After what was a week filled with mourning, and turnover in the United Kingdom, football is back underway. For Emma Hayes and the Blues, their first contest against West Ham United was moved to Kingsmeadow on September 28, with another game at Stamford Bridge soon to be decided.
The Chelsea Women now have to refocus after a shocking event across the country as they now take on the newly promoted Liverpool Football Club in the first WSL match at Prenton Park in two years to kick off the regular season. The two have not played each other since mid-February of 2020 with Chelsea winning the last 12 including six of those wins by three or more goals.
Reds’ captain Niamh Fahey, and former Blues’ head coach Matt Beard know they are now back in the league where this team belongs. Liverpool has not won the WSL title since the 2013/14 season, and after a relatively dominant campaign in the Championship and a motivating win against West Ham in the preseason, the Reds are not going to be a walk in the park for a club that has aspirations far beyond the domestic competitions.
Liverpool allowed just 11 goals in the Championship behind the club’s Players’ Player of the season, goalkeeper Rachael Laws. But the Reds’ backline is going to be ready for a reality check with its first match back in the big-time against one of the best women’s clubs in the world.
In her press conference ahead of the trip up north, Hayes talked about her team and the challenges that lie ahead, stating:
"“We need to kick off to see how much progress we have made in those summer weeks when we’ve been working on our way of playing and the clarity around everybody’s roles, and the scenarios you have to face game to game.” She continued, “We have an incredible team; it is incredibly challenging to pick 11. There are difficult decisions but I’m used to making them. I’m happy to have the quality we’ve got on board because they’re a tremendous group working hard to push each other day in, day out, and it’s teams that win things, not individuals…I’m ready to go. We have had enough prep; we just want to kick off Sunday. We’re looking forward to getting underway.” ChelseaFC.com"
Possibly the biggest question for CFC this season is not how successful it may be, but how Hayes is going to figure out who gets starting roles with a squad this deep. Usually, women’s teams have players that they can rely on game in and game out, and while the Blues do have that, the talent from top to bottom this season takes the pressure off of the shoulders of the Blues’ most talented.
It is not a WSL season without a few bumps in the road, and with a squad filled with this much talent, tough calls have to be made. New signing Kadeisha Buchanan and a reinvigorated Lauren James after an international call-up and a stellar preseason season have made a statement to Hayes to break into the starting XI for Sunday’s contest. Sam Kerr, Harder, and Guro Reiten should be locked to lead the line for the Blues against Liverpool with Mille Bright occupying one of the central defenders, and Erin Cuthbert doing it all in the middle of the pitch for Chelsea.
It will be curious to see if the former three-time Liverpool Players’ Player of the Season, Sophie Ingle earns a spot in the midfield against her former club. At the age of 31, and given some of her outings in the preseason, Hayes is going to rely on the Canadian star Jesse Fleming much more in the middle of the pitch following a successful summer on the international stage.
Rotation is going to be key during the entire season for the Blues given the number of competitions they want to compete in. With all of the new signings, Hayes has even more options when it comes to the formation, but after the preseason matches in the United States, and the one at Kingsmeadow, a back-four is where the coaching staff is leaning.
After all the waiting for the Chelsea Women to return to Stamford Bridge, it is a tough pill to swallow that the wait has to go on even longer. Todd Boehly and the new ownership group have no doubt made it clear that not only does this club have the best women’s team out there, but there are going to be a whole lot more opportunities to play on the big stage compared to the years of the past.
A women’s match between CFC and Liverpool may not have all of the buildup that it possesses on the men’s side, but it is no doubt going to be interesting to see what the Blues do to begin their season on a much higher note than the previous campaign. Two clubs with completely different expectations in the WSL and beyond go head to head in a contest the Blues must not fall into the trap as they did on the road at Reading last December.