Overcoming mother nature: lessons learned in Chelsea’s Brighton win

Depth and character define this Chelsea team

Early in the season, teams do not often get presented with challenges like the one the Blues encountered at Brighton. With a squad in need of lineup rotation, Chelsea was presented with not only defeating the Seagulls on the pitch but also the horrid weather that the referee somehow deemed to be playable before the match. Both Carter, and Niamh Charles who have had to claw their way into any sort of playing time during their Chelsea careers showed up for the Blues in critical ways under unforeseen conditions.

Charles has been one of the standouts of the season for the Blues, and after losing out on England’s European championship roster, Charles is going out and proving a point at the age of 23 with her ability to make seamless transitions from being positioned in the front or the back. Character has been a word that has floated around this team since it bounded back to defeat Manchester City following the opening match loss to Liverpool.

Since that day, CFCW has pushed not to be defined by that one match. This contest showed even more grit with the weather, the elation of the Champions League night in Paris, and new faces in the starting IX delivering on the big stage. There can be very few hiccups in the WSL for the rest of the season if Chelsea wants to seal an unheard-of fourth consecutive league title. Whether it is Johanna Rytting Kaneryd, Pernille Harder, or Charles playing out on the wing, the drop-off in any position is the smallest it has been in the club’s history. The Albanian champions come to town on Wednesday, ready to disrupt the Blues’ momentum, but the response they gave in the conditions they saw themselves in against a team that constantly gives them trouble bestows Chelsea the attitude that it can take on any challenge coming its way at the moment.