Whenever West Ham United face Tottenham Hotspur, it’s a battle, and Hammers manager Rehanne Skinner can’t wait for her side’s opening game of the Barclays Women’s Super League season against their London rivals on Sunday.
A trip across the capital to face the Lilywhites is certainly a mouth-watering clash to commence the 2025/26 campaign, and there is sure to be a good atmosphere when the two teams walk out of the tunnel at BetWright Stadium for the 12noon kick-off.
Skinner’s side enjoyed plenty of success against Spurs last season, defeating them in the Subway® Women's League Cup quarter-finals and WSL, and she will hope her team can make a lightning-fast start to the fresh season with a positive result and performance at the weekend.
Her squad contains new faces having been busy over the summer transfer window, with the arrivals of Sarah Brasero, Ffion Morgan, Yu Endo and Leila Wandeler bolstering the east Londoners’ depth. Skinner insisted the increased competitiveness for starting spots will only serve as a positive for her side throughout the campaign.
Meanwhile, Republic of Ireland international Jess Ziu joined Barclays WSL2 side Bristol City on a season-long loan, and Skinner, in her pre-match press conference, hailed the midfielder's attitude after she recovered from her second anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury last month.
For Spurs, a big change to their team has come in the dugout, with Martin Ho replacing Robert Vilahamn over the summer. Whilst Ho has only been in charge since July, Skinner is expecting to see similarities in Tottenham’s playing style to how Ho set up his former sides, including Norwegian outfit SK Brann.
With a fully-fit squad at her disposal, the Irons boss sat down for her first pre-match press conference of the season on Thursday afternoon. Here are the main talking points…
Pre-season was great for us
We’ve been really pleased with how pre-season’s gone for us, in terms of the set-up, the opposition we’ve faced and the time we’ve had with new players. They’ve had a good opportunity to settle in.
We're looking forward to the Spurs battle
Whenever you get a new manager, there’s a new playing style that goes in. There’s trends [in Ho's side's playing style] from previous clubs you pick up, so you can see what the intent’s going to be. Whenever we play Tottenham, it’s always going to be a battle. It’s one we’re looking forward to.
You always look at historical games to see if there’s a clear playing style. Coaches will try to get to their own playing style whether that’s possible at the start with the personnel that you’ve got. It might not be where he wants at the moment, but there are definitely things that will translate across from what he’s done previously.
We're looking to be more consistent
Everything’s about improving year on year. We’ve kept the core of the squad and we’ve been able to add some additional talent, youthful and experienced. Everyone understands what we’re looking to do. We want to improve in different areas that we know we could have been better in last year.
If we’re able to be more consistent this season, the points will come off the back of that and we should be in a position to push a bit higher in the table.
Everyone's fighting for shirts, and that means standards will go up
We’ve got a lot more depth in the squad that means everyone’s fighting for shirts. That enables standards of training to go up, which happened last year, but we’ve added to that level with the players that we’ve brought in. The balance of experience and talented younger players is important. You’re always trying to seek out that balance where the changing room is looking after itself. We want to create a winning mentality every time we step out on to the pitch.
It takes time to evolve the squad. The Club's been unbelievably supportive. We all want things to move forward as quickly as possible. The playing squad’s evolved massively, which has enabled us to play a more attractive style of football, be difficult to beat, and every time we add players, they can do the things we're looking to do.
The attitude Jess Ziu has shown has been fantastic
The loan [to Bristol City] is to support the end stage with where she needs to be with minutes. She understands what it's going to take and she wants to be back in that position. It finishes off the bits that are tricky to do in the WSL, and the growth Bristol City have had, it’s a great environment there. We look forward to keeping track of how that evolves for her. She’s played in pre-season for us, and it’s a credit to her for the work and attitude she’s put in. She’s been fantastic off the pitch.
