Vidosic: We were below par

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Albion's head coach reflects on a final-day defeat to Spurs in the WSL.

Luke Nicoli

2026-05-16T16:00+01:00

Dario Vidosic watches on from the Amex touchline. 📷Paul Hazlewood

Dario Vidosic felt his players were below par as Albion’s WSL campaign ended with a 2-1 home defeat against Tottenham Hotspur.

The Seagulls were on course for a point – extending their unbeaten run to eight games in the process – until Toko Koga popped up with an agonising 92nd-minute lob that handed victory to the visitors.

With Albion’s historic Women’s FA Cup Final appearance fast approaching on the horizon against Manchester City at Wembley, Vidosic made changes both to the starting line-up and in-game, which certainly had a bearing on the performance.

“I don’t think it was good enough from us for the majority of the game,” he conceded. “There were a lot of poor decisions, poor technical errors, and we didn’t really control the game.

Madison Haley is all smiles after she scored Albion's goal early in the second half. 📷Paul Hazlewood

“I don’t think it was good enough from us for the majority of the game,” he conceded. “There were a lot of poor decisions, poor technical errors, and we didn’t really control the game.

“Going into the match, we wanted to use it as preparation as well for the cup final, so we tried to give as many girls some good minutes to get them all ready because we have the potential of extra time in that game.

“After we went 1-0 up, we made a lot of changes, as you don’t want to risk anything going into the final, so you lose a bit of rhythm, a bit of continuity, but I still felt we could have done a lot better for both the goals we conceded. At times it did look good; the press was good, but in possession of the ball it needed to be better and in the end we’ve made some sloppy mistakes and been punished."

Jelena Cankovic takes control in midfield. 📷Paul Hazlewood

One of the standouts for Albion was Madison Haley, who made it five goals from her last six games. She will be a certain starter at Wembley and gained the applause of her coach after breaking the deadlock in the 49th minute. “She’s been terrific and keeps getting herself in excellent positions,” Dario added. “I felt she played really well again today, held the ball up for us, but we didn’t use her enough and were quite rushed in the attacking third.”

Despite the disappointment, all eyes are now on Albion’s first FA Cup Final, where there’s a chance to put the icing on the cake of a very positive second half to the season.

“My message to the team is to enjoy the final,” Vidosic said. “It’s a privilege to be there, and we will work hard and prepare to give ourselves the best possible chance. We’re looking forward to our day at Wembley."