Chelsea Women are back in action this weekend after their winter break, having worked on their fitness and set-pieces at a warm-weather training camp in Portugal.
Six points ahead of the rest of the herd in the Women's Super League, the team take on Charlton on Sunday 12 January (currently eighth in the Championship), who defeated Lewes 4-0 in the previous round.
The five-day camp in the Algarve has given manager Sonia Bompastor a chance to plot her course through the second half of the season, and work on occasionally glimpsed frailties.
She's realistic about the task ahead. "We have to be confident and we have to be brave," she said. "That's not easy because other teams sometimes look to play differently when they play against Chelsea.
"I need to be sure, in the second half of the season, that the players really understand my expectations, and really understand the game model.
"We have a squad from all over the world. They have different languages, different experiences, different styles of play and different philosophies. Our job is to connect them!"
The camp was something of a homecoming for Bompastor. Her parents were born in Portugal, and she's a fluent Portuguese speaker.
Blues take on the Shrimps
Chelsea's men are also in action this weekend as the romance of the 3rd Round of the FA Cup comes to Stamford Bridge.
Morecambe – 23rd in League Two – bring 5,000 fans south to face Chelsea on Saturday afternoon. It's the second time the Blues take on the Shrimps – the first was at the same stage of the cup four years ago when Chelsea were 4-0 victors. Showing the churn at the Bridge, the scorers that day were Werner, Mount, Hudson-Odoi and Havertz.
For the first time in an age, Chelsea had no midweek match this week, giving gaffer Enzo Maresca a chance to work on tactics. It follows Chelsea's 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace in the league – another case of the Blues being punished late on after Fulham came from behind at the Bridge to pinch the points, and Ipswich resisted a Chelsea comeback at Portman Road.
"We did enough to win; we had so many chances," said Maresca after Palace. "But we have to be more clinical. In the game against Fulham, we were good enough to win and against Ipswich we had many chances."
The manager is philosophical about the current dip, saying every club – even leaders Liverpool – will endure a rocky patch. "We have to stay focused and start to win games," he added.
Jadon Sancho did the hard work for Chelsea's goal at Selhurst Park, marauding down the left to tee up Cole Palmer for a jink-and-fire special after 14 minutes, but with eight minutes of normal time to go, Jean-Philippe Mateta levelled.
Teenager and academy graduate Josh Acheampong made his full debut, further reducing the average age of the current first team. "It was enjoyable, but it's unfortunate not to come away with three points," he said.
The consensus in the bars around SW6 is that while the Blues will probably fall short this season, they will be in a much better position to tilt for the top next year.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
