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Hayes has the energy, drive and intellect to ensure that this experience will be a defining one for her team. Sir Alex Ferguson, who beat Real Madrid to win the Cup Winners Cup with Aberdeen here, 38 years, always considered setbacks the most significant occasions.
Hayes could also not have legislated for the kind of night her forward Pernille Harder experienced, spurning four opportunities, including a shot levered over the bar at 1-0 which could have changed everything. The course of the night could also have been different without the knee injury which deprived Hayes of right back Maren Mjelde.
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Chelsea FCW, growth, dominance, and taking the scenic route
Chelsea’s best season to date has also been one of the most grueling
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Already, this has been Chelsea FCW’s best ever season. The Blues have been showered in confetti twice already, after winning the league and the league cup. So it’s also a fair bit of genuine irony – not the Alanis Morisette kind – that Chelsea have achieved it all the hard way.
Heading into the 2020-21 season Chelsea faced a lot of questions? What kind of form would Fran Kirby be in? How would the previous season’s top scorer, Bethany England (14 goals, 15 assists in 15 games) fit with Sam Kerr and now Pernille Harder? What about last season’s top assister, Guro Reiten (7 assists, 5 goals)? How do you fit all of the attackers on the pitch? What formation will Emma Hayes deploy? How will other summer signing Melanie Leupolz integrate in midfield? And, assuming all that could get sorted: how good can we really be?