Topics for conversation | Skinner on Tottenham, building on positive start and important run of fixtures ahead

Everyone has adjusted to life in the WSL and is completely healthy. We’re in a good place

I think the good position we’re in now is the players we signed in the summer; everyone has adapted and everyone is fit and it took a while to get everyone fully fit to play and have depth in the squad and that makes a difference. We all know that you need to start with a strong team, but you also need to have a strong team and finish, and that takes time.

Considering where we are in terms of what we’ve been able to achieve with our budget, I think we’ve done a really good job. I think the players we have now can also move between positions, so we’ve brought in players who have some versatility who help us with squad depth and that’s obviously a bonus for us. I think the problem we had in the first block was that not all of them were fixed. They came from very different places, so it took a period of adaptation. So now that we’re where we are in the next block of games, we’re definitely in a positive position in terms of player availability, so hopefully that will help us stay in a good position.

We are all looking forward to the Tottenham derby.

I think for us, when the players talk about it here, everyone is very excited about the London derby and it doesn’t matter what team it is. Historically, on the men’s side, West Ham and Tottenham are quite close in a geographical context, so it’s definitely a big rivalry. I think we just want to make sure that we bring all that passion to the fact that it’s a London derby and we want to make sure that we’re really competitive. Obviously we’re away from home, although not as far from home as it is on our doorstep, perhaps more so than they are, but I think it’s important that we come into the game really prepared for the fight that we showed up in every game. I have no doubt that the players are 100 per cent ready to play and I think that whenever we play London teams, everyone is really ready to compete.

This is a window of opportunity for us and regardless of what happens with them (Tottenham), I think we are in a good position and that is the only thing we can really control. If you look at the part of the teams that are really close, you will see that it is always the same, and there is not much difference within it. So, these games kind of help you create a little gap between yourself and other people. It is important that we earn points in such games. I think there will definitely be goals in the game.

The level of the WSL is improving from season to season.

I won’t repeat what people said, but it’s literally true. The demands of the game are increasing every year and the quality that is coming into the league is increasing every year. So naturally the standard goes up because of that and I think that makes it more and more challenging, which is why a lot of people, a lot of players want to play in this league because it’s so challenging every week. . So yeah, I think the game is moving up a notch every year, and I think part of that has to do with the way the game is evolving in other places as well. So, if you look at the major tournaments and the impact they have on the style of play and what is expected of players.

We’re getting more support on things like performance requirements and requirements, so players can kind of take it to another level from that standpoint as well, and it’s just going to make the game faster, stronger, more physical, more tactical. the astute, technically gifted players who come into the league get better. So yeah, I think it’s always a tough task and I think the points show that at the end of the day, again, we’ve talked about this before, but you can take points off anyone and that’s what it’s all about .

I think we’re unlucky that there aren’t many games in the league as a whole, judging by the number of teams. So that’s one aspect that I think needs to continue to be developed. But I think we’re, you know, competing as hard as we can at this point in time, and we’ll only get better depending on the players that we have, and that’s what hopefully puts us in a position where we’re competitive in a truly competitive league.

We strive to increase the number of shots

I think our workforce needs to increase, and we’ve talked about it for a long time. We’re potentially giving up some chances that we could have taken if we’d thought a little more positively about some of these scenarios. I think we created some good, clear chances that maybe we didn’t capitalize on, so we just need to make sure we keep practicing and make sure we take those opportunities when they come. are emerging and that’s across the board – it’s actually the whole team because some of them dropped out due to things like set plays and things like that. So it’s not just the open play experience we’re trying to improve; for me it’s a mindset of trying to get more shots, create more opportunities through that, whether it’s second stages or more attacking players because that number was quite low. But again, it’s important to remember who we were playing against. We played against them and created more chances in that game than in both games against them last season. I think the team is good enough to have multiple people scoring goals. I think it’s just a case of when we get one or two, I think it will start to change our narrative.