity, without the striker – in this case, the injured Beth England – who dragged them out of the mire, and a squad he believes were “not in the best shape”.
Postecoglou has already given him the blueprint of how to overcome those hurdles. The aim now, his WSL counterpart says, is to “have an identity that looks like Tottenham.”
“Tottenham want to play a style with the men’s team and the women’s team, academy and I think me and Ange try to do the same stuff with how to play – not the same formation all the time but trying to be brave enough to play good, offensive football and in the long run, win games.
“The men’s team’s already winning games… In the long run you’re going to see a Tottenham [who] dictate games, press high, want to lean forward – and try to score a lot of goals.
“It’s going to be that identity where you see ‘now it’s Tottenham playing football’, even if it’s the women’s team or the men’s team.”
“Tottenham football” has immediately ended Vilahamn’s vernacular. It will be music to the ears of supporters who witnessed the collapse from the highs of Rehanne Skinner’s first season, when a fifth-placed finish led to hopes that Spurs could become the WSL’s great disruptors and even push for Champions League football.
By the time Skinner was sacked earlier this year, Spurs had been decimated by injuries, and staying up was the only goal. Somewhere along the way, Vilahamn believes, they had “lost their identity”.
There is now a determination to put that right – and spending half an hour in Vilahamn’s company, you get the feeling that whatever happens, the football could be exquisite.
His side could not have been handed a more daunting start to the new campaign, with a trip to face champions Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
There is hope, however, that even if the new season kicks off with a defeat, the end will be worth the means. Vilahamn recalls his first six months in Sweden’s Damallsvenskan with Hacken, which by his own admission were “terrible”.
“I didn’t really understand how to reach them,” he says. By the end, he won 14 of 17 games “playing our style all the way and scoring lots of goals”.
Determined to move to one of the top European leagues, Vilahamn was ultimately convinced by his final interview with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy. Meetings have been held with Postecoglou too, as well as chief football officer Scott Munn and head of global football development Andy Rogers.
“It’s one club now,” Vilahamn says. The message from Levy was clear: “It was mainly about making sure the women’s team is something we are proud of, a team that everybody can watch – that’s Tottenham standard.”
The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where Spurs have already played one of their pre-season friendlies against Aston Villa, was a selling point too. “This is a spaceship. Wow!” was their new head coach’s first reaction.
Champions League qualification within two years is the dream, though it is accompanied by a note of caution. We shouldn’t expect Tottenham to win the league this year,” Vilahamn stresses. Still, he is adamant that “Tottenham is one of those clubs who could be the best clubs in the world”.
Having been determined not to panic buy this summer, he was still able to make six new additions. Scotland international Martha Thomas – who caused England serious problems in their recent Nations League encounter – is arguably the most promising.
Beth England has been sidelined with a hip operation but her influence will remain off the field after playing in a World Cup final this summer, her new manager asking her to “teach the other players how to be a winner”.
Vilahamn hints he will likely target Scandinavian players on free transfers in January. Tottenham, he points out, are not “like Arsenal or Chelsea” with the budget to overhaul their squads each summer. It will be about recruiting cleverly, and making sure the players he already has buy into a way of playing.
“If we can be there and make sure everybody’s proud of Tottenham, that’s the mission we have,” Vilahamn sums up.
“I have a high belief that my philosophy, connected to the Tottenham philosophy, will be what the players need and want and they can perform the best way. And hopefully, we can do magic together.”
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/QdRKCSG
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