As Sonia Bompastor sat down to ready herself for questions from the press at Cobham on Thursday afternoon, a pregnant pause filled the room. The Chelsea head coach must have expected much of the media’s line of questioning to be on Sam Kerr and you could feel that unspoken tension in the room. The Matildas’ captain and Chelsea striker was this week found not guilty of racially aggravated harassment of a police officer at Kingston Crown court.
Even with the tension Bompastor found space for levity and crucially, time, to preview Chelsea’s second game against Everton in as many weeks. The Halfway Line was there to hear from Chelsea’s head coach.
Bompastor ‘happy’ for Sam Kerr and her family after a ‘tough week’
On Tuesday afternoon Sam Kerr received some level of closure from the ordeal as at Kingston Crown Court the much anticipated not guilty verdict was delivered for the incident which occurred, now over two years ago. Sonia Bompastor was asked for her reaction to the verdict:
“Yeah, really happy for her. I think, as you can imagine, it was a tough week, difficult week for her and for her family. Since I joined Chelsea, I really know Sam as a player but also as a person, and I was really surprised for her to be involved in that. Who she is doesn’t reflect what I heard, the court also what I was reading in the newspapers and everything. So yeah, really happy for her. I think the verdict was anonymous on the fact she was not guilty.”
Bompastor continued: “It’s difficult for me to understand why it went that way and how she had to spend one week in court. But yeah, that’s the way it is. But most important now, she can look at the future and she can be not thinking about it anymore.”
On whether Bompastor had been following the case closely, the French head coach responded:
“Yeah, I think it’s always important to show your players the support. I think probably Sam could feel the support from all the club, all her team mates, all the staff, we really know her. We are probably with her family, the ones who know her the most. It was difficult to see her in that situation. So we are family, and we were already supporting her, and I’m really glad, the verdict was positive, and now she can move forward.
Bompastor on Kerr: ‘She apologised’ and ‘that’s enough’
Following the conclusion of the trial, despite the not guilty verdict, rumours continued to swirl as to whether Chelsea or football Australia would provide their own punishment for the incident. While there is no decision from the National team as yet, Bompastor was asked to confirm if any disciplinary action would be taken by the club against Kerr, Bompastor gave an impassioned response, remarking:
“No. I think, as you could see, Sam made a statement, she apologised for that and I think that’s enough. Sometimes, yeah, you can make mistakes. Everyone can make mistakes, and that’s what you learn from that how you move forward. But when you know the person, you really know, she’s really nice, and, yeah, it’s maybe one moment in her life where something happened, and if she has to reflect on that, probably she will be like, I don’t want to be through that anymore. But yeah, it happens in life, and now you need also to be able to forgiven for that and move forward. But I think she made a statement. She was clear in her statement, and I think that’s enough, and what she was facing last week was hard enough for her, so the only thing we want to do as a club is support her.”
Bompastor continued elegantly to muse on the situation and her experience managing her player through it, noting:
“I have to say, like, that’s life as a manager, but also as a mum, that’s it, that’s something I have some experience in. And yeah, in that situation, I think the most important [thing] is the human and how you can support the human. And I think I always felt like this. So yeah, it’s something like in a normal life can happen. And yeah, I think I have some experience on that, so I try to stay the same as I probably would have been if I it was one of my child in that situation. So yeah, not easy, but sometimes in life, you have some challenges, and you need to face them.”
Chelsea head coach expects ‘difficult’ challenge against Everton
Chelsea welcome Everton to Kingsmeadow on Sunday after having come from behind to the Toffees 4-1 last weekend and confirm their place in the quarter final of the Adobe Women’s FA Cup where they will face Crystal Palace. Bompastor was asked about the prospect of facing Everton, she replied:
“[It’s] always difficult to play a team when you had to play them last week again, I think the game will be completely different. And going into that game, we expect a tough game. If you remember, they were leading the game 1-0 and yeah, we were able to come back. But yeah, it’s like a tough game again, and they will be maybe coming with different a new opportunity for them to beat us, but also a different mindset, having the the opportunity to take their revenge on us.”
The Halfway Line asked as to why the Chelsea head coach felt it would be ‘completely different’ this weekend, she noted:
“We always expect different scenarios, and one of them can be like the fact they will be more proactive on the game. Maybe making more high pressure on us can be one of the options. But some of those options can also be there for the game on Sunday, and my job is to make sure we anticipate that and we are ready for every scenario, even if we also most of the time want to focus on our team and how we can perform against every team.”
Lucy Bronze back in ‘full training’ confirms Bompastor
Sonia Bompastor was able to provide a full update on the squad’s fitness to the assembled media on Thursday. The Blues boss has yet to face a game week with a fully fit squad at her disposal as Chelsea head coach, not that it has held her back. Lucy Bronze was missing in the match against Everton last weekend but will Bronze be available this week? Bompastor confirmed:
“Lucy [Bronze] is back to full training sessions, so she will be also available for the game on Sunday.”
However Chelsea fans will have to wait a little longer to see their record signing take to the pitch, when asked about Naomi Girma’s fitness after she was left out of the USWNT squad Bompastor admitted: “Naomi probably will be back after the international break.”
As for Sam Kerr’s return to the football pitch the picture seemed less clear, she noted:
“It’s difficult to give a really precise time frame but yeah, really happy to have her back on pitch, with us, with the team. She’s progressing with rehab and going on the right direction.”
The French head coach continued: “We are really happy to have her back with the team she’s not fully practicing with the team [she is] still being managed.”
Bompastor and Wiegman ‘spoke about every [Chelsea & Lionesses] player’ last weekend
Following this weekend’s action the first international break of the year will commence and this week Sarina Wiegman named her England squad, which happened to include seven Chelsea players. After Wiegman had been at Kingsmeadow last Sunday to watch Chelsea and Everton, Bompastor was asked about her relationship with Wiegman, she responded:
“Yeah, I have a really good relationship with most of the national team coaches and Sarina [Wiegman] is one of them. I think it’s really important for us to have a really good communication just to support the players and for them to feel like club and national team are all together to support them.”
Bompastor continued in particular noting Chelsea and England starlet Lauren James, she remarked: “So we spoke after the game last Sunday about every player, English players. LJ [Lauren James] was one of them. And yeah, it was nice to see LJ back on the pitch, being able to play 90 minutes and having a good performance. [The] last time for her where she played 90 minutes was in April, so a long time ago. So we just need to still stay a little bit cautious about that, and yeah, making sure we build her into more minutes, and being able to play every game 90 minutes. But because she played 90 minutes for with us, yeah, it will be the case, maybe national team, maybe not, but she’s ready to play, to start, to play 90 minutes if it’s needed.”
