Chelsea are in the midst of a rebuilding phase, and head coach Sonia Bompastor told Sky Sports that the club needs time to re‑establish itself. Her comments were not the usual pundit sound‑bite but a candid assessment of where the team stands as the new WSL season approaches.
The last two years have been anything but calm for the Blues. First, Bompastor succeeded the legendary Emma Hayes, inheriting a side that had dominated English women’s football for years.
Then, in February, Paul Green – who had shared the stewardship of the women’s programme with Hayes – abruptly left the club. The Hayes‑Green partnership had overseen an era of unprecedented triumphs, and replicating that level of success is a daunting task for anyone. In her debut campaign, Bompastor managed to keep the winning machine ticking, guiding Chelsea to an unbeaten domestic treble. Some observers argued that Hayes’ influence was still palpable, but the second season laid bare the reality that the squad was no longer the same force that had collected trophies year after year.
A new chapter was clearly on the horizon. Now entering her third pre‑season, Bompastor says she feels the club’s full support to shape that new chapter. “I think now I understand what the club is about a lot more,” she explained. “I also understand what we want to achieve and bringing my input into that.
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.” Chelsea’s domestic performance last season reflected the growing pains of transition. The team captured the League Cup but slipped to third place in the WSL, behind Manchester City and Arsenal, marking the first time in six years that they failed to win the league title. Bompastor reflected on the disappointment: “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.” She emphasized that the rebuild is as much about culture as it is about tactics. “We spoke a lot about the environment and the culture we want to create here at Chelsea. 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. 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.” The squad’s composition is also changing. Long‑standing figures such as former captain Millie Bright have retired, while marquee forward Sam Kerr departed for the United States.
Midfielders Niamh Charles, Guro Reiten and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd also left, taking with them years of experience and a collection of trophies. “We lost some really important players in terms of the environment and culture,” Bompastor admitted. “Some of them had been here for many years and it’s difficult to replace them. 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.” Chelsea’s recruitment philosophy this summer reflects a deliberate blend of experience and youth. Two of the four confirmed signings – Katie McCabe and 18‑year‑old prospect Nelly Las – illustrate that balance. McCabe, a proven leader, needed no introduction; Bompastor said she immediately raised standards and behaviours within the squad. “She has already started to impact the squad in terms of the behaviours and the standards.
I’m really pleased she’s a Chelsea player now,” the coach said. Las, meanwhile, arrives from Leicester with 16 WSL appearances and a résumé of England youth caps. Bompastor highlighted the importance of versatility: “It’s important to have the right balance between experienced players, but also the youth into the squad.
Players having versatility to play in different positions is also really important for me. 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.” Leadership on the pitch will now fall to those who remain.
Defender Ellie Carpenter, although only in her second season with Chelsea, has already collected multiple trophies and is expected to assume a senior role. “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. Now it’s our turn to do that, follow in their footsteps and to build on what Chelsea is as a club,” Carpenter told Sky Sports. “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.” The ultimate prize that still eludes the Blues is the UEFA Women’s Champions League. While domestic silverware has become almost expected, European glory remains the missing piece. Bompastor, a Champions League winner with Lyon, was hired partly for that pedigree.
Her staff includes former winners such as Carpenter, new striker Melvine Malard, defender Kadeisha Buchanan, and veteran Lucy Bronze, who has lifted the European trophy five times – albeit with other clubs. “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. 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. That’s the one trophy we’re missing in the club and we will try as hard as possible to fight for that.” Carpenter echoed that ambition: “It’s always what Chelsea want.
It’s what their ambition is, what the fans want, what everyone here wants and what we work towards every day. 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. 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.” The scrutiny that comes with wearing the Chelsea badge is relentless. Bompastor has learned to embrace it: “I’ve never been in a place before where the scrutiny is so high like at Chelsea, but I’m comfortable with it. 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. 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 onto the pitch.” In summary, Chelsea are undergoing a purposeful metamorphosis.
The blend of seasoned internationals, emerging talents, and a renewed cultural blueprint aims to restore the club’s dominance both at home and in Europe. The upcoming season will test whether the new‑look Blues can translate their vision into trophies, but the foundations being laid by Bompastor and her leadership group suggest that Chelsea’s next chapter could once again be written in silverware.