Moving the Goalposts | Can Arsenal and Manchester City unseat relentless Chelsea in WSL race?

The Guardian

·18 septembre 2024

Moving the Goalposts | Can Arsenal and Manchester City unseat relentless Chelsea in WSL race?

There is no simple formula to winning a league, but there are critical ingredients every team in the new WSL season will be seeking to inject. Chief among those are team spirit and unity. The bonding process, the trust-building between players and staff, and developing those connections quickly, is so important. The aspect that often gets overlooked as part of that, though, is enjoyment.

What keeps players motivated every day to show up, even when they are tired or frustrated, even when things are not going their way or they have got a niggle? It is enjoyment. It means players keep pushing for their personal and the team’s goals. Establishing collective values ensures they show up every day, give their all and support each other.

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Having an awareness that performing does not always get you the outcomes you want, even when you are at your best, and being able to dig deep, are also vital. That edginess, grittiness, is a core component of the most dominant and consistent teams. Teams that can win pretty and ugly, that find a way, are the ones that end up with silverware.

It is about adaptability, as a group and individuals. Being able to have players ready to show up and add value, staying in a constant ready state, is a big test of management.

Players are not happy all the time. Being transparent with the selection process and making clear the expectations and standards is an important part of keeping on board those most unhappy at not starting. You do that in part by facilitating an environment where people can be authentic in their feelings, be authentic on the pitch and express themselves, but also by creating a high-performance environment where players know they are being stretched and can grow regardless of whether they are making the starting XI.

That creates belief and that belief is infectious. That is when you start to bring the fans with you. They really back their teams when they see them fighting for the collective cause.

It was no accident Chelsea pipped Manchester City to the title, because not only have they had almost all the right ingredients year-on-year, they have also faced down the final third of the season, and the challenges it presents, over and over again.

Chelsea are mentality monsters, there is a relentlessness in what they do, and once City dropped points against Arsenal, conceding in the 89th and 90th minutes to cancel out their one-goal lead, nothing was going to stop them.

The eight goals Chelsea put past Bristol City and the six they scored at Manchester United, either side of a 1-0 defeat of Tottenham, were mental muscle memory kicking in. It was not a shock they could overturn a goal difference gap of seven in a single game at the business end of the season because they have been there so many times before. Whether they can maintain that under Sonia Bompastor will be really interesting and in pre-season it looks as if they have maintained that ruthless edge.

The addition of Lucy Bronze is fascinating. She comes in with so much experience, having won multiple trophies in different countries, but that she wanted to follow Bompastor and her assistant, Camille Abily, to the club, having known them from Lyon, is a signal to everyone of the calibre of the new coaching staff. They obviously have a really good relationship and she clearly believes they can deliver.

Every WSL season gets more exciting but Chelsea and City stand out and the title race will be close again. City, with a very settled squad, have the most continuity among the top three. They were so close last season and that will have hurt them. Vivianne Miedema is also going to feel extra motivated to produce her best after leaving Arsenal at the end of her contract.

There is pressure on Jonas Eidevall and Gareth Taylor, at Arsenal and City respectively, to deliver. They fell short last season despite some strong performances and runs. With Chelsea in a period of transition, there is an opportunity to unseat them. Taylor and Eidevall are at clubs with big trophy aspirations and they cannot go another season with the quality in their squads and the money they have spent without winning more silverware.

Predictions are almost impossible in the WSL because the margins are so fine. So many teams have done good business in the summer. Plenty of them will be just underneath the top three, pushing for those fourth and fifth spots and they could have a big say in the destination of the title.