Just ask Chelsea FC, who are very much under the gun this season. Injuries and underperformance have mixed with contract uncertainties to put the team’s goals in jeopardy. The club’s striker woes have become increasingly apparent, and with key players missing, the squad’s depth is being put to the test. As Chelsea continues to push through a brutal schedule, alarm bells flash over whether they can truly hang with the best in the world.
Yet as Mayra Ramirez healed from surgery without a definite timeline of returning, the situation became even more dire. And yet Chelsea’s star striker, Sam Kerr, has played only 112 minutes in the league. This limited playing time begs questions about her match fitness and form. With Aggie Beever-Jones unable to find her touch, it has forced the rest of the team’s offensive serious limitations to covering up.
Chelsea’s underlying performance numbers paint a stark picture of just how bad they’ve been this season. This team sits with the 11th worst xG differential in the league. This goes to show their absolute shocking conversion rate at making opportunities into goals scored. Their failure to finish has been compounded by some truly abysmal duel win-rate. This indicates that exhaustion from an overloaded calendar may be taking a toll on their play on the field.
Striker Dilemma
The key departures have left Chelsea with glaring holes in their frontline. With Ramirez likely sidelined for the season, the club has been in a pickle. Yet they are incredibly reliant on Kerr, his lack of playing time shocking fans and analysts alike. The team’s reliance on Beever-Jones, who is currently in a rut, adds to the urgency surrounding Chelsea’s striking options.
Sonia Bompastor, Chelsea’s head coach, addressed the pressing need for improvement in her team’s offensive execution.
“That’s not the performance we wanted to put on the pitch. The performance was not good enough,” – Sonia Bompastor
As the season moves on, Chelsea will need to get creative if they are to take full advantage of their attacking firepower. You can see how vital it will be to be clinical in front of goal with their current state.
Grueling Schedule Takes Its Toll
Chelsea is enduring a demanding fixture list, having drawn with Barcelona in the Champions League amidst a five-match span over just 20 days. This incredibly tight schedule has taken a toll on the players’ fitness. Millie Bright was subbed off in the first half before Liverpool and was recently dropped by Chelsea UK unilaterally against Barcelona. This demands serious consideration of squad depth and player fatigue.
The strains of playing both domestically and on a competitive European stage simultaneously have exposed cracks in Chelsea’s foundation. The team’s depth and capacity to manage a schedule of three to four day turns is very much up for debate. Their struggles mark the most difficult duel win-rate in history. This trend indicates that fatigue is possibly affecting their overall performance on the field.
Bompastor had to give credit to her squad for elevating their play with all that was against them.
“You have to be clinical… we won’t give up on that aspect.” – Sonia Bompastor
With several players struggling to maintain form amid a busy schedule, Chelsea must find solutions to ensure they remain competitive.
Contract Uncertainty Looms
Additionally, Chelsea must contend with unsettling obstacles amid contracting unknowns. Three of its biggest stars, Samantha Kerr, Catarina Macario, and Guro Reiten, are set to hit free agency by the end of the season. This instability is a continued detriment not only to team morale but to their long-term stability and strategy going forward.
Two of the biggest stars in women’s soccer – Trinity Rodman and Midge Purce – are headed into free agency this winter. This significant turn further complicates the ongoing situation. Their likely availability would give Chelsea a myriad of options as they look to improve their squad even further after a chaotic summer.
18-year-old Alyssa Thompson has been a bright spot for Chelsea. Her speed and deception ideally suit her as an impact player in high stakes games. Through her creativity, she never fails to turn out to be a difference-maker in these unsure instances.
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