Tottenham have as many points in the Women\u2019s Super League this term, at the halfway stage, as they accumulated in the entirety of last season. That sentence will offer some satisfaction to their supporters but the head coach, Martin Ho, demonstrates how serious his intentions are when he says: \u201cWe\u2019re not even 15% of the way to where I want us to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ho, appointed in July, uses a specific word four times across the course of the conversation: \u201cStandards.\u201d The former Manchester United assistant coach inherited a team that had finished second from bottom and has Spurs two points off a European place, but he wants them to challenge themselves further.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen some solid performances but we\u2019re nowhere near the finished article,\u201d the Merseyside-born Ho says. \u201cBut I\u2019m really excited about what\u2019s ahead, and the ambitions of the club.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t change everything in five months; it takes time. And I want to do that in small steps whilst evolving the playing group and the infrastructure around me to make sure it\u2019s more sustainable for now and the future, for younger players, for the players that are here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spurs have signed two Norwegians and two Swedes in the winter window \u2013 Signe Gaupset, Julie Blakstad, Hanna Wijk and Matilda Nild\u00e9n \u2013 as they utilise a Scandinavian market Ho knows well after managing the Norwegian club Brann, from whom he joined after two years.<\/p>\n
Since his arrival, Tottenham have been efficient in front of goal. According to Opta, they rank top of the WSL this term for conversion of big chances, at 62.5%, and have the second-best shot accuracy rate at 39.4%. But it is defensively where improvements have been most marked. They conceded an average of two goals a game last season, the WSL\u2019s joint-second-worst record, but the corresponding figure this term is 1.45 and only three teams have conceded fewer set-piece goals.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would never say: \u2018I didn\u2019t expect the wins we\u2019ve had,\u2019\u201d the 35-year-old says. \u201cDid I expect to maybe see as big a change in the group now? Maybe not, if I\u2019m being honest, but not from an ability perspective, because I\u2019ll make that clear, the ability is there and the quality is there. It was more maybe psychologically \u2013 where was the group at? \u2013 in terms of, you finished second to bottom. But I think since I\u2019ve come in I couldn\u2019t have asked any more of the playing group.<\/p>\n
Martin Ho says he wants his players to \u2018show their own personality and try not to be two different people\u2019. Photograph: James Marsh\/Tottenham Hotspur FC\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n
\u201cLast season they obviously had a disappointing year and it was kind of: \u2018How do we get our feet back on the track and start moving in the right direction?\u2019 Just trying to then enable the team to have a clear identity that represents the club, a team that actually lives the values and behaviours of a Tottenham team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Home form has been key. Only Manchester City have collected more points at home than Spurs, who are unbeaten in four at home and host Leicester on Sunday in their first game after the winter break, and much of that appears to have come from going back to some basics in the culture behind the scenes.<\/p>\n
Ho has been described by multiple sources as a \u201cdemanding\u201d coach who expects a lot of his players. Asked if he is something of a disciplinarian, Ho replies: \u201cI wouldn\u2019t say it\u2019s like a military camp \u2013 I just have really basic standards, some non-negotiable things on how you should train on and off the pitch, how you should treat one another, how you should respect one another and how you should be on time. [It is about] respecting the environment and the staff. If we do that, everyone will kind of be on the same boat.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says \u201ctimekeeping is a really big one for me\u201d, and was indeed early for this interview. \u201cI want the players to make sure that they are themselves, and show their own personality and try not to be two different people,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd then from there, I just keep reminding the players of what we expect, what kind of standards we have as a club and who we are representing. We can\u2019t afford to take our foot off the gas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Olivia Holdt slides on the turf after scoring a late winner at home to Aston Villa. Home form has been key to Tottenham\u2019s success. Photograph: Jess Hornby\/WSL\/WSL Football\/Getty Images<\/p>\n