Amid losing streak, Tottenham Hotspur give head coach Robert Vilahamn time: ‘We’re doing this together’

Amid losing streak, Tottenham Hotspur give head coach Robert Vilahamn time: ‘We’re doing this together’ Tottenham Hotspur extended their losing run across all competitions to six games on Sunday following a 2-0 defeat to West Ham United. On the surface, the loss further reduces a season once replete with promise into a lifeless nub. Spurs have dropped to ninth in the Women’s Super League (WSL), are out of the FA Cup and searching for a purpose beyond avoiding another loss.

This current run of five WSL losses is their worst in two years. That previous nine-game streak cost former head coach Rehanne Skinner (now head coach of West Ham) her job, leaving Spurs two points above the relegation zone in March 2023 and the club’s women’s football blueprint in disarray.

Last year, head coach Robert Vilahamn turned things around, leading Spurs to a sixth-place finish and a first trip to an FA Cup final. However, the success has waned and two days before the latest loss, his job security came into question.

“I’m not scared of getting fired,” the Swedish coach told on Friday after the press room emptied following his pre-match press conference. “Overall, it’s not good enough, but it’s also not the end of the world. I know that the games coming up are the games where we should expect more from us.”

It’s a defiant declaration.

In the not-so-distant past, women’s football managers maintained their positions through torrid spells, even torrid years. But in the past six months, the life cycle has changed. Five of the 12 top-flight clubs have overseen managerial changes: Arsenal (Jonas Eidevall, October 2024), Aston Villa (Robert de Pauw, December 2024), Liverpool (Matt Beard, February 2025), Crystal Palace (Laura Kaminski, February 2025) and Manchester City (Gareth Taylor, March 2025).

Reasons for the departures are nuanced but major factors were poor runs and perceived unmet expectations. Eidevall won just one of his first four WSL matches this season. De Pauw, hired in June 2024, was sacked after one win in nine matches. Beard left after struggling to build on his side’s fourth-place finish last season. Kaminski’s newly-promoted Palace, despite positive performances, won only one game from 14 league fixtures. Taylor’s City sat outside the Champions League spots after 16.

Barring Kaminski, it should be said that none of these managers endured six-game losing streaks.

“Everything is connected to the result,” Vilahamn said. “If we lose games the way we are, then you can look at me. Or you need to look at the club. … Are (the clubs who fired coaches) actually looking at themselves in the mirror or only at the coach? Because I can do good stuff, I can do failure, but I cannot do magic.

“Success is connected to the whole project, what we do together. Right now, we’re doing this together as a club. The main thing when you look at how we’re investing is patience. If somebody else feels like this is too slow, then I’ll happily leave because I’m doing what I’m supposed to do and I’m trying to do my best according to that.”

Vilahamn knows patience is not a gripping sales pitch for fans and critics. Upon his arrival in July 2023, Spurs spoke boldly of a three-year plan to achieve Champions League qualification and establish Spurs as one of women’s football’s “most entertaining” teams.

Vilahamn’s first season ostensibly stepped in that direction and the club rewarded him with a three-year deal last summer. Yet, recent performances and results beg the question: is there really a plan?

Those within the club maintain that the plan remains the same. But there is an acknowledgment that this season has taken more steps backwards than forwards. The word “decline” is used regularly in meetings.

However, panic hasn’t settled in.

In the aftermath of Skinner’s exit, Spurs underwent an internal review of their women’s setup, appointing Andy Rogers — previously Spurs’ head of global development — to managing director of women’s football. Foundational pillars were established, and built around culture, environment and style. They headhunted a manager to fit the bill.

Vilahamn is still trusted to be the plan’s driver. While results are lacking, a breakdown in communication, trust and culture are considered triggers for sacking. Alarm bells in these departments are not ringing, with the January recruitment of goalkeeper Lize Kop from Leicester City, who was pursued strongly by Manchester United in the summer, viewed as evidence of an increasingly positive cultural reputation.

“We want to play against the top teams the way we want to, we want to be one of the top teams,” Kop told . “It’s easy to say it but you need to support it as a club. There are improvements to make but I feel like Spurs really want to support that.”

The work behind the scenes to address the recent failures is intense. It has been likened by one source, who asked to remain anonymous to protect relationships, to a “laboratory”. Last season, Spurs’ expected goals (xG) was 27.8, the fifth-best in the league, and expected goals against (xGA) was 31.4. While the latter has improved this season (xGA: 24.0), Spurs’ xG has dropped alarmingly to 17.9, the ninth-best in the league. Big chances created and big chances missed have also dropped from fifth and fourth in the league respectively to eighth.

The loss of England midfielder Grace Clinton and Norway winger Celine Bizet — the latter whose short-term deal made her vulnerable to a buy-out clause in the final year of her deal — to Manchester United play a part. Both recorded four goals last season, the third most in the squad, while Clinton’s four assists were also a team high.

Replacing the pair’s attacking influence has been hampered by long-term injuries to key players, including midfielders Kit Graham and Eveliina Summanen, and top scorer Bethany England. Summer signings Hayley Raso (forward) and Ella Morris (defender), and January signing Olivia Holdt (midfielder), who is deemed an ideal replacement for Clinton, also began their tenures with injury.

Clinton and Bizet’s exits also coincided with the departures of head of women’s analysis and recruitment Zoe Mattheson (formally Matthews) and women’s performance analyst Alexander Adams, who joined NWSL’s Gotham FC and Leicester City men’s team respectively.

What was meant to be a season of building upwards quickly became a season of rebuilding.

“It’s a little frustrating that we cannot use everything we did in our first year in our second year,” Vilahamn said. “We did really good work last year in terms of our identity, key players, key staff, young upcoming players like Grace and Celine. They were people I invested in to make sure we all worked together. Then we lost a few of those investments to other clubs. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it takes time again to reinvest in people.

“I’m still very sure (in) what we’re doing and know what we’re doing, but it feels like we lost one year because of that.”

Spurs’ six-game losing streak includes successive matches against Manchester United (1-0 defeat), Arsenal (5-0) and Manchester City (2-1). The losses exacerbate Spurs’ dismal record against the top four — the other side being Chelsea — since winning promotion to the WSL in 2019: 55 matches played, won two, drawn six, lost 47. They have also proven a precarious quagmire for squad confidence, bleeding into performances against Brighton and West Ham.

Vilahamn does not deny there are self-inflicted failures throughout. In the seven league matches played against the top four this season (they have yet to play Chelsea twice), Spurs conceded at least one goal in the opening 15 minutes of play in six, turning already exceptional tasks into unassailable ones.

Against Arsenal, Spurs attempted to play Renee Slegers’ side at their own game, a decision Vilahamn brands a “failure”. Spurs adapted with some success against City, albeit stumbling against their superior depth. Yet, against Brighton, Vilahamn elected to play a similarly adapted style, producing one of the most dour performances of his tenure.

“I’m learning that against the top four, you need to adapt in a certain way,” Vilahamn said. “But when you play Brighton and lower, you shouldn’t adapt. Brighton are a very high-pressing team, so there were reasons. But when you have those three games (against the top four) before, it’s hard to work with self-confidence and bravery. Ultimately, it was a wrong decision.”

Recent performances and injuries have exposed Spurs’ shortcomings in squad depth and quality. While investment into the women’s team has doubled in the past two seasons from roughly £5million ($6.5m) to more than £10million, their overall investment into the first-team squad at the start of this season ranked among the bottom five sides in the WSL.

A top-four finish is regarded as the trigger for more investment. Vilahamn’s first season led many to believe his second would achieve this benchmark. But football is not static and as United, City and clubs such as Brighton increase investment each season, the goalposts to fourth-place invariably move.

The summer is expected to bring another thorough review to reset the plan. The club is currently recruiting a football technical director for the women’s first team and academy, but improving player and staff recruitment is a key issue.

“It’s going to be big decisions,” said Vilahamn. “Last year, I was confident but everything that has happened this season, seeing other clubs smash signings, I realise, okay, this may take an extra year.”

After the defeat to West Ham, Vilahamn looked dour, the players carrying a similar look of desolation. Vilahamn is, by his own admission, a ferocious competitor and this run does not come without hurt. Maintaining morale and a positive culture has become paramount.

“(This period) is difficult because media, players losing self-confidence but that’s why I was hired. It’s the fun part with this job as well. It’s not always how you win the trophy. It’s how you develop a club through this journey. That’s what I bought into when I signed for this club.”

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

Tottenham Hotspur, UK Women's Football

2025 The Athletic Media Company

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