Chelsea Womens boss Sonia Bompastor on the possibilities of having an unbeaten Chelsea Womens season
16/11/2024
Stamford Bridge, London, UK
16/11/2024
Stamford Bridge, London, UK
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00:00As I already said, I think it's not about me, it's more about the club and the team,
00:27the players, so tonight I just want to say I'm really proud of my players, I think they
00:33had a great performance.
00:36It was the same when I was a player, I didn't reflect on the past, and at the moment I just
00:44want to enjoy day by day and take game by game, and even if it's a really good start
00:51of course, and it brings us a lot of confidence.
00:55I think the reality is we didn't win anything yet, so as much as it is, that's the reality,
01:03so of course we want to enjoy, and this is what I told my players before the game, maybe
01:09we do the best job in the world, being players and managers, tonight that's an opportunity
01:14for us just to enjoy, go on pitch, put your heart on the pitch and enjoy, because we are
01:20playing home, Stamford Bridge, with fans coming, against a really good team, so that's
01:27about it, so tonight I just want to enjoy the win, the three points, and we continue
01:32our run.
01:33It seemed like you didn't enjoy it as well, those goals in the second half, you were giving
01:40it a little bit on the sidelines.
01:41Yeah, you know when you are touchline, as a manager you just have a lot of emotions,
01:49sometimes frustration, sometimes happiness, and I think when I just saw these two great
01:55goals, I really enjoyed it, because I know how much it's difficult to score, especially
02:01against a Man City team, who is a really good team, and they have a lot of great players,
02:08so yeah, it's like I told you, I just wanted to enjoy, because you don't get that much
02:15opportunities to have this great environment, playing a game against Man City, one of the
02:22best teams in Europe, and getting a good result, clean sheet, everything is almost perfect,
02:28so yeah, if you don't enjoy now, you will never enjoy, so...
02:31Yeah, maybe at the moment, the opposition can think that, especially because we had
02:54seven wins in a row in the league, but that's our standards, you know, I just said like
03:00joining Chelsea, I was, and I am really aligned with the vision and the ambitions, and I think
03:08we are the holders in this competition, in the league, and we just need to keep these
03:12standards, and I think, yeah, if everyone thinks we are the team to beat, that's fine
03:18for us, as a manager I love to embrace the pressure, I mean like, that's the job, and
03:25for my players, like, yeah, having this feeling to be the team to beat, I think that's a really
03:30good feeling.
03:31Yeah, I think in the first half, we were doing a good job out of possession, but not enough
03:55in possession of the ball, I think, yeah, I chat with them, saying like, we need to
04:01be more brave and confident when we have the ball, especially because we had the time and
04:06the space to take sometimes better decisions, and also take extra touches on the ball to
04:13make better decisions, so yeah, just about giving the players confidence, and yeah, showing
04:19them on some video clips where and how we could control more the game and the ball,
04:26and I think it worked better in the second half for sure, but credit to my players, because
04:31they were able to have the confidence to do that, and yeah, recognise and scan the good
04:37spaces on the pitch, and how they wanted to do that.
04:41Tim?
04:43Sonia, is Lucie getting younger?
04:49She's just turned 33, and she made four or five really important interventions today.
05:02It's extraordinary.
05:05I have a lot of top class players in my team, in my squad, Lucie is one of them.
05:11I knew bringing her in Chelsea will bring us a lot of experience, and also a lot of
05:18good performances.
05:21She's a great player, especially in the big games, you know, she just loves that.
05:25I remember Lucie playing the final in the Champions League for Barcelona, she just killed
05:32Delphine Cascarino when I was the Lyon manager, and I think that's the game she wants to play,
05:38and the games where she performed the most.
05:41So, I don't know if it's about her getting younger, but yeah, she did well.
05:48Jesse, and then Kit, please.
05:50Obviously, Maika Hamano played at the penta tonight, I think that's the biggest game I've
05:56seen Maika play in, and she was going to save the first goal, but maybe more importantly,
06:02really kept viewing Patagoua as a game.
06:04What was the decision with starting her there, and other options, and what did you make of
06:09her performance?
06:10Yeah, Maika is performing, that's simple, you know, I already said I don't care about
06:16the age, Maika is doing well.
06:20She did well tonight, of course, but also she was doing good in the last performances
06:25for the team.
06:26I think, yeah, she's a young player, she has still a lot of room for improvement, but she's
06:32someone who understands really well what we expect from her on the pitch, out of possession,
06:37but also with the ball.
06:39I think with the ball, she still has some room for improvement, because she's young,
06:45as I said, and she needs to have even more confidence on her.
06:51But yeah, she had a great game, she had a big impact in the game tonight for us, and
06:58that's really positive, because as you said, I have a lot of more options in that position.
07:05I still have some players who are injured also, as creative players, you just saw,
07:11LJ is not in the squad again, and Katarina didn't come in, she was about to come in,
07:16but she didn't come in.
07:18So yeah, that's great, because as a young player, she's performing at a really high level.
07:26And you said that the players who didn't go to the last game midweek would be available,
07:31but no Keshia Cannon in the squad tonight.
07:33Can you talk a little bit about what went on there?
07:36Yeah, I have sad news to share with you.
07:41I didn't want to talk about that before, because we just found out the last results this morning,
07:49but she just tore her high seal on the Liverpool game.
07:54As I said, I'm really sad, and I didn't want to talk about that situation before the game,
08:00because I think maybe it will take all the focus from the game,
08:06and I wanted my players to stay focused on the Man City game,
08:09but everyone in the club is so devastated about the news.
08:12She was performing really well, she was an important player for us,
08:16but now this is the situation, so we just now are going to support her as much as we can.
08:24She's strong, she's OK, she will have surgery, and we have to move on.
08:34Hi Sonia, congratulations.
08:36We talked about your emotions when the goal went in tonight,
08:40that at other times tonight you were angry at certain moments,
08:43afraid at other moments, but in such a big game like this,
08:47are those emotions part of the challenge and part of the fun as well?
08:52Yes, and I think as managers we just need to live our emotions.
08:58Sometimes maybe some managers just control it, but that's difficult.
09:04We are humans, and we just need to realise that it's important for us to live the emotions,
09:11even if sometimes when it's about frustration you just need to control yourself,
09:17because a lot of people are watching you, but when it's about happiness,
09:22of course you want to enjoy, and this is what I did.
09:26But sometimes I get frustrated when I think that's a simple situation
09:31and we just give the ball away.
09:33So tonight it was about it, my frustration when we just gave the ball away too easily,
09:39but when we scored I was really enjoying it,
09:42because I know being able to score two goals against Man City again,
09:46that's a really great performance and great goals, so that's good.
09:51Does an occasion like this evening show why you came to Chelsea and why you came to England?
09:57I hope so, but again we didn't win anything yet,
10:03so I feel that's maybe a perfect start to give us a lot of confidence,
10:09especially when everything is again new.
10:12But again we still have a lot of work to be done to make sure we just achieve our goals,
10:18and we only played 10 games in the season.
10:22We have plenty of games coming, and we'll have again tough games coming,
10:29Champions League, League, the Cups are coming soon, so it will be difficult.
10:39Sonia, listening to you this evening, 10 out of 10, you've won,
10:45but do you still believe in the players you've had out,
10:48who have come into your side and maybe in areas of the performance
10:52which you think you've proven that there's still another level to come from your squad,
10:56or do you actually have no idea of performing at your best?
11:00Yeah, I think maybe one of my strengths with Camille and Théo,
11:07all the staff obviously as well, but it's like we know exactly how we have to perform,
11:17and also we know the women's game, we know the high level,
11:22we have a clear vision of what we need to do to achieve our goals.
11:26So I think that looks maybe simple sometimes for me,
11:31but I can tell you at the moment we are performing, we are getting good results,
11:36but there is still a lot of room for improvement.
11:39We have players injured, they will be coming in the squad, it will be even great,
11:45but as I told you, if you look at last week, when you play three games a week,
11:53it's difficult for some players to play the three games 90 minutes,
11:57so you need to rotate, you need to make sure even with your rotation,
12:01it's a good opportunity to show your confidence to all the squad,
12:05but also getting the good dynamic and getting the good results,
12:08which sometimes it's not simple.
12:10But I think I'm already ready in my head for the next international break
12:16to share with the club what we achieved yet, and what we need to achieve,
12:22and I think that's really clear in my mind, and I think it's important,
12:26because maybe sometimes some people, when you are in a good dynamic,
12:30you have the good results, just think that's enough.
12:33For me, that's not enough.
12:38Not really, because I think that's something I want to share with the club
12:41and the sporting directors and the staff,
12:45but yeah, I know exactly what we have to do to even get better.
12:50Sorry.
12:55Sorry.
13:01And equally more important, you won every game.
13:03Do you think you could win every game, every WSL game this season?
13:07Do you think this squad you have at the moment,
13:10with the players coming back, has the potential to win every season?
13:14I think it's difficult to say.
13:16This is our main goal, of course,
13:19but you know sometimes you just have impacts coming from outside,
13:24and the news we shared tonight about Kadija,
13:27if we keep our players healthy, and I have all the squad,
13:32yeah, I would be maybe able to tell you, with the players coming in later,
13:38maybe to tell you, yeah, it could be possible.
13:42But you never know what happens.
13:45These players have so many games to play.
13:47You can have some injuries, and that's on the women's game, men's game.
13:53You know, when you look at Man City, the men's side,
13:56like Guardiola is maybe the best coach in the world,
13:59but when he doesn't have all his full squad, he's struggling.
14:03That's the same for me.
14:05If I want to look good as a manager, I need to have all my players available,
14:09and a big squad to achieve all the goals.
14:16Hi, Sonia.
14:17Hi.
14:18Almost 20,000 fans there tonight.
14:21How special that was in the main stadium as well?
14:24Yeah, really special.
14:26I think I told my players before the game,
14:29we do the best job in the world as players, as managers.
14:33Again, I think I told them just enjoy.
14:36We play at Stamford Bridge, more than 20,000 fans coming in the game.
14:42We play a great team, Man City.
14:44We were both fighting for the top of the table,
14:47and I think if you don't enjoy that moment,
14:50it's really difficult.
14:52So, yeah, it's a fun job.
14:54So tonight it was fun, fun to have the fans with us,
14:57fun to enjoy at the end.
14:59I think that's a nice one to end on.
15:01Yep.
15:02That's nice.
15:03We all have fun, don't we?
15:05Yep.
15:06Bye-bye.
15:08Thank you, bye.