{"id":2143,"date":"2026-08-25T09:16:39","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T09:16:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/footballars.xyz\/?p=2143"},"modified":"2026-08-25T09:16:39","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T09:16:39","slug":"chelsea-women-sonia-bompastor-and-ellie-carpenter-on-blues-transitional-moment-as-they-target-wsl-and-champions-league-success-football-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/footballars.xyz\/?p=2143","title":{"rendered":"Chelsea Women: Sonia Bompastor and Ellie Carpenter on Blues’ transitional moment as they target WSL and Champions League success | Football News"},"content":{"rendered":"


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“Chelsea are going through a transitional moment and it takes time for the club to rebuild.”<\/p>\n

Not pundit analysis, but the thoughts of Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor <\/strong>to Sky Sports<\/em> ahead of the new WSL season.<\/p>\n

And despite the hint of clich\u00e9, it works. There has been plenty upheaval over the last two years, starting with Bompastor replacing Emma Hayes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Then, there was the shock departure of Paul Green <\/strong>as head of women’s football in February. Alongside Hayes, the duo oversaw years of unprecedented success. It is something hard to sustain and even harder to replicate.<\/p>\n

But that is the task that falls at Bompastor’s feet. She managed to keep it going in her first season with an unbeaten domestic treble – some may say with Hayes’ influence still in play – but her second campaign exposed the realties. Chelsea were not the team of old and a new era was beckoning.<\/p>\n

Now in her third pre-season with the Blues, Bompastor believes she has the backing of the club to do just that.<\/p>\n

“I think now I understand what the club is about a lot more,” she said. “I also understand what we want to achieve and bringing my input into that.<\/p>\n

“It’s good to be in a place where I feel the confidence and the trust coming from the hierarchy in the club. As much as I know my job, we need to get good results in order for me to stay as long as possible, but it’s also important to feel like we also have time to rebuild the team in order for us to compete against the best.”<\/p>\n

How last season informs the next<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Chelsea only won the League Cup last season and finished third in the league behind Manchester City and Arsenal. It was the first time in six years they had not walked away with the WSL title.<\/p>\n

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Bompastor reflected: “We wanted last season to be a more successful season because Chelsea is a club who is used to winning. We only won one trophy, but if you analyse it, we have some good learnings to take and that’s really important for us to reflect on.<\/p>\n

“We spoke a lot about the environment and the culture we want to create here at Chelsea.<\/p>\n

“It’s a lot about standards, behaviours, how you show up every day, how much you are committing to work hard to achieve your goals and what are the type of behaviours you want to show up every day, off and on pitch.<\/p>\n

“Who do we want to be as a team? How do we want people to talk about Chelsea? These things are really important for us to be able to achieve the goals we have.<\/p>\n

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Highlights of the Women’s League Cup final between Chelsea and Manchester United. <\/span>
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“Chelsea are a club who are used to winning and we need to make sure we put everything together in order for us to achieve that.<\/p>\n

“I’m quite happy with the squad of players I have, the quality we have, but it’s also important alongside that quality to bring the right mentality.”<\/p>\n

Experience and youth informing transfer policy<\/h3>\n

This summer does have the air of a new start about it, especially in terms of playing personnel.<\/p>\n

Players who have been the face of Chelsea for years have left. Former captain Millie Bright<\/strong> retired, legendary goalscorer Sam Kerr <\/strong>moved to the USA. Niamh Charles, Guro Reiten <\/strong>and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd <\/strong>also departed. They represent years of service, experience and trophies.<\/p>\n

“We lost some really important players in terms of the environment and culture,” Bompastor said. “Some of them had been here for many years and it’s difficult to replace them.<\/p>\n

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With both leaving Chelsea, Sam Kerr and Millie Bright were given a guard of honour following the final WSL game of the season<\/span>
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“So it’s for us, the staff and club, to think about how and what is the best way to replace them. It’s about the recruitment, but also again linked back to the environment and the culture we want to create.<\/p>\n

“We have also great leaders who have the right mentality about when you are on pitch, it’s about winning games. Off the pitch, it’s about the behaviours you need and showing up every day in order for us to work hard on the pitch to achieve the goals.”<\/p>\n

Chelsea’s transfer strategy of mixing experience and youth is clear and epitomised by two of their four summer signings so far in Katie McCabe<\/strong> and Nelly Las.<\/strong><\/p>\n

McCabe needs little introduction. Indeed, Bompastor herself told Sky Sports <\/em>she did not need to speak on the defender’s quality, and it is clear she goes a long way in replacing some of the leadership Chelsea lost.<\/p>\n

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Katie McCabe gives her first interview after joining Women’s Super League team Chelsea. Video credit: Chelsea FC<\/span>
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“She has already started to impact the squad in terms of the behaviours and the standards,” Bompastor added. “I’m really pleased she’s a Chelsea player now.”<\/p>\n

Las, meanwhile, is an exciting 18-year-old prospect who joined from Leicester. She made 16 WSL appearances across the last two seasons, and has featured for England’s youth teams.<\/p>\n

“It’s important to have the right balance between experienced players, but also the youth into the squad,” Bompastor said. “Players having versatility to play in different positions is also really important for me.<\/p>\n

“I’m a manager who really loves to work with young players, to invest time to develop them and I’m really keen to bring these players into the squad and see how they can develop to contribute to the success we will have in the future.”<\/p>\n

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Carrying on a legacy<\/strong><\/h3>\n

There will always be pressure to win at Chelsea given their history, and they now have a balance to strike – maintaining that legacy while also forging a new way forward and meeting the standards Bompastor has set out.<\/p>\n

That falls, in part, to the team’s senior players – no matter how long they have played for the club.<\/p>\n

One of those is defender Ellie Carpenter. She may have only been at Chelsea for a year, but as a multiple-trophy winner and regular starter, she will likely now step into a leadership role among the group.<\/p>\n

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\n Ellie Carpenter (left) joined Chelsea last summer
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“Chelsea are going through a bit of a transition phase at the moment. A lot of legends have gone and they left such a great legacy,” she told Sky Sports. <\/em>“Now it’s our turn to do that, follow in their footsteps and to build on what Chelsea is as a club.<\/p>\n

“As a footballer, you love those opportunities and moments in your career and it’s a perfect time to be stepping into that role for this club.<\/p>\n

“Our aim this season is to fight for those trophies back and show what Chelsea is about. We want to do it as a team, winning in that way and enjoying it and hopefully getting the results on the way as well.<\/p>\n

“We have a great team this season and pre-season has felt good so I’m excited.”<\/p>\n

Champions League – is this the year?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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\n Sonia Bompastor won the Champions League with Lyon – as did new Chelsea striker, Melvine Malard (right)
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One way this squad can cement themselves into Chelsea history is by winning the one trophy that continues to elude them – the Champions League.<\/p>\n

For a long time, the Blues’ recruitment strategy has been geared towards European glory while the domestic trophies took care of themselves.<\/p>\n

Bompastor won it as a manager with Lyon and was a key reason for her appointment in 2024. Carpenter was in her victorious squad, as was new striker Melvine Malard and defender Kadeisha Buchanan. McCabe won it with Arsenal. Lucy Bronze – who signed a new Chelsea deal this summer – has been crowned Europe champion five times.<\/p>\n

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\n Lucy Bronze and Keira Walsh – now both at Chelsea – won the Champions League with Barcelona
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But none of those have come in Chelsea blue and every year, we ask the same question: is this the year the wait is over?<\/p>\n

“Winning the Champions League is one of the main goals for us,” Bompastor said. “We’ll work as hard as possible to achieve that and I know everyone is expecting Chelsea to always be at their best.<\/p>\n

“But the competition now in Europe is getting higher and higher. Many clubs now are in a position where they can compete to win the Champions League. I don’t want to shy away from us and our ambitions, but I also know it’s difficult.<\/p>\n

“But that’s the one trophy we’re missing in the club and we will try as hard as possible to fight for that.”<\/p>\n

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Sky Sports’ Anton Toloui explains why the WSL have decided to change some of their kick-off times this season.<\/span>
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“It’s always what Chelsea want,” Carpenter added. “It’s what their ambition is, what the fans want, what everyone here wants and what we work towards every day.<\/p>\n

“This squad is young, but multiple people have won it in the team, so that helps a lot to bring the experience and what it takes to win.<\/p>\n

“But we’re just going to go game-by-game this season. We don’t want to put too much pressure on ourselves. When we’re enjoying football, we’re playing our best football.”<\/p>\n

Getting comfortable with scrutiny<\/h3>\n

While it may seem a tedious back and forth on the Champions League each year, that is the kind of scrutiny that comes with being at Chelsea and despite changes elsewhere, will never alter.<\/p>\n

It has perhaps been one of the learnings for Bompastor in her two years at the club, and something she must instil in the squad she is assembling.<\/p>\n

“I’ve never been in a place before where the scrutiny is so high like at Chelsea, but I’m comfortable with it,” she reflected.<\/p>\n

“It means people care about us and really think we are a really important club. That’s what comes with our standards and Chelsea being one of the best clubs in the world, so we need to get comfortable with that.<\/p>\n

“We need to make sure when we go into the season, we don’t have any regrets and we give our all any time we step into the pitch.”<\/p>\n

What is for sure is the Blues are in the process of morphing into something new. Consistent evolution was one of the secrets to Hayes’ success, and Bompastor will be hoping the same is true now.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n


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