Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor spoke to the media on Friday afternoon ahead of her side’s Adobe Women’s FA Cup tie against Everton at Kingsmeadow on Sunday afternoon. On a cold day in Cobham Bompastor appeared in good spirits and The Halfway Line was present to hear from Chelsea’s French head coach.
Chelsea ‘still assessing’ Bronze and Baltimore with Girma ‘ready soon’
Chelsea famously caused quite the stir with their ambitious transfer window last month. The Blues broke the world record for a transfer fee in the women’s game to bring in Naomi Girma from San Diego Wave. But the talented Olympic gold medal winning defender is yet to make her debut for Chelsea. The Halfway Line asked Bompastor about her flagship signing and whether she’d be fit to feature on the weekend, Bompastor responded:
“No. Naomi won’t be in the squad for the game on Sunday but she’s starting to practice with us, so it’s already good news. Yeah, she’s in a good way and she will be ready soon but not for the game on Sunday.”
As for the rest of the squad, Bompastor was asked about the fitness of both Lucy Bronze and Sandy Baltimore who were missing from the Chelsea squad on Wednesday, as the West London outfit confirmed their place in the Subway League Cup final. Bompastor confirmed:
“No, nothing new from the game on Wednesday. We still are assessing Sandy [Baltimore] and Lucy [Bronze]. I don’t think Lucy will be involved in the game on Sunday but we have a chance to maybe have Sandy back with us.”
One of the top appearance makers of all time in the Barclay’s Women’s Super League, Sophie Ingle was ruled out at the start of this season due to sustaining an Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury. Bompastor was able to give an update about how her recovery is coming along, noting:
“Her rehabilitation is going well. I saw her again this morning. She is in a good place, mentally, really happy. Things are going on the right way. And I think, yeah, her recovery is going well. So yeah, she just had the smile in her face when I saw her this morning, which is good, she’s progressing. And yeah, it’s good, positive news.”
Bompastor ‘excited’ to face Manchester City
The UEFA Champions League quarter final draw took place on Friday afternoon, the draw pits Chelsea against Manchester City and in the same side of the bracket as Barcelona and Wolfsburg. Victory over West Ham on Wednesday also put Chelsea through to the League Cup final against, you guessed it Manchester City.
That means the Blues will face the Sky Blues at least four times in March, potentially five times in a row should they draw each other in the FA Cup. The Halfway Line put this to Bompastor, and asked how one makes a plan to play against a side so many times in such quick succession, she replied:
“I’m used to that because when I was in France, we had these type of confrontations between Lyon and PSG. Last season we played them seven times and quite a lot at the end, like almost every week. So I think having this experience is something positive for me, but also like, yeah, we will face them in different competitions.”
She continued: “I think it will be different games, it will be tough, for sure. The only thing it’s always when you have to face an English team, you wish you could have a different opponent, because you are used to playing them but that’s the draw. And yeah, we will be really excited to play them in every competition if we have this opportunity.”
Bompastor further noted in regard to new signings impact in a fixture run like this: “When we just spoke about the fact we could be able to play [Manchester] City four times in 10 days, we want to go deep in every competition. So it’s important to have this depth in the squad, and also bringing new players who are able to fit in the game model. I think {this will] give us the opportunity to be unpredictable in every game. And I think that’s a real strength we need to have if we want to go deep in every competition.”
Bompastor wary of Everton side ‘on a good run’
Chelsea will face Everton on Sunday in the FA Cup for a place in the quarter finals. Chelsea comfortably beat Everton 5-0 away from home as the Merseyside outfit struggled at the start of the season. Since that result, their fortunes have improved climbing the table and defeating Manchester City along the way. Brian Sørensen’s side also bested Tottenham in the previous round of the cup to set up this encounter.
“Since last time we played them they are in a different complete form and run, I think, they will be coming on Sunday with another dynamic. I think they are in a good dynamic at the moment, good run, good results, and we expected the game to be tougher when we played them earlier in the season. They have talent, quality in the squad again with their forwards, so they can cause us some troubles. We analyse them we know again how we need to prepare the game to be focusing also on ourselves and how we can hurt them, but yeah, for sure, they will be in a complete different form and coming strong.”
‘We don’t want to give anything to our opponents’ affirms Bompastor
Chelsea have only conceded six goals in the league this season and are currently on a run of four clean sheets at home. Bompastor, who was a left back in her playing days spoke about the importance of defending to her side, she extolled:
“I was a defender when I was a player, so always important for me to get clean sheets. It shows like all the team works really hard for us not to concede any goal. And I think it comes again to the mentality. I think it’s really important when you want to go again deep in every competition to be strong defensively. And I think, as I said, like it starts from our forwards, our midfielders and the back line, we are all on the same page.”
Bompastor continued, “We really want to finish the games with clean sheets. And I think, yeah, when you bring it to your mentality, it’s also like, we don’t win, we don’t want to give anything to our opponents. And I think, yeah, when we don’t have the ball, we have this mentality where we want to recover the ball as much and as fast as we can, and also we don’t want to concede any goal. That’s something like we really work hard for.”
Players ‘need respect from the fans’ affirms Bompastor
During the week Chelsea captain Millie Bright posted on social media after she struggled with abuse from fans after Chelsea’s mixed performance against Aston Villa last weekend, where the side needed a late own goal to confirm all three points. Bompastor came to the defence of her captain when she was asked for her thoughts on the situation:
“Yeah, it’s never good, because I think this is something we shouldn’t be focusing on, or we shouldn’t be talking on. I just think especially in my team, the players are already committed. After the game they always stay and give their time to the fans. And I think, yes, sometimes the fan they just need to realize we are humans, and they just need to respect that. When you speak about Millie, she’s an example. She works really hard on the pitch after the game every game she stays minutes and minutes after the game, to sign autographs, to make pictures with the young fans, but also the oldest ones.”
Bompastor continued, “People cannot just think they are able, or they have the right to talk to players like that. That’s not normal, and that’s not acceptable. And I think, yeah, this is something which is coming more and more in the women’s game. That’s a shame. I hope it won’t be the case for the future, but that’s something also you can see in society. And yeah, we just need to make sure this not happening again in the future, because this is not right. And yeah, players give everything on the pitch. They always are available after the games, and they just need to have respect from the fans.”
Chelsea now face back to back home matches against Everton facing the Toffees this Sunday at Kingsmeadow at 3pm before facing them again the following Sunday in the WSL.
