Sonia Bompastor says that ‘confidence is crucial’ after her side swept aside Roma in the UWCL on Wednesday night.
Chelsea ran out 6-0 winners at Stamford Bridge with goals from Wieke Kaptein, Johanna Rytting Kaneryd, Sjoeke Nüsken, Maika Hamano and Lucy Bronze. The result confirmed the Blues progression to the next round of the UEFA Women’s Champions League while simultaneously eliminating their opponents.
After the match Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor spoke to the media and The Halfway Line was there to hear from her.
Sonia Bompastor revels in ‘good reaction’ from Chelsea
On Sunday, the unthinkable happened, Chelsea lost a league match under Sonia Bompastor almost a year and a half into her reign Everton beat Chelsea 1-0. Chelsea were able to bounce back on Wednesday however and reaction that delighted their head coach,
“Yeah, I think we had a really good reaction tonight, good performance, good result” Bompastor said.
“I think that’s what I wanted to see for my team and the expectations we had in ourselves. I think tonight, as I said, it was a really good team performance.
“We could see from the beginning of the game, the ones who started the game and the ones who came in had an impact, [with] different scorers and I think a lot of positive things from the game tonight.
“Confidence is crucial, it changed the game. As you can see, when you are able to open the scoring and to even double the score, I think you just kill the game. And I think you killed the opposition hope, and it changed pretty much everything. So, yeah, when we are able to be efficient, it’s a big help.”
Bompastor outlines key ‘details and fine margins’ between victory and defeat
At times this term Chelsea have struggled to find their goal scoring touch, even in matches they have dominated. However tonight was a different story, Bompastor was asked why she felt that was the case,
“I think it’s probably about the player’s confidence, also probably about the quality of the team we are facing” Bompastor earnestly stated.
“I think if you analyse the performances we had against Liverpool and Everton, especially the one on the last Sunday. Credit to Everton, because they had a really good game. They throw everything at us until the end of the game.
“Their goalkeeper had some big saves in the game, and we probably were also a little bit unlucky in that game. Where tonight, I think the first goal we score was an own goal.
“And I think, yes, sometimes it helps just to turn things around and early on in the game give the confidence enough to the players to score even more goals and to create even more situations.
“So it’s more details and fine margins. But yes, sometimes just the fact we scored the first goal on the whole game, probably the confidence for the other team goes down where our confidence goes up.
“And we were also score the first goal in the first half. And when you are able to win 3-0 at halftime, I think it’s a big break, and big enough for you to just be confident.”
Lauren James will be ‘available’ on Sunday Bompastor confirms
Bompastor provided updates on two of her Lioness stars in Lauren James and Hannah Hampton. Neither featured in the squad against Roma, but the Chelsea boss had positive news on both players,
“No, she’s [Lauren James] not injured” Bompastor confirmed.
“It’s more part of her [load] management, as we just spoke about [managing the minutes of] Sam [Kerr] I think LJ [Lauren James] has also been out for a long time, and I think we are trying to manage her.
“I think it was maybe this game was coming too soon for her to feature, but she will be available for the game on Sunday.”
Bompastor also confirmed that Hannah Hampton, recently nominated for BBC Sports Personality of the Year might still play again this year,
“Hannah [Hampton] is doing well. She won’t be available for the game on the weekend. We are still assessing her to see if she could be back before the end of this block. So potentially we could see her before the end of the block. But [we are] not sure yet.”
Millie Bright gave the ‘perfect’ response to being dropped against Roma
You might expect that in a 6-0 victory the player of the match might be an attacking player however this time you’d be mistaken. On Wednesday night it was Chelsea captain Millie Bright who received the honour, having been left out of the starting line up for the past two matches,
“I really liked her performance, and I’m really pleased for Millie [Bright]” Bompastor smiled.
“You know, that’s never easy the position she had been put by myself from the choices I made. [It is] never easy for a player like Millie to hold that situation.
“But I think the perfect response you can give to the manager is the performance she had tonight on the pitch.
“And it just shows how much [of a] professional she is, how good she is, and how much she cares about the team and the club.
“So I’m really pleased for her. She deserves that because I know it was tough for her not to start again for Chelsea being put in the bench.
“And you know, that’s what happened when you have like a high competition in the squad. But also, the answer she gave tonight was the perfect one. So I’m pleased for her.”
Sonia Bompastor delighted to have two ‘really good’ goalkeepers
With Hannah Hampton out likely until the new year, stepping into the breach has been Switzerland number one Livia Peng. Peng impressed last night with a number of smart saves and intelligent interventions,
“[I’m] really pleased with Livia’s [Peng] performances with us” Bompastor beamed.
“I think she fits really well the philosophy and the style of football we want to play, especially in possession of the ball.
“She’s really confident high on the pitch, and she helps the team to build up. She’s very comfortable with her feet, and yes, that’s what I expect from my goalkeepers.
“I think also she tonight kept the clean sheet at the end of the game. She made a big save. So I think that’s also important for us to keep clean sheets, and she’s contributing to that. So yeah, looking at the future, I know I have two really good goalkeepers.
“I’m also looking forward to have Hannah [Hampton] back, but I know like when Hannah is not available, I can have the confidence in Livia and for club like Chelsea, and for myself, it’s really important.”
