It’s kind of boring to keep repeating this so often. But this Chelsea Women is not playing as confidently as they were since their Arsenal loss followed by an absolute beatdown handed to them by Manchester City. No wonder we’ve had major developments ever since in a mostly drama-free club, namely Sonia Bompastor’s extension to a further four years right after the 5-1 defeat followed by Paul Green’s departure from the club.
Getting that confidence back won’t be easy, as the schedule has been brutal
for us. That’s also the consequence of our previous success, as we can always point towards the unbeaten (domestic) season in Sonia’s club debut as the reason for having so many matches against difficult opposition all over England and also Europe.
In a not so distant past, matches against Tottenham and Liverpool sandwiched between encounters versus the Manchester clubs would be just another day at the office. Not anymore as our meeting against Spurs showed last weekend.
Liverpool themselves have been on much better footing since a 9-1 defeat at our hands in the Women’s League Cup back in December. They’re not running opposition ragged but having some key players back in contention really helped their recovery in form. At least they’re now doing enough to no longer sit last place in the Women’s Super League, with Leicester City taking up the place instead after four consecutive defeats in the competition.
And in the recent past they’ve been a thorn on our side. Today it looked like they wanted a repeat of that with midfielder Ceri Holland forcing Hannah Hampton to intervene very early in the match.
The ball remained on Chelsea’s court to do the expected damage on Liverpool. Sjoeke Nüsken got the honours of doing so with a tap-in from Lauren James’ assist, late in the first half.
Liverpool tried to answer right after the half, with Grace Fisk nearly finding the equalizer from a Holland free kick. It would be the Blues who would go on to score instead, from a great Lauren James shot.
Carefree!
- Back in the 4-3-3, with Keira Walsh, Erin Cuthbert and Sjoeke Nüsken in midfield.
- Kind of weird not seeing Millie Bright on the pitch and donning the captain’s armband. At the same time no player worthier of getting the armband in her place as Erin Cuthbert.
- Proper performance from Lauren James. The false nine role remains weird, but she’s doing the most to fit in it.
- Next up: Manchester United at home in the Women’s FA Cup fifth round.
- KTBFFH!
