Sonia Bompastor admitted that ‘substitutions did not help us’ in defeat to Manchester City, stating that it was ‘tough’ but also the ‘reality’.
Bompastor was speaking after her side spurned a two goal lead at home to Manchester City and bowed out of the FA Cup. Leading by two until the 86th minute Chelsea we unable to hold on and a Bunny Shaw brace pushed City over the line to a 3-2 victory after extra time.
The result meant that Sonia Bompastor lost an Adobe Women’s FA Cup tie as Chelsea head coach for the first time. After the loss the Chelsea head coach spoke to the media and The Halfway Line was present to hear from her.
The last ten minutes were ‘not good enough’ says Sonia Bompastor
On Sunday, Chelsea lost a two goal lead for the first time since a 4-3 defeat away to Liverpool under Emma Hayes. Bompastor, clearly disappointed was asked to explain how her side had not made it to Wembley,
“Good question, I’m still asking myself why, I mean I know the answer” Bompastor said with some degree of exasperation. “I think we had one game for 85 minutes, we were in control we had a good performance.
“We were leading the game at home 2-0 so in one hand when you reflect on that part of the game [it] was good. But in the other hand when you concede three goals at home that’s not good enough from us, when you lose control of the game in the last 10 minutes that’s not good enough from us. That’s not the standards and the expectations in this club, and that’s the reason why.”
Sonia Bompastor admits ‘substitutions did not help us’
Over the course of the match Bompastor made several substitutions that raised eyebrows. In particular, taking both Lauren James and Sam Kerr off both of whom had been instrumental in building Chelsea’s two goal lead,
“For me, I always reflect on the game before the game” Bompastor explained. “Asking myself okay, what team do I want to start the game with? What different plans can I have when I bring players in, depending on scenario, on results, on how we’re are performing on the pitch yeah we have different plans.
“I think today yeah you can say the substitutions did not help us and that’s tough but that’s the reality of the game.”
In particular Bompastor was asked why she withdrew Veerle Buurman and introduced Lucy Bronze,
“They [Manchester City] swapped Kerolin into the 10” Bompastor said. “I think it was better for us to have Lucy [Bronze] who was maybe able to control a little bit more the speed of Kerolin in that position.”
Pressure at Chelsea ‘probably the highest’ Bompastor has felt
Bompastor was asked to speak on the pressure facing her players and whether this group is able to manage that,
“I would say, I think when you are at Chelsea, the pressure is high, probably the highest, even for me, that I have lived through” Bompastor said. “You need to have some skills to be able to hold that. I think we have been talking about some of the scenarios during the season that even my experienced players have had to face, sometimes really tough moments with social media. I don’t think they deserve that.
“But at the same time, there is nothing we can control about that. So we need to make sure we reflect on how we can support and help the players to hold that pressure.’
