Chelsea boss Bompastor excited for first taste of FA Cup | OneFootball

Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor admits that she is excited to experience Adobe Women’s FA Cup football for the first time.

The Blues kick-off their 2024/2025 campaign with a fourth round tie against Charlton Athletic at Kingsmeadow this afternoon.

When speaking to the media ahead of the match, Chelsea boss Bompastor admitted that she is excited to experience Adobe Women’s FA Cup football whilst expressing her desire for The Blues to win the competition.

“I’m really excited,” Bompastor said. “I’ve heard a lot of good things about the FA Cup in England and how big it is.

“As a coach and as a group, I think we are very excited to start this competition. We feel ready for this game, ready to face an opponent that will give us a tough game. Charlton are an experienced team that have strengths with their good physicality but we are ready for that.

“It’s a trophy that we want to win. This part of the season is about taking it game-by-game. We put all of our effort into each game to make sure we progress through each competition and win titles.”

Despite being aware of Charlton Athletic’s strengths, Bompastor says that Chelsea’s focus is on themselves.

She said “We have to stay focused on our strengths, our squad and make sure we play at the level that we want to play. We have to make sure that we execute the game model the best we can. It’s the first game in the second part of the season, so mentally, it’s always a different game and we need to be ready for that.

“We worked really hard in Portugal, so I think mentally and physically, we are ready to start the game with a lot of intensity. We are expecting Charlton to come with a low block, waiting to transition on us. We have been working really hard and tactically, we are prepared for that. It’s time for us to show.”

Charlton Athletic are in eighth position in the Barclays Women’s Championship, yet, they are just five points from the league summit. Bompastor says that she would welcome more teams being promoted from the second tier to the Barclays Women’s Super League.

She said “The top eight teams are separated by just five points. Charlton maybe didn’t start the season well and now they’re in that position but in recent games, they’ve been doing a lot better.

“We can expect them to give us a tough game. They’ve got that physicality, experience and players that boast plenty of pace. They are good in transition, so we expect this kind of game.

“Maybe, having more teams coming up from the Championship, at least two teams, would be a good thing.”

Chelsea’s Adobe Women’s FA Cup fourth round tie against Charlton Athletic kicks-off at 3pm.