It was a disappointing night at Brisbane Road for Robert Vilahamn as he watched his side get knocked out of the League Cup Quarter Finals against West Ham, despite taking the early lead and dominating much of the game. He spoke to the media after the game to give his thoughts on the performance and what he thought of his teams collapse.
A lack of final product was the story of the evening for Tottenham. Despite having 8 shots on target and seemingly coasting to a win in the first half, they failed to score a decisive second goal and allowed the Hammers back into the tie in a hectic five minute spell. This was noticed by Vilahamn who wasn’t pleased with his sides performance.
What did Robert Vilahamn say?
“We try to use the squad and make sure we have energy and find ways to break them down. They got the momentum when they scored those two goals quickly before halftime, but we still created and there were some great saves. The thing is though we still don’t play as good as we can.”
Embed from Getty ImagesThis game followed a similar pattern to their last WSL fixture against Leicester, as in both they scored very early on but could not keep up that pressure for the full 90 minutes. While noting an area they looked better in today, Vilahamn lamented their lack of bravery on the ball and inability to double their lead.
“Against Leicester I think we started to make mistakes technically, while today we became more passive; we kept the ball but we passed backwards, we didn’t make mistakes but weren’t brave enough to score another. It was better technically today, but worse decision making”
One huge positive for The Lilywhites was Martha Thomas’ contribution. On top of a fine performance, she also scored her first goal since the FA Cup Semi-Final in April 2024, and her boss will be hoping that this will see the end to her unfortunate run of form.
Embed from Getty Images“That was a really beautiful goal and good for her that she scored, she worked really hard today. It’s good to get her going, we need the goalscorers as we basically score one goal per game right now, while I want us to score two, three, or four goals.”
Conceding twice right before the halftime whistle would change the plans of any manager, and for Vilahamn this was no different. He made four changes at the break as they chased a result to no avail, but he was clear that tactics weren’t the only thing on his mind at that point.
“It’s a mixture to rotate the team but also to bring some energy to the team, the last 20 minutes of the first half were quite passive so I wanted to bring some energy on and give Lenna (Gunning-Williams) and Charlie Grant some minutes so they can show where they are right now. We go from a five-week break to four games in one and a half weeks so I need to use the squad.”
Spurs will return to action on Sunday 26th January when they travel to Crystal Palace in the WSL.