Tottenham vs Leicester Post-match Musings: No Clinton, No Creativity

Let's be honest. If it hadn't been for an appalling error by Leicester goalkeeper Janina Leitzig and an equally appalling miss by her skipper Janice Cayman, Tottenham would not have come away with the three points on Sunday.

The team's first WSL game back after the winter break highlighted some familiar problems. Namely, they are vulnerable at the back and lack creativity in attack. Part of the defensive problems stem from Spurs constantly (over)playing out from the back and getting themselves into trouble. That is how Cayman found herself in front of an open goal. 

The attacking problems come largely from Grace Clinton being back at Man Utd. Even a brief glimpse at the Manchester Derby made that clear. Maite Oroz and Hayley Raso are both excellent, but it still needs a bit more. Too often, Beth England finds herself chasing back and trying and to make it all happen herself, meaning the side loses its focal point.

Their are some mitigating factors to what was a fairly uninspiring performance from Tottenham. However beneficial a rest is, a team will always be a bit rusty after a month off. Having the resilience to dig in and get the job done when you're not playing well is important. 

Spurs are though going to have to be far more cutthroat in front of goal if they want to succeed in the second half of the season as at the moment they are really struggling to get the second goal. 

Kop Makes Spurs Debut

Another positive was Lize Kop, signed just days ago, making her debut and, somehow, keeping a clean sheet. She mostly did her work without much of a fuss and kept out what she needed to. 

Kop is clearly quite confident and plays a long way out her goal. She seems to be pretty strong with her feet so that helps get the team going forward again. They all need to work together to make sure she isn't caught out though.

Things need to improve because that Spurs performance would have seen them defeated by almost every other WSL team.