That heavy defeat at Brisbane Road came as a huge shock after Tottenham enjoyed a strong run throughout September. Visiting forward Alexia Putellas scored twice while Kadidiatou Diani scored once as London City Lionesses punished the home defence. With the international window over, Martin Ho is skipping a long group inquest in favour of private chats with his players.

“Everyone’s back in today and we won’t touch on it that much, we’ll pick it up individually with players,” Ho said speaking to the official media. “In terms of areas we want them to be better at, I will address it as a collective, but in a different way.”

Learning From A Ruthless First Half Display

The coaching staff spent the break reviewing the footage to see why the team strayed from the style that won Ho the September Manager of the Month prize.

“It was uncharacteristic from us; it was completely against what we usually do and how we usually play,” he admitted. “Me and the staff have tried to really dissect it is. We feel we know certain parts where we were good in the game and certain parts we weren’t. But we were on the end of a ruthless London City with the chances they had. They showed in the first half with the six chances they had, or five they had on target, and they scored three.”

Turning the page quickly is essential with a tough trip to Stamford Bridge next on the schedule. Rather than blaming his squad after conceding six goals, Ho put the responsibility squarely on his own shoulders ahead of the Chelsea clash.