There are two sides to Sonia Bompastor. When she first arrived at Chelsea, she was the cool, calm presence on the touchline in her opening months. Now, we’re seeing the other side.
Watching her at Stamford Bridge in the Champions League quarter-final comeback win over Manchester City, it was the opposite of calm, at times.
A roar of frustration towards the bench as Chelsea failed to build up from the back in the first half, followed by an earful to the officials as Erin Cuthbert’s penalty appeal was dismissed. Then, intense clapping and encouragement in stoppage time to maintain the team’s intensity in the dying moments.
“When you get to March, April and May, you start to feel my voice is different,” says Bompastor to Sky Sports.
“At the beginning of the season, I was trying to find the good ways to bring confidence to my squad, for them to realise it’s possible to achieve a lot of things in this club.
“But now, it’s time for us to turn words into actions on the pitch. And these are the moments that are really decisive in the season.”
We sit down with Bompastor at the club’s training ground the day after a classic Chelsea performance. Backs against the wall, with doubt starting to creep in via a two-goal first leg deficit, the Blues found that other gear to get over the line.
It was the exact definition of ‘The Chelsea Way’ culture that Bompastor’s predecessor Emma Hayes seeped into the club. Damaged by its first defeat of the season in that first leg, the players in the dressing room went deeper inside each other and found a way to win.
Not just win on Thursday night, but also in the Women’s Super League game at the Etihad Stadium five days earlier – to keep that healthy breathing space at the summit.
Highlights from the Women’s Super League match between Manchester City and Chelsea
The quadruple dream is alive again. For the second year in a row, Chelsea have four trophies to play for and we are in the final week of March. Quite simply, there is an aura about this team that even in adversity, there is an inevitability that they will have the final say.
“When you have to face a team who only lost one game since the beginning of the season, I think you are coming into the game doubting a little bit,” says Bompastor.
“As an opposition, if you want to win and beat us, you will have to be at your best level. And I think that’s something that’s great for us.
“I always tell my players: make sure in every game we just hurt the opposition, make sure we play in a way where we want to hurt them mentally and physically.
“Maybe it’s not the right word to say ‘hurt’ them, but mentally we just want to be killers when we go into the game.”
The way Chelsea ‘killed’ Man City’s Champions League hopes was through sheer determination – but also numbers. While their opponents had only five substitutes, Chelsea’s rotated stars provided that extra gear to turn the tie on its head.
Sky Sports’ Anton Toloui and Sam Blitz discuss the talking points from the Women’s Champions League quarter-final match between Chelsea and Manchester City
Cuthbert and Wieke Kaptein’s deep runs from midfield bamboozled the half-fit Yui Hasegawa in the middle of the park.
City defender Gracie Prior was barged off the ball twice by Lauren James in the first half – once after just two minutes, then in the build-up to Chelsea’s crucial third to take them through.
After the game, City interim boss Nick Cushing questioned how his team could compete when Cuthbert, match-winner Mayra Ramirez and Keira Walsh played only 20 minutes at the weekend for Chelsea, then started with fresh legs in the quarter-final second leg.
The depth has been crucial to Chelsea producing that elite mentality of always being a threat and never giving up.
However, it does have its downside.
Bompastor spent Friday morning speaking with Chelsea midfielder Sophie Ingle who, like Sam Kerr, has not been involved all season due to an ACL injury.
The Blues have made 49 changes to their team in the WSL this season, eight more than any other side, so imagine if those two were part of the picture!
“It was a really good conversation,” says Bompastor about her chat with Ingle. “She just said: ‘it’s difficult when you have that many players and that talented squad to keep everyone happy.’ And I said: ‘Yeah, that’s the truth. It’s difficult.’
“Everyone is so happy to go through and be qualified for the semi-finals of the Champions League.
“But at the end of the day, as a human, as an individual, you also reflect on the fact you didn’t play the game. And this is what you want to achieve. You want to play in the biggest games.
“I just told my players: through this block [of games], you will have different statuses. Sometimes you will start the game. Sometimes you won’t be in the squad. Sometimes you will be a finisher.
“And no matter what status you have, you are here to help the team. And I know sometimes, in terms of emotion, it’s difficult. But the most important, it’s about the club, the team and what we achieve together at the end of the season.”
Bompastor is set to rotate her pack again ahead of another big test: a home game against a rejuvenated West Ham in the WSL, live on Sky Sports.
Sunday 30th March 4:00pm
Kick off 4:30pm
With an eight-point lead and just five matches remaining, the Blues know three wins will be enough to be champions once again. It could even be two, should Arsenal and Man Utd drop points in the coming weeks.
No matter when Chelsea complete the job, there are still plenty of reasons to carry on their winning mentality, namely due to the records available.
Win on Sunday and they will set a new club record for the most consecutive home wins (19). They are also 12 points away from breaking the record points total for a single WSL season, while there is also the target of being the first team to go an entire top-flight campaign unbeaten.
“For some people, they are probably details, but for me they are really important,” said Bompastor, who herself is aiming to become just the second manager to win the title in her debut WSL campaign.
“We want to be part of history. Being part of history is making sure we win titles, we achieve our ambitions, but also we break records.”
Watch Chelsea vs West Ham in the Women’s Super League on Sunday from 4pm; kick-off 4.30pm
