More thoughts on Spurs news/follow up to Spurs 25/26 potential squad changes

It's easy to get wrapped up in narratives and to be reactionary with football news. I've very much fallen foul of both of those pitfalls over the past 24 hours. Although, honestly I've been hoping for a bit of a shake-up since the end of 2024. Unfortunately, some of the early signs coming from Spurs suggest that the club could be in for another subpar season. The contract renewal news concerning Ash Neville and Kit Graham (whom I'm glad extended) along with Olga Ahtinen and Josefine Rybrink (I'm less excited about) having their 1-year extensions triggered was an early surprise, given that Spurs tend to wait until the end of June (the full end of the season cycle) to begin announcing departures and renewals. Spurs also just announced that Martha Thomas signed new 3 year contract which comes as something of a surprise given that her last league goal came in November 2023 and her last goal in all competitions came against West Ham in the Subway League Cup in mid-January as Spurs got knocked out.

Robert Vilahamn led the squad to an incredibly underwhelming season finishing 11th out of 12 teams in the WSL while having, according to Soccerdonna, the 5th most valuable squad in the league (player valuations in the women's game are even more difficult compared to the men's game and even then it's an inexact science). There was quite a bit of turnover in the squad in the summer of 2024, as Grace Clinton and Celin Bizet leaving for Manchester United left massive holes in the attacking midfield lines which Spurs didn't adequately sort out. The players that did come in during the summer window, with the exceptions of Ella Morris and Maite Oroz, failed to make the desired impact.

This excellent article from the Halfway Line along with other FBRef data suggest that Spurs have fairly middling ball progression numbers which may go some way to explain why Spurs couldn't control games and faltered against the top teams. Emma Sanders reported back in mid-May that the club is considering the future of the Swedish coach so it's very possible that he won't get a 3rd season to try to stabilise the club in the WSL.

The two areas where I'm not quite sure who Spurs should look to bring in are CB and RW. Both positions have options there (for now as I wouldn't be surprised if Hayley Raso leaves) so I'm hoping that the recruitment team, which is due extra support, over the summer, as we know that Robert Vilahamn was tasked with trying to bring in players (which shouldn't really be the case in the modern day), is able to comb over the leagues to improve.

Also, I'm under no illusion that the club would be able to attract world beaters as the recruitment strategy has tended to be to get bench players from bigger teams, mixed in with some promising younger players. I think it'd be a good idea to try to look for u23(roughly) players that have good potential for the long term. This is also due to the fact that Spurs' 2 best signings in the last two summers have been scouted/recommended based on England u23 references from now former assistant coach, Vicky Jepson, in Grace Clinton and Ella Morris. 

I can appreciate that Championship/WSL2 players may not sound like ambitious recruiting on the surface, although Morris came into this Spurs team after coming through Southampton's academy and getting big minutes in tier 3 and then tier 2 to star as the starting RB. Sticking with Morris, she unfortunately tore her ACL in England training this week so RB may be another area the club looks to bolster for at least the first half of the season. 

Due the Morris news, I think Spurs should look to Mari Ward from Bristol City as a very good short and long term rival for Morris' starting RB spot. 19 year-old Ward can also cover as a LB effectively and possibly even play higher up on the wings. She still has a good amount of development left to do to adapt to playing in a back 4 after being a wing-back in a back 5 for Bristol this past season. 

I'm of the opinion that Becky Spencer should be allowed to leave this summer - the club also allowed her to join Chelsea on an emergency loan where she got 0 minutes across all competitions. To allow Eleanor Heeps to remain as a 3rd choice keeper, Spurs should look at free agent, Rafaela Borggräfe, to challenge/take over the starting goalkeeper role from Lize Kop, who looked decent but I think would benefit from having to fight for the 1st choice keeper slot. At 25 years old, Borggräfe was one of the best keepers in the Frauen Bundesliga who is excellent on the ball with both feet, has decent box presence to close angles and claim crosses and is an able sweeper to deal with long balls which is something that Spurs could desperately do with. 

The two players I'd look to bring in for central midfield would be Lucia Kendall (21) from Southampton and Jemima Dahou (19) from Blackburn, who, as far as I can tell are both free agents. Although the central midfield area may seem clogged, I'm so high on Kendall that I believe that she could get good minutes across all competitions as she's so technically secure that she'd fit in with the technical levels of the other midfielders in the squad from the 6 role up to the number 10. Dahou (see the link to Mari Ward for my take on her) is much less polished as a player and would definitely need a loan back to the WSL2 to get more minutes and establish herself as a deep lying 6 due to that being a role I think she could flourish in. The former Man City academy midfielder is a great technician but needs to adapt to the physical elements of the senior game in order to live up to her potential.

For the 9 spot, Larissa Mühlhaus would still be an absolute dream signing, who would, admittedly, be very difficult to get over the line due to the interest in her from top German clubs, and because she's only played one season for Werder Bremen. The 22 year-old German is tall at 5'9, has a good physical presence in terms of strength, can carry the ball in isolated situations, hold the ball up to a high level to create chances for teammates, and score goals despite limited service. 

Spurs' academy seems like it's continuing to improve and the recruitment on that front seems quite good. Zara Bailey joined from Oxford United in 2024 to join the u16's and made her first team debut off the bench against Crystal Palace in the Subway League cup in December 2024 and also captained England u16 earlier this year. Persis Oteng scored 15 goals in the PGA league which played a part in RB Leipzig picking her up as a free agent. Mia Endacott is also making waves having scored and assisted over 20 goals in all competitions as a first year winger in the u21's after arriving from Plymouth Argyle in the summer. The talent is pretty clearly there so I really hope that whoever is the head coach over the next few years is willing and able to integrate youth players better into the senior squad. 

Looking into 3 WSL 2 talents who could make a big jump in the 25/26 season.

Mari Ward

Bristol City have been fairly public in wanting to give young players a chance and eventually sell them to WSL teams as their business model. Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if 19 year-old wing-back, Mari Ward got a move to a lower mid-table WSL team this season. Ward can fairly comfortably go by her opposing full-back on both flanks with decent pace, on and off the ball with 3.1 successful dribbles per 90 at a 66% success rate in the league. 

She has decent stamina to go up and down the flank. One defensive concern I have is that she needs to track back more consistently to help out in crossing situations as the CB's behind her can end up isolated in transition situations. I could see her adjusting to being a full-back or a winger which would require her crossing to improve as she only registered a 21% success rate in the league. That said, she can comfortably play the ball into dangerous areas on either foot contributing to her 4 assists in all competitions in the 2024/25 season. 

Ward's assist vs Brighton in the League cup group stage back in December.

Ward receives the ball on the left wing and battles past McLaughlin.

After getting by McLaughlin, Ward faces up Carabaly and continues towards the box.

Ward cuts the ball across the box looking for the back post run from her wing-back partner.

Jasmine Bull then finishes from a decent area after getting on the end of Ward's cut-back.

Fallon Connolly-Jackson

This past season was 18 year-old, Fallon Connolly-Jackson's first season of getting minutes at a professional level as a left-sided wing-back. In only 5 starts, and 16 total league appearances, she has shown good defensive tenacity to get into duels. Connolly-Jackson scored her first Scotland u-19 goal against Czechia in April*. She still has quite a bit of work to get up to the technical standards of a WSL2 starter, as her 52% pass success on low volume of 6 successful passes per 90 - in very limited minutes/starts - is an area for improvement. She has a pretty decent long throw which could be useful for her team to create chances if they have good aerial forwards.

I think that her stamina, willingness to track back and create contact without fouling - to either win the ball back or push her opponent off balance - suggest that she can be a useful defender for another WSL 2 club in the near future.

*Connolly-Jackson's goal vs Czechia in April.

Connolly-Jackson gets on the ball in midfield and looks to drive into the centre.

She looks to play a ball in behind the defensive line.

After running onto a poor touch from the defence, Connolly-Jackson carries on towards the box.

She chooses to shoot from just outside the box and scores with her shot going into the right side of the goal.

Jemima Dahou

19 year-old Jemima Dahou is such a good player to watch when she gets on the ball, which is something we've somewhat come to expect from a Man City academy graduate who has made 2 appearances for England's u-19 team. Her main problem is that, in my opinion, she didn't get on the ball nearly enough to make the sort of impact she could, as she averaged 41.75 touches in games that she started. Back to the positives, she's very capable of dribbling out of tight spaces with incisive turns. Her passing range is decent on both feet, given that Blackburn tended to play a fairly direct style which allowed Dahou to try to play long through balls in behind to get the forwards on the ball higher up the pitch.

Dahou seems a bit wasted as an 8 for Blackburn having to cover a lot of distance each game. In my eyes, I think she'd really suit a number 6 role to allow her to focus on ball progression from deeper areas. Her 1st touch, on both feet, is very secure and she's often able to use it to create space by luring her opponent in to press her, allowing her to glide by them. 

There's a lot of uncertainty around Blackburn as to whether they'll even be able to enter in the WSL 2 in the 25/26 season - which is frankly ridiculous that 2 clubs in 2 consecutive seasons could potentially drop out of the 2nd tier, due to lack of interest from their owners. I can really see her suiting Southampton, as either a backup to Chloe Peplow or a potential starter alongside Peplow in a double pivot. 

An example of Dahou's usefulness in deep midfield areas.

Dahou receives the ball from the wing with her back to goal.

She then quickly pushes the ball towards the centre circle and holds off her opponent.

Her opponent goes to ground while Dahou takes a touch to avoid the tackle.

Without rushing, she fakes as if she's going to pass to her nearby teammate before carrying on her dribble and passing out to her wing-back.