Chelsea Women are in fine fettle as they approach one of their toughest weeks of the season, with three quickfire home games in nine days, including a Champions League clash against a familiar foe.
Wolfsburg visit Kingsmeadow in midweek – a game sandwiched between Women’s Super League clashes with Brighton and Leicester.
For many seasons Chelsea’s nemesis, the She Wolves won the Champions League in 2013, then seemed to be drawn against the Blues with a spooky magnetic pull... dishing out beatings in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Followed by sweet revenge in the most recent campaign. That was the one that saw Chelsea’s women reach the final of the prestigious competition, knocking out Wolfsburg 5-1 on aggregate and dispelling the hoodoo.
Under the floodlights on Wednesday, it promises to be the grittiest encounter of the season so far, with the German side boasting the likes of Jill Roord and Alex Popp in their ranks.
But Chelsea’s emphatic 6-1 demolition of Manchester United on Sunday lunchtime (despite United having ex-Blues Hannah Blundell and Maria Thorisdottir in the team) was a statement of intent that anyone planning on standing between manager Emma Hayes and the trophy she craves had better be on top form.
Even the evergreen Drew Spence got in on the act for Chelsea, coming on as a sub to score her first of the season, joining Sam Kerr (two), Fran Kirby, Pernille Harder (a remarkable run before jinking the ball over Mary Earps for a glorious finish) and Jessie Fleming on the scoresheet.
Alessia Russo, who learnt her trade in the Chelsea development squad, denied Ann-Katrin Berger a clean sheet by clawing one back for United, her shot deflecting past the keeper via Millie Bright’s leg and then the post.
Kerr was clearly offside for one of her goals, with the lineswoman struggling to keep pace with the Aussie striker. That prompted an intriguing remark from Chelsea manager Emma Hayes at the end.
She said that the Football Association needed to prioritise achieving professionalism among the officials to match that of the full-time players. “We have to support the FA in developing our officials for the next level,” she said, after a game beamed live on terrestrial television.
“I thought we were poor in the first half... and we were 3-0 up,” added Hayes. Was that a tongue-in-cheek remark? Not a bit of it! Hayes is restless to push her players to a higher level with European competition looming.
However, on the domestic front a 3-0 halftime lead is the kind of poverty she’s happy to endure.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
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