Emma Harries believes that West Ham United women’s team need to take the positives from 2023/24 with them into next season.
The Hammers were beaten 3-1 by Tottenham Hotspur on the final day of the Barclays Women’s Super League campaign on a largely frustrating afternoon in north London.
Beth England was able to open the scoring just four minutes in, as Rehanne Skinner’s charges fell guilty to a slow start. But they improved and found their feet as the clock ticked on, and eventually levelled just after half-time thanks to Riko Ueki’s stunning strike.
Substitute Jessica Naz restored Spurs’ lead, however, and as the visitors pushed for a late leveller, fellow replacement Drew Spence arrowed into the far corner to seal the game for the hosts.
Harries was frustrated to be on the losing side, but said that the team have to look at the season as a whole and focus on the highlights that have come throughout it.
The team put in a really big shift today, but we lacked some of the finer details.
I think we always knew it was going to be a really tough match against an in-form Tottenham side.
We didn’t start the game well enough, but we reacted in the second half and Riko [Ueki] managed to find the net with a fantastic strike. Unfortunately, we then got caught out towards the end for their third as we pushed to draw level again.
It just wasn’t our day today, but I don’t think our work ethic can be questioned. All of us want to give our all for the supporters, for the staff and for the badge.
The season overall hasn’t been what we’ve wanted.
However, since the Christmas break, I believe there has been an improvement, not only in our performances but in our results as well.
We’re all striving to improve on things next season, and I’m sure that we will all come back stronger and focused when we return for pre-season.
We have to take the positives and learnings from this season into next year.
Like I said, I think we’ve had some really good performances across the season, but our consistency hasn’t been there at times, and that’s one big thing that we need to change if we’re going to push up the table.
I know that we’re all looking forward to a break because it has been a long season, but all of us are motivated and determined to make sure that we finish in a better position in the standings when the league starts again.
