Chelsea as champions is no surprise – how they did it might be

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They say good things come to those who wait.

Patience and perseverance are two principles Sonia Bompastor values after taking the time to learn the art of coaching in Lyon’s academy system before taking on the first team, and eventually accepting a carefully selected opportunity to manage in the Women’s Super League.

But neither have been needed during her first year in charge of Chelsea. This season has been an exhibition of inevitability from the reigning champions. A reminder to all who suggested their crown might slip following the end of the Emma Hayes era that the established hierarchy is no less immovable.

It’s happened again. The Blues have another collector’s item for the trophy cabinet. The only difference is this year they have won with games to spare. No jeopardy-filled finale for Bompastor – she’s finished the job sooner than even the great Hayes could in her last three title-winning campaigns.

Very little of this season has been nip and tuck. In that way it’s felt different, perhaps even surprising. It is as if Arsenal, Manchester United and Manchester City had been knocking on the door for so long it was beginning to open, only for Bompastor to slam it mercilessly shut. The sign reading “closed for business”.

Previous years have certainly indulged the idea Chelsea could be dethroned for far longer. Hayes herself famously conceded the title after losing to Liverpool late in her final season: “It’s not to be. I don’t think the title is there anymore,” she said, before eclipsing Man City on goal difference alone. It felt mean but that’s the name of the game.

Chelsea don’t care who they trample on their way to silverware as long as they get there. Such an insatiable hunger is hard to find – much less maintain for so long. Pure, remorseless desire is a constant, reimagined over the years but always present. It’s the hand that feeds this title-winning machine again and again.

And yet no one predicted that such an unyielding approach would transfer to Bompastor’s Chelsea so quickly. How could they? People spoke about a period of transition. A recess of sorts. Some in-between time where the Frenchwoman, having never coached abroad before, gets used to her surroundings and the squad she inherited gets acquainted with their new leader.

Bompastor has shattered that pretence.

This is simply unrelenting Chelsea 2.0, more patient in possession, but still able to impose themselves in the same exhaustive way every Hayes team did. A unit in which every single part acts out its part precisely, all aligned with the same ‘win at any cost’ attitude.

But this, their six-peat, is as impressive as it is problematic for the WSL and its bid to stay competitive. How do rivals become challengers again? Arsenal fell at the final hurdle in 2021-22. Man United suffered the same fate the following year, and Man City most recently. The cycle of domestic dominance – Europe remains frustratingly out of reach – is so unflinching it defies belief.

Odd, then, that very few Chelsea players have been stat leaders in their own right this season. No best-in-class performers among the greatest show in town – how can that be? It seems peculiar that from back to front most of the WSL’s highest-achieving individuals play for other clubs.

There are a few outliers but this latest title has not been about outstanding solo acts – like when the peerless Fran Kirby ran the show in 2020-21 or when Sam Kerr bagged 20 goals on the way to the Golden Boot in 2021-22. Or when the maverick quality of Lauren James spearheaded last year’s conquest.

The story of this season has been far more nuanced. Finding the exceptional in the unexceptional is something only Chelsea are capable of.

Defensively, Lucy Bronze is the only player to feature prominently in any of the categories used to measure defensive solidity. She ranks second for interceptions behind Tottenham’s Ash Neville. No Chelsea player is listed inside the top five for tackles, clearances, possessions won or shots blocked.

Hannah Hampton’s (11) clean sheet record is impressive but not as grand as Man United’s Phallon Tullis-Joyce (13) – by far the best-performing goalkeeper in the league this season. Tullis-Joyce tops the charts for number of goals prevented too (6.9).

Offensively, Chelsea’s leading scorers Aggie Beever-Jones and Guro Reiten have eight goals apiece, ranking them fifth behind Shekiera Martinez (West Ham), Elisabeth Terland (Man Utd), Alessia Russo (Arsenal) and Khadija Shaw (Man City). Beever-Jones is similarly placed for shots on target (17) – which is the same number Man City’s Vivianne Miedema has posted having missed half the season with injury.

Johanna Rytting Kaneryd places fifth for chances created (33) but is miles off Arsenal’s Katie McCabe (45) and Liverpool’s Marie Hobinger (38). The Chelsea winger has touched the ball in the opposition box 116 times, with team-mate Mayra Ramirez close behind (114), but it’s Russo (133) who sits top, while all the passing metrics are dominated by Man City and Arsenal players.

Those numbers will feel relatively inconsequential when wearing a WSL winners medal, except to highlight an obvious theme. With superstar striker Kerr spending the entire season sidelined with an ACL injury and James only managing six league starts Chelsea have needed to rely on being collectively smart. Engage a pack mentality. And that does not mean winning a title playing anti-football, because some performances and results have thrilled.

But their might has been most keenly felt in the strength of the team, as the squad with the best cumulative talent pool across the board – depth beyond other WSL sides’ wildest imagination. Substitutes for their substitutes. Solutions for every problem.

Speaking to Sky Sports at the end of March after roaring back to defeat Man City from two goals down in the Champions League, Bompastor said: “I’ve told my players you will have different statuses.

“Sometimes you will start the game. Sometimes you won’t be in the squad. Sometimes you will be a finisher. And no matter what status you have, you are here to help the team. It’s about the club, the team and what we achieve together.”

Very few WSL managers have a fraction of that luxury nor the bullishness to use every inch of it. Bompastor, who described this title as “unexpected”, has squeezed and shaped her squad, prodding at every imperfection and demanded more. Domestically they have barely flinched. The treble is very much on.

And so here we have this country’s greatest ever women’s football team, already in the realm of virtually untouchable, with the potential and means to become even greater.

*data correct as of April 29 (does not include statistics from games played April 30)

This news was originally published on this post .

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