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 graduating to 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 and this one is special. Bompastor finished the job sooner than even the great Hayes could in her last four title-winning campaigns – the earliest a league has been decided since 2018/19 – and did so unbeaten (W19, D3).
Chelsea Women lift their sixth successive Women’s Super League trophy
Very little of this season has been nip and tuck. In that way, it’s felt different, perhaps even surprising.
Arsenal, Manchester United and Manchester City had been knocking at the door for some time, prising it open slowly but surely, until Bompastor arrived to smash the record WSL points total (60), almost as reprimand.
Previous campaigns 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: “I don’t think the title is there anymore,” she said, before eclipsing Manchester City on goal difference. It felt mean but that’s showbiz.
*Data correct as of April 9 (does not include games played on April 10)
Chelsea don’t care who they trample on their way to silverware, as long as they get there. 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.
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 soon shattered that pretence.
Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor revealed she wasn’t expecting to win the WSL title on Wednesday night, after Arsenal lost unexpectedly against Aston Villa
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 role precisely. Finding something of interest in even the most prosaic detail is Bompastor’s speciality.
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 Utd suffered the same fate the following year, and Man City most recently. The cycle of domestic dominance – Europe remains frustratingly out of reach – defies belief.
Lucy Bronze gives her reaction after scoring the winner against Manchester United that sealed a sixth straight WSL title for Chelsea
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.
Highlights of the Women’s Super League match between Chelsea and Liverpool
Lucy Bronze and Sjoeke Nusken are the only two players to feature prominently in any of the categories used to measure defensive solidity. They rank second and third for interceptions behind Tottenham’s Ash Neville. No Chelsea player is listed in the top five for tackles, clearances, possessions won or shots blocked.
Offensively, Chelsea’s leading scorer Aggie Beever-Jones has nine goals (a solid return), ranking her joint-fifth behind Shekiera Martinez (10, West Ham), Elisabeth Terland (10, Man Utd), Alessia Russo (12, Arsenal) and Khadija Shaw (12, Man City).
Beever-Jones is similarly placed for shots on target (19) while joint-Golden Boot winner Russo, in first, has posted 31.
Winger Johanna Rytting Kaneryd has genuinely been standout in terms of all-round contribution and improved immeasurably under Bompastor, but her individual numbers don’t tally with those of Mariona Caldentey or Katie McCabe at Arsenal, for example.
The Gunners duo dominate almost all of the creative categories, including chances, shot-creating actions, progressive passes, balls into the box and final-third touches. Meanwhile, the majority of possession metrics are owned by Man City players.
Johanna Rytting Kaneryd has been influential down Chelsea’s right wing this season
Those numbers will, of course, feel entirely inconsequential when wearing a WSL winners medal, except to highlight a key theme. With superstar striker Kerr spending the season sidelined with an ACL injury and James only managing six league starts, Chelsea have needed to rely on being collectively smarter and sharper. Engage a pack mentality.
Some performances and results have indeed thrilled but their might has been most keenly felt in the unique 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 substitutes. Solutions for every problem.
Chelsea’s unrivalled squad depth has been a huge advantage this season
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, a newly-ordained Invincible, has squeezed and shaped her squad, prodding at every imperfection and demanded more. A historic 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.
