{"id":936994,"date":"2026-10-22T14:32:22","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T14:32:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/936994\/"},"modified":"2026-10-22T14:32:22","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T14:32:22","slug":"cathinka-tandberg-spurs-fans-hate-arsenal-thats-how-it-is-womens-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/936994\/","title":{"rendered":"Cathinka Tandberg: \u2018Spurs fans hate Arsenal. That\u2019s how it is\u2019 | Women’s football"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt means more than just three points. It\u2019s for the whole club. It\u2019s for the whole place. It\u2019s for the whole of Tottenham.\u201d One only needs to be in the presence of Tottenham Hotspur\u2019s Cathinka Tandberg for a few minutes to feel the passion that emanates from her when it comes to this weekend\u2019s north London derby. As a lifelong Spurs fan, the forward understands more than most the intensity of the rivalry that exists between her side and Arsenal, one that she cannot wait to experience once again on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will just be an incredible feeling,\u201d she tells Moving the Goalposts. \u201cI think you will feel a few nerves that you maybe don\u2019t feel in a normal game but that\u2019s good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the Spurs fans hate Arsenal and Arsenal hate Spurs. That\u2019s how it is. You want to show that you\u2019re the best team. Simple as that. You just want to fight for the club, the badge and for the people around you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cathinka Tandberg joined Tottenham from the Swedish side Hammarby in the summer of 2025. Photograph: Javier Garc\u00eda\/Tottenham Hotspur FC\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

It has been a significant 13 months for the 22-year-old who made her dream move to London in September 2025. After catching the eye as a goalscorer in the Damallsvenskan at first Link\u00f6ping and then Hammarby, the Norwegian was signed by Martin Ho on deadline day to bolster the team\u2019s attacking options. She made her mark on her first start, scoring a spectacular 40-yard goal against Everton.<\/p>\n

\u201cI settled really well,\u201d she reflects. \u201cI\u2019m really enjoying it and want to push myself forward. It\u2019s been a tough start [to this season] and I haven\u2019t really got what I wanted. But there\u2019s loads of games left. I\u2019m still young. I\u2019m still improving and learning. I just have to trust the process and trust what I\u2019m surrounded by.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a big difference from Sweden,\u201d she continues. \u201cYou meet World Cup players week in, week out so you have to perform every week if you want results. I feel like my physicality has changed a lot. I\u2019ve got stronger and fitter. Playing under Martin has made me think more away from the goals. I think more about how I play with the ball, how I press and all of those things that I maybe didn\u2019t focus on before \u2026 it\u2019s a bit like Harry Kane. The older he gets, he has developed his game as well. He needed to be deeper in the pitch because that\u2019s how they wanted to play and then he has to be better with the ball. That\u2019s a bit how I also need to be. I can\u2019t only just stand in the box. I need to be good everywhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spurs have been transformed under Ho and finished fifth last season. However, with success, comes expectation, ambitions that Tandberg clearly shares but with a sense of perspective.<\/p>\n

\u201cTottenham has always been a Champions League club for me,\u201d she says. \u201cBut I\u2019m a fan so I can\u2019t really talk for the other players. When I came to the club, I said that I want to get top three. But you also need to be realistic and to see where the team has been before. The transformation that Martin has done in a season is unbelievable. I don\u2019t think anyone else could do that. That tells you everything about him. He\u2019s one of the greatest coaches I\u2019ve worked with and I think everyone that comes here, one of the reasons is because of him. We all trust him and the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Tottenham has always been a Champions League club for me. But I\u2019m a fan so I can\u2019t really talk for the other players. When I came to the club, I said that I want to get top three. But you also need to be realistic and to see where the team has been before.\u2019 Cathinka Tandberg\u2019s ambitions for her club are high. Photograph: Leila Coker\/WSL\/WSL Football\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

That faith is currently being tested. After an unbeaten start, Tottenham have suffered back-to-back defeats, shipping six goals to both London City Lionesses and Chelsea.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can call it a dip in form but I still feel like we also showed our qualities in those games,\u201d Tandberg says. \u201cIt\u2019s just about ourselves. We maybe need to change our mentality a bit, find that fire and dig a bit deeper when we play those top teams. I feel like maybe it\u2019s good that it\u2019s come because it had to at some point. It\u2019s about how we respond.<\/p>\n

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\u2018We also have to realise where this team has been. Two years ago, it was a relegation club. We need to realise how quickly it has [changed]. But, of course, we have expectations and levels that we want to come to and we know that we can. I feel like we\u2019re working so well \u2026 we just have to believe in everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Tandberg, putting that right against a struggling Arsenal in front a home crowd would be the perfect tonic. \u201cI\u2019ve always been a passionate player and I\u2019ve been a supporter,\u201d she says. \u201cI play for the supporters because I just enjoy it and I know how it is to be in the stands. I think [that connection] is very important because we have their back and they have ours. To give them something back is important and to show that we see and hear them every time.\u201d<\/p>\n

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This is an extract from our free email about women\u2019s football, Moving the Goalposts. To get the full edition, visit this page and follow the instructions<\/a>. Moving the Goalposts is delivered to your inboxes every Tuesday and Thursday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cIt means more than just three points. It\u2019s for the whole club. It\u2019s for the whole place. It\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":936995,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-936994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=936994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/936995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=936994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=936994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=936994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}