In a match that began with an uncharacteristic mistake just three minutes in, Chelsea found a way to suffocate West Ham United with constant pressure in the attack that eventually paid its dividends. When the final whistle blew at Kingsmeadow this past Sunday evening, Emma Hayes and the Blues looked to have turned a corner, putting together a sensational second half of football against Manchester City.
While back-to-back clean sheets was not accomplished, Hayes learned a lot about her team. To be able to respond to adversity with two of the new summer acquisitions on the pitch shows a whole lot about what this club is made of. A miscommunication in the back between Sam Kerr, and Kadeisha Buchanan sent shock waves around Kingsmeadow. Still, Kerr and Reiten’s immediate response with near misses confirmed that CFCW knew they had to take care of business before the international break.
Following the performance out on the pitch, Hayes expressed her thoughts on the performance:
"“The side showed a great reaction to conceding an early goal, and the scoreline could have been bigger. I feel we’re improving and progressed from the Man City game – we grew in confidence.” She continued, “It’s so tough for new signings to learn quickly but I’m really happy for Svitkova and Perisset who made their full debuts tonight…I can’t fault the application of players – it’s such a nice dressing room that’s growing in confidence. The team are where they should be after three games but there’s still some rust.”"
For the third consecutive contest, the “Super” Fran Kirby has found the back of the net, and the past two times lifted the weight off of the Blues’ shoulders following two straight tough starts to matches. The English international has been through one tumultuous year that saw her miss the majority of last season, but after an event-filled summer, Kirby has carried her momentum right into the Women’s Super League season. In her last 33 starts for the club, Kirby has collected a whopping 31 goals to go along with 19 assists.
Pernille Harder has not even had the chance to see the pitch yet, and with Kirby’s creativity, and finishing ability playing behind Kerr, and Harder, this Chelsea attack is going elevate to a whole new stratosphere. If it was not for that mishap on a set-piece, Chelsea pieced together a quality performance filled with phenomenal build-up play that did not always receive the finish that it rightly deserved.
Erin Cuthbert continued to show how valuable she is as a holding midfielder, while Katerina Svitkova and Eve Perisset owned the right flank in their first appearances for the Blues in the starting IX. Even early in the season, this seems like the building blocks of something special, and while the finishing product is not quite there, the quality shows at every level on the pitch. Out of a rocky start came a much more fluid brand of football, here are the lessons from Chelsea’s resounding win over the Irons.
Katerina Svitkova possesses so much versatility for Chelsea
Being one of three players on the team to have not seen the pitch through the first two games of the season has to be tough. The Czech Republic international waited for her opportunity, and when Hayes gave her the call under the lights at Kingsmeadow against her former club, she was fully prepared for it. Svitkova plays like she always has something to prove, and just like Cuthbert, the hustle on and off the ball may be her most valuable asset. Coming across London to play for the Blues, it was clear that Hayes added Svitkova to be the Blues’ swiss army knife that has the potential to be one of the keys to why CFCW competes at an elite level in every competition this season.
Her work ethic is clear as she always wants to contribute in one way or another on both ends of the pitch. It is clear even through one match that Svitkova’s dream was to play for this club. It is still up in the air on how Hayes wants to utilize Svitkova going forward, and which matches she will make an appearance in. She is the perfect player for a team attempting to make a run at the Champions League. Whether it is on the left side, like on Wednesday night, on the right flank, or in the backline, Svitkova is prepared to do whatever it takes to see her team succeed. Chelsea has found another gritty midfield player, and given the trials and tribulations it took to reach the Champions League final in Sweden in 2021, Svitkova has the tools to be able to help the Blues grind out victories when the fixture list becomes quite intimidating.
More goals are coming for Sam Kerr
Before Kerr found the back of the net for the first time this season, she had fallen short in nearly every way possible. From striking the right, and left posts to being caught several times on controversial offside calls, it was only a matter of time before Australia’s all-time leading goal scorer found the score sheet in this new 2022/23 league campaign. Kerr finally caught a break from the officiating, and lack of luck to begin the season, and drilled in an easy tap-in into the bottom left corner of the net. Despite having just one goal in three matches, Kerr is in no way out of the race for her third straight golden boot in the WSL.
She had 39 goals in 43 matches in all competitions last season, scoring more goals than the number of contests she started in. Six of those were games where she found the back of the net more than once in the WSL, including netting a hat-trick before halftime against Birmingham City at the end of November. The efficiency that Kerr has in front of the net is unparalleled to any striker around the world, and her goal against the Irons no doubt symbolizes the onslaught that is bound to be coming to the opposition next on the schedule.
Work still to be done on both sides
Despite 71% of the possession, and an overall solid day out at Kingsmeadow for the Blues, it was clear that there are still many levels that Chelsea is yet to reach. With six new signings on board, putting together a finished product three games into the season is simply unrealistic. On top of the fact that the Blues’ first match week was moved at the last minute, they have been missing one of their most crucial pieces in the attack. Hayes knows the best is yet to come, and with the way the Blues are slowly building momentum following a week one loss, the vision of what this team is going to look like by the middle of the season begins to come into focus.
CFCW has increased its total shots as the first three contests have progressed on top of collecting a season-high eight shots on net against West Ham. While some of the credit goes to the Irons’ goalkeeper, Mackenzie Arnold for a multitude of sublime saves, the Blues should have had three goals at the half instead of going in level at one apiece. Even in the back, Buchanan and Millie Bright are still trying to figure out how to play next to each other for the first time. It takes more than just a few games for these new acquisitions to feel at home but with the oversaturation of talent on this roster, it is only a matter of time before those balls over the top of the defense begin to find their way onto the scoresheet.