Niamh Charles' absence hangs over Sonia Bompastor's WSL debut win
After the England international injured her shoulder, the new Chelsea boss was forced to experiment with different tactical options at the full-back position against Aston Villa.
Chelsea got the Sonia Bompastor era off to a winning start with a 1-0 win over Aston Villa but there were plenty of teething problems on show in the match. Villa came close to getting an equaliser at the death and Chelsea struggled to control the game or generate clear-cut chances. In fact, their highest individual xG for a shot was 0.12.
The issues are to be expected. Despite a positive pre-season where they won all their public matches (against NJ/NY Gotham FC, Arsenal, and Feyenoord), this is still a squad adjusting to a new manager. Even under former boss Emma Hayes, Chelsea had a reputation for struggling in their season opener. They had only won once on the opening day in their previous four seasons.
Bompastor’s mission has not been made easier by the injury issues she has already come up against. The game against Feyenoord proved to be unfortunate as Sophie Ingle ruptured her ACL and Niamh Charles dislocated her shoulder. Ingle was set to be a depth option this season but Charles was a nailed down starter. Bompastor confirmed ahead of the fixture against Aston Villa that Charles had had to have surgery on her shoulder. Although no timescale was given for her return, it is safe to assume Charles will be unavailable for at least a couple of months.
In Ashley Lawrence, Chelsea do have an international-level replacement for Charles but it is not a like-for-like swap. As a converted winger, Charles is a very attacking fullback, and despite Lawrence’s own experiences playing in a more advanced role, her numbers show that she does not match Charles. Last season, Charles averaged 3.1 shot-creating actions per 90 compared to Lawrence’s 1.951. She also averaged 4.24 touches per 90 in the opposition’s penalty area as opposed to Lawrence’s 1.94. The flip side is that Lawrence is more robust defensively, winning 1.76 tackles per 90 in comparison to Charles’ 0.95.
Under Hayes, Chelsea pushed Charles up to become a second left-winger, with whoever was playing right back then tucking in to create a back three. In pre-season, it looked like Bompastor also wanted to have Charles advance, but not have her side adjust in the same way. Against Feyenoord, when Charles pushed up, midfielder Wieke Kaptein slotted in at left back to maintain a back four, with left winger Lauren James then coming into midfield.
Obviously this was one pattern of play among many that Bompastor tried out in pre-season but it is notable that by the time Friday’s match against Aston Villa came around, none of these players were starting. James had picked up a niggle in the week so only managed six minutes whilst Kaptein was benched in favour of the returning Erin Cuthbert. The Scotswoman missed almost the entirety of pre-season with an injury picked up in Chelsea’s first match against Gotham, another disruption to Bompastor’s plans.
Lawrence and Lucy Bronze started in the full-back positions against Villa but it felt like neither knew how advanced they were supposed to get. Chelsea were predominantly trying to progress the ball through them but whilst Bronze found herself in plenty of space thanks to Villa’s setup, Lawrence was penned in by an overload on Chelsea’s left-hand side. Given Bronze’s attacking pedigree, one tweak would have been to use her as the more advanced full-back with Lawrence sitting back. But Bompastor seems understandably wary of pushing Bronze up too far with her recovery pace an issue. The switch to use the faster Kadeisha Buchanan as the right-sided centreback instead of Millie Bright looks like a recognition that Chelsea need to be able to cover in behind for Bronze.
One moment in the 35th minute summed up Chelsea’s confusion around how exactly their fullbacks were supposed to be playing. Having won the ball back, Lawrence came inside in an advanced area with winger Sandy Baltimore in possession on the left. Based on some of the rotations in pre-season, it would be expected that a midfielder should go out to support Baltimore creating more space for Lawrence. But no one moved, leaving the centre congested and Baltimore without support. Villa were easily able to stop the attack.
These are the sort of problems that are to be expected from any team adjusting their system, new manager or not. But the injuries have certainly made it more difficult for Bompastor to implement her style of play. Charles is a pretty unique puzzle piece who has come on in leaps and bounds over the past couple of years. Replacing her is a serious early test for Chelsea’s new manager.
All data from FBref.
 | A guest post by
|