Sonia Bompastor hailed ‘great leader’ Kadeisha Buchanan today after the Canadian defender returned from a 469 day spell on the side-lines.
Buchanan returned to help her Chelsea side take victory in extra time against Manchester United. The 2-1 victory sees Chelsea into the hat for next round of the Adobe Women’s FA Cup thanks to goals from Sam Kerr and Naomi Girma.
Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor spoke to the media after victory and The Halfway Line was there to hear from her.
Girma being ‘fit, available and performing’ vital for Chelsea says Bompastor
Two big positives of the victory came at the heart of the Chelsea defence. Naomi Girma scored her first goal for Chelsea while Buchanan returned for the first time since 2024 to play 30 minutes. Bompastor was asked about both,
“I’m really delighted, especially because Nay [Naomi Girma] is a really important player for us she is a great leader” Bompastor said.
“I think again coming into a new team I think it takes time to settle in. Even if she had a great debut sometimes things don’t always go great like this.
“You have some moments when you can be high, low so yeah for Nay she had some injuries which impacted maybe her confidence a little bit.
“For me as a manager having her at her best level will help a lot for us to perform and enable us to win trophies. So that is what I am hoping for. For her to stay fit, available and performing at her best.”
Bompastor also praised Kadeisha Buchanan on her return to competitive action for the club,
“[It is] really important to have a player like Kadesh [Kaseisha Buchanan] back” Bompastor sincerely explained.
“Especially because again she is a great leader and she is a really important player for us. As you can see she hasn’t played for the last 15 months but she was able to come in the team today to play a tough game and bring her impact in the game.
“She was confident, she’s a great defender with a lot of quality with the ball as well.”
‘We deserved to win’ says bullish Bompastor
Victory over Manchester United marks three on the bounce since defeat away at Manchester City for Chelsea. Bompastor was asked for her thoughts on how victory against another Manchester club played out in her eyes,
“Yeah really pleased. I think if you reflect on the game, probably we deserved to win” Bompastor said.
“I think we had a strong start. We had a great first half, we created [but] we couldn’t score in the big moments in the game.
“[But] Overall, I think our performance was great. So really pleased, because this competition is really special for us. We want to go as far as possible.
“I think was a tight game, but because Manchester United are a great team, and yeah, that’s why, also, it wasn’t easy. But yeah, really pleased with the result and the performance.
“When the players will be back from next international break it will be the business end of the season where everything matters, because you are going to play games to win trophies, and I think that’s really important to go into that block with as much confidence as possible.
“And I think being able to win today is a great part of that. So yeah, I think we’ll keep the mentality we have been having for many months now, many weeks. I think, yeah, we’ll keep working hard, we’ll keep fighting, we’ll keep doing our best in order to be in the best place possible for the future.”
Sonia Bompastor confident Sam Kerr will ‘be ready for the business end of the season’
The other goal scorer for Chelsea on the day was Sam Kerr, Chelsea’s famous number 20 came off the bench and found her way onto the scoresheet. Bompastor was asked about Kerr’s performance,
“Yeah, really pleased for her” Bompastor replied.
“It’s been a little bit tough, and I understand, like when you are talking about a player like Sam she wants to play in every game [get] as many minutes as possible.
“And that’s good to have a player who has that mentality. So for me, I always try to pick the strong starting 11 to start the game strong, and also I expect from the players who come in to impact the game.
“So today, she was able to impact in the best way possible, being able to score and contribute to the performance and to the fact we won the game. So I’m really pleased for her, I know it has been a little bit tough for many things like maybe her not getting the minutes she wanted.
“Also with the decisions which have been made, emotionally, maybe it was a bit difficult. But yeah, to finish in this performance, bringing the impact she brought into the game today, going into international break will be great for her confidence, and I know she’ll be ready for the business end of the season.”
Sam Kerr is now heading off to her home Asia Cup alongside team mate Ellie Carpenter following this victory. The pair are likely to be unavailable for Chelsea until this time next month and Bompastor was asked if she was frustrated with the timing,
“That’s a part of being at club like Chelsea” Sonia Bompastor admitted with a rye smile.
“You know that you have a lot of international players, and it’s really important for them to play for national team. So I totally understand that.
“I think for some it will be great also to just go with national team. I know she really enjoys playing for the Matildas, she will get minutes, she will get goals, so I’m not worried.
“I think she’ll bring she’ll come back with a lot of confidence. And, yeah, that’s the most important thing for me. Because I think she’ll be in a good place to get back with us, to perform at her best and to contribute to help the team to perform.”
