Presser points | Everton vs Spurs (WFA Cup) | Robert Vilahamn | OneFootball

Robert Vilahamn spoke to the media at Hotspur Way on Thursday afternoon, ahead of our Adobe Women’s FA Cup fourth round tie against Everton at Walton Hall Park on Sunday (1pm UK).

Here’s what he had to say…

On the Christmas break…

Robert: “It was really good, actually. It was very calm, I spent time with family… it was a good break. But it’s so nice to be back, the routines and to start playing again.”

Robert on the recent arrivals…

Robert: “Olivia (Holdt) is a very talented player. I followed her in Denmark, tried to sign her for Hacken when I was there and followed her when she was at Rosengard. She was one of the best players last season in Sweden, she scored a lot of goals and created assists. She has a lot of potential and she fits the way we want to play, working the pocket, she's an attacking midfielder, I would say, with great character and good energy. Obviously she had an injury at the end of the season in Sweden, otherwise she would probably have won the top goalscorer in the league there, but she’s returning to play now, we’ll need to build her up because she’s coming back from a broken leg so she is back, she's on the grass, however we're going to give her one or two weeks until we give her minutes. It’s a good signing. Bri (Campos), I worked with her in Hacken, she’s a really talented coach on the grass, tactically, great training sessions and great at analysing the game. She knows me, the way I want to play, fits the way we want to work in the technical team – Vicky (Jepson), Chris (Williams) and the analysts. It's going to be very interesting to start working together again.”

Looking ahead to Everton...

Robert: “Having those four games (before the break) was good for our self-confidence, but Everton are a really strong team, they have signed some really good players and Brian (Sørensen) really knows what he's doing as a coach. Last season we had some really competitive games as well, so it's going to be a very tough game. We also know that we can beat them and we have had a few really good games against them. I'm looking forward to this game, it's a cup game and it's always something different in the cup, so we're going to give it our all to try and do a journey in the competition.”

Our record on the road to the Toffees…

Robert: “I’ve only been there once - last year - and we had an amazing game, but we were 2-0 down after 15 minutes. Then we played some really good football and we came back to draw 2-2, it was the game before the FA Cup final, so we had to switch a few players and so on. I had a good experience there and it's a good pitch. It's actually going to be a really fun game and I hope we have a good result.”

On further team news…

Robert: “Kit (Graham) is doing her rehab, taking steps there, but obviously far away from being back on the grass. Ella (Morris) is running on the grass, following the programme, but she’s still got quite a few weeks before she can play football again with us. Olivia is not injured, but she's going through a return to play from an injury, otherwise, I think we will have a strong squad for Sunday.”

Robert on any new year goals…

Robert: “I think, second year as a new coach, wherever you go, it's tricky because the faster you can ride on that wave where you are new and everybody is liking the new stuff. We had a good first year, the second year people expect stuff and then you realise it's not that easy to be consistent. I hope that we can be more consistent, even more attacking football, we can have a few more wins, to try to aim higher in the table, but I also think that we need to make sure we become more stable as a team and do good performances. We don't want to concede so many goals, that we score at least one or two goals every game and that they see that we actually take steps. I think we are doing that, but it's also organisation-wise, when we start with recruitment, we're looking into all areas to make sure we improve as a club as well. That's what we're doing right now, we're going to take steps during this year as well.”

On Everton’s season so far…

Robert: “I think they have defended very well in many games this season, especially against the top teams. So it's more like, how do they address us? Do they address us as a top team or a mid-table team? I think we are prepared; we know that we're going to play against a good team and we also know a cup game is a cup game. So you need to go for it more, if you’re down by one, you need to gamble a lot to get back in the game instead of in a league fixture where you're kind of connected to the whole league. I love cup games, I love this country's FA Cup because that's the biggest cup I've been around. I just want to make sure we have a good result and keep going in this Cup. It's a great cup.”

On Everton’s new signings…

Robert: “Personnel-wise, you don't really know so much about their starting eleven. Brian is quite flexible in his tactics, he’s one of those coaches that you also need to be prepared as he’ll change during games as well. We don't really focus too much on the opponent anyway as we try to focus on ourselves and how we can improve the way we play, how we're going to make sure we get better. Whatever team he puts on that on the pitch on Sunday, they're going to be a strong team. It's a tough draw. I mean, we could’ve had a team from a lower division, but we’ve got Everton away. We just need to take that challenge, go there and try to get to the next round.”

On Maite Oroz…

Robert: “She had a tough quad injury, but then she came back for the last games, we had to monitor her minutes. However, now, she doesn’t need to have any monitoring so she can play 90 minutes if she's picked for that. She looks good in training and she gets to know her teammates even more. I can promise you're going to see more of her.”

On how cup games differ to league games…

Robert: “If I’m honest, it feels different to play cup games. I grew up with these cup games when I saw big teams in England playing against these small clubs. Our Men's team is doing that kind of game on Sunday. I want to go to the next round, I want to reach the final, I want to be the last team standing there. The league is something different, you always need to live with the result in a game, but with the cup, you just live with the emotions or you're out. There's something special, I was watching the Men's team yesterday live at the stadium and there's some kind of really nice atmosphere. I really want to win. I really want to make sure the fans can have a trophy for this club. Like I said, it's hard for us to win the league right now, where we are, we need to close the gap there, but the cup is winnable because you are always one game to the next round. Obviously, it means a lot for me and that means a lot for the players.”