Chelsea Ladies: Sonia Bompastor moved nearer to perfection with unimaginable unbeaten run however there’s certainly extra to come back | Soccer information

“Once we speak about ambitions, we’ve got to show phrases into actions,” mentioned a annoyed Sonia Bompastor after Chelsea misplaced their first factors of the season in opposition to Leicester. “I would like my gamers to be prepared from the beginning of each match.”

The calls for on the highest degree are brutal, however Chelsea are by no means first by luck or coincidence. Bompastor fortunately accepted the “principal contractor” baton handed on by Emma Hayes, who left the corporate this summer season, and ran with it – at spectacular pace.

Beneath the Frenchwoman’s reign, Chelsea moved six factors clear on the high of the Ladies’s Tremendous League, certified for the knockout phases of the Champions League with a one hundred pc document and scored on common 2 .8 objectives per 90 in all competitions.

They’ve been nearly unstoppable. However the journey to the King Energy was a becoming reminder that, regardless of the provocation, the WSL stays hard-fought and no workforce is infallible.

Bompastor deplores the lack of intensityof intent and effectivity as Chelsea have been held to a 1-1 draw, regardless of 82 touches within the Leicester field and 28 photographs on objective. The hope is to win, and something much less is in the end a disappointment.

Nonetheless, to have reached the midway level of the season with 15 wins and a attract 16 video games is kind of outstanding. And whereas, on paper, such a feat appears straightforward with the best-built workforce (and largest price range) within the WSL, issues are not often that straightforward.

As soon as impregnable dynasties can fall, take The implosion of Manchester City under the great Pep Guardiola as proof – however this empire, a minimum of for the second, is to not be damaged.

The concepts are recent, with a brand new id, as Bompastor makes an attempt to make Chelsea a workforce that wins with a way of possession and elegance somewhat than power. She desires the identical profitable machine that Hayes constructed, with only a pinch of French refinement, or as she would put it, no matter.

Talking after Chelsea beat Celtic in November to safe their European development with two matches remaining, Bompastor mentioned: “It is vital to work arduous to make issues straightforward, even when they don’t seem to be. “

Simplicity is difficult to seek out in soccer. Some groups have a behavior of constructing outcomes look easy – Chelsea are in that class – however the technique of getting there’s typically more durable than it appears. So what are Bompastor’s actual factors of distinction?

“You by no means train your mind. It is 24 hours a day, seven days per week,” she mentioned. Aerial sports activities earlier than beating title rivals Man Metropolis in November. And this obsession with what she calls the “good enjoying mannequin” is what continues to push requirements to completely different ranges.

She arrived with respect for Chelsea’s pre-existing tradition and trophy-laden historical past, however Hayes’ soccer was by no means going to marry with a ball-playing midfielder who favors fast-paced play that excites and thrills. Bompastor has discovered the right steadiness between consistency and alter to make sure gamers belief his philosophy.

“She calls for quite a bit from us,” striker Guro Reiten mentioned lately. “There are issues in coaching and the way in which she desires us to play which might be a bit of completely different, nevertheless it has labored effectively to date. No matter Sonia desires me to do, I’ll do it. “

With out the posh of injured duo Sam Kerr and Lauren James – Chelsea’s most prolific duo in current campaigns – Bompastor has needed to depend on Reiten to ship. However it was right here that her consideration to element and softer fashion – Hayes was usually uncompromising – fostered a wholesome, team-led strategy.

Kerr and James are mavericks – Hayes liked that. They’re unpredictable and individualistic. Now Chelsea have others able to carrying that position, besides it feels a bit of extra united. Thirty-one objectives – a minimum of 10 greater than some other workforce – scored by 14 completely different gamers. No different workforce within the division has even reached double the variety of completely different scorers (Brighton are the closest with 9).

Reiten has been a giant beneficiary, tucked inside to function extra centrally, scoring six occasions in 10 WSL begins. However she isn’t the one one. Johanna Rytting Kaneryd is having the season of her life, Mayra Ramirez has scored massive objectives in massive video games (in opposition to Arsenal, Liverpool and Man Metropolis), whereas younger Aggie Beever-Jones has the second greatest minutes-to-goal ratio within the league . .

Now let’s transfer on to the refinement half. How can Bompastor take such a gifted group and switch them into masters? Chelsea’s distribution stats are the least flattering dynamic of their sport. They common fewer passes per 90 than Man Metropolis, Arsenal and Brighton, and their share of possession throughout 10 WSL matches (57%) is far decrease than Bompastor desires – the precision of the passes as effectively.

Many of the nice soccer dynasties have related the desire to win with the wow issue. Hayes’ Chelsea used mentality as a superpower.

If Bompastor is ready to instill her core tenets of heavy-handed, possessive dominance on her option to silverware this season, her relentless quest for perfection would possibly simply be nearer than she thinks.