Chelsea Women don’t just need a striker. They need to resurrect their winning culture
At the start of the season, the idea of Sonia Bompastor sitting in the Stamford Bridge press room and being asked whether her then-indomitable Chelsea team needed a rebuild would have felt laughable. Indeed, on September 5, Bompastor was quizzed by reporters on: the potential of their new record signing Alyssa Thompson, fellow summer arrival Ellie Carpenter’s excellent Women’s Super League debut that day, and how important Chelsea’s 2-1 opening-weekend home win against Manchester City could be for their title defence. On May 10, Bompastor faced the media in that same room and said that being beaten by the same opponents “summarises our season”.
Chelsea’s late collapse against newly-crowned WSL champions Manchester City, a 3-2 extra-time loss in the semi-finals of the Women’s FA Cup, means they have failed to retain two of the three domestic titles they won last season, only successfully defending the Subway Women’s League Cup. And the manner of Sunday’s defeat is all the more troubling. A secure 2-0 lead at home, courtesy of goals from midfielder Erin Cuthbert and forward Sam Kerr, had set Chelsea on course for a May 31 meeting with Brighton and Hove Albion at Wembley Stadium in the final 10 minutes of the 90.
They were firmly in control, only for Mary Fowler and Khadija Shaw to score in the 86th and 92nd minutes to force extra time. Shaw then got City’s winner just before half-time in those additional 30 minutes. Shaw’s performance, amid reports of an impending departure from City and of Chelsea interest in signing her , will dominate headlines.
It showed why she is the WSL’s best striker, and why her signature is coveted by Chelsea, among many others. How Chelsea let another trophy opportunity slip away also showed that their chances of taking back the domestic crown from City next year hinge on much more than Shaw’s potential signature. They need to rediscover their identity.
“(It’s) not good enough when you concede two goals in the last 10 minutes of the game. It summarises probably also our season,” Bompastor told the game’s UK broadcaster TNT Sports. “I think mentally we were not strong enough in some games — same today.
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