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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?
Sam Kerr showed again she's the deadliest marksman in women's football, with her double in the win at Spurs putting Chelsea on the verge of another WSL title.
Tottenham FCW vs. Chelsea FCW, WSL: Preview, team news, how to watch
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Photo by Kieran Cleeves/PA Images via Getty Images
How do you follow up the biggest performance in club history? Perhaps by not letting the WSL title slip through your fingers against a London rival.
While Chelsea were busy punching our tickets to Gothenburg on Sunday, Manchester City quietly reclaimed top position in the league table. But with only one league match remaining for City, they need some unexpected assistance from the Blues to maintain that position.
Given how ruthless Chelsea have been all season, it’s highly unlikely the Blues will hand Manchester City a lifeline, but you never know. Two victories in our final two matches will see us defend the title and win the league for the second year running.
Emma Hayes credits players’ mentality for Chelsea reaching Women’s Champions League final
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Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images
It might be cliche to talk about things like belief and confidence and self-fulfilling prophecies, but it is often those mental qualities that make the ultimate difference at the highest levels of professional sports. When the participants all come from the upper echelons of technical and physical skill and Chelsea certainly have assembled a sparkling collection it’s the mental attributes that often decide the winners and losers, that separate the legends from the nearly-heroes.
As Emma Hayes revealed after Chelsea’s rousing 4-1 Women’s Champions League semifinal second leg win over Bayern Munich on Sunday, that sort of mentality is precisely what enabled Chelsea to overcome the 2-1 first leg deficit.