Ruiz: Spurs' second-half switch cost us

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Albion's head coach reflects on Sunday's 2-1 defeat in the WSL.

Luke Nicoli

2026-11-08T16:45+00:00

Arturo Ruiz saw his side beaten 2-1 despite scoring early on through Fran Kirby against Spurs. 📷Kyle Hemsley

Head coach Arturo Ruiz admitted a second-half shift in performance cost his side the chance of taking at least a point in the WSL at Tottenham Hotspur today.

The Seagulls made a dream start, scoring after just three minutes through Fran Kirby, but the hosts hit back with two quick-fire goals in a dominant second-half display to take the points.

“I felt like we did a lot of things really well in the first half,” Ruiz said. “We were very sharp and we scored pretty soon after kick-off.

“But we need to analyse everything because [in the second half] they were just bypassing us and having another runner that we weren't aware of.

“You need to be better than your rivals in all areas and, above everything, in the box and in the final third. In the second half, we weren't able to do that. Even with the players we brought on from the bench, we didn't succeed in getting the result.”

Sophie Peskett stretches to keep the ball in play. 📷Kyle Hemsley

Albion had dealt well with Tottenham's attacking threat in the first half, but the hosts' use of the wider areas and continued overloads made life increasingly difficult.

“I think there were a lot of mini-games and a lot of situations during the game. We need to analyse and go through all of them. Congratulations to our rivals because they deserved the three points in the second half, but we still need to take the positive things from the first-half performance.”

Albion now face two home games in five days, with Watford the visitors to Broadfield Stadium in the Subway Players' Cup on Wednesday night.

“It's another very exciting competition,” Ruiz said of the tie. “The games come quickly, so the recovery of players is important. We will assess them leading up to the game.”