Inside Chelsea slump: thrashed by rivals, player dissent and title run over

“It’s really weird,” Millie Bright, Chelsea’s captain who has won the WSL eight times with the club, said on her Daly Brightness podcast this week. “I’ve never been in this position.”

Chelsea are victims of their own success. During Emma Hayes’s 12-year tenure as manager they won 14 major trophies and set standards that are impossible to maintain perpetually. Nor were Chelsea ever going to repeat the achievements of last season, when Sonia Bompastor guided them to an invincible domestic Treble in her first campaign as Hayes’s successor.

Even this season Chelsea were right in the title race two weeks ago, have qualified automatically for the Champions League quarter-finals and remain in both domestic cups. For any other team this would be a decent return.

However, the nature of and fallout from last Sunday’s drubbing against City showed that Chelsea are at risk of spiralling. At the Etihad they conceded terribly soft goals and City would have scored seven or eight without some good Hannah Hampton saves.

Since full-time there have been hints that the thrashing reflected deeper problems. In her post-match press conference Bompastor said Chelsea lacked depth and lamented the club’s lack of transfer activity.

Chelsea did not sign a player in the winter window but Bompastor’s WSL counterparts will be reaching for their small violins. During her tenure Chelsea have made Naomi Girma women’s football’s first $1million signing, spent close to £1million on Alyssa Thompson, and bought other big-name players including Lucy Bronze, Keira Walsh and Ellie Carpenter.

Were everyone fit, Chelsea could field two XIs of internationals. While several players have suffered injuries this season, Chelsea have the resources to rotate and mitigate fitness issues.

Bompastor’s comments were therefore intriguing. When a head coach criticises their club’s transfer business, their departure can follow swiftly.

The 45-year-old rowed back on Thursday. “English is not my first language,” the French coach said. “I was trying to mean we have had some key players missing since the beginning of the season. It’s probably the main explanation for where we are right now. It happens in football. I’m really happy with the players in the squad.”

Bompastor’s English is excellent, so let’s just say this loss of language skills was uncharacteristic. She adopted a similar strategy when asked about the fallout from her most explicit line on Sunday: “I would have liked to be in a better place in terms of the last transfer windows.”

“Did I really say these words? I’m not sure,” Bompastor said four days on. “I’m having a lot of conversations with everyone in the club. We know where we want to be.”

A post-Hayes comedown was inevitable, so Bompastor has done well to go 18 months before resorting to pleading ignorance. Last year’s Treble was defined by narrow victories and the formidable mentality synonymous with the Hayes era, suggesting Bompastor expertly preserved the best traits of her predecessor while introducing her own tweaks.

The winning nous has worn off. Succeeding Hayes has been compared to United’s decline after Sir Alex Ferguson retired, but a better parallel with the men’s game may be Liverpool. They too won the league in their first season after a legendary manager (Jürgen Klopp) left in 2024, but his successor (Arne Slot) is now navigating a turbulent second campaign.

Some Hayes stalwarts are under pressure. Part of Bright’s explanation for the City loss was that “their ’keeper made more saves than our ’keeper”, which was taken by some fans as blaming Hampton. Bright, 32, has since dismissed that interpretation, but the reaction to her quote displays Chelsea’s supporters’ thin patience.

Meanwhile, Sjoeke Nüsken’s frustration over a lack of minutes found its way into the media last Tuesday. The Germany midfielder, 25, voiced comparable qualms last year and seems open to a move this summer. Nüsken was signed in 2023 and, after a strong first season under Hayes, has become a rotation player under Bompastor.

“As a competitive player, it’s normal not to be happy when not getting minutes,” Bompastor said. “We have a good relationship. She [Nüsken] knows exactly what I expect from her. She knows her position in the team and is an important player.”

Nonetheless, Chelsea’s form, the fans’ hysteria and at least one player’s disquiet imply that the mood in the camp is strained.

Many crucial figures (Bright, Bronze, Hampton, Sam Kerr, Aggie Beever-Jones, Guro Reiten) are due to be out of contract this summer and that uncertainty may enhance the tension. As Jess Carter, who left Chelsea in 2024, told The Times last month: “You sign and maybe Chelsea are still thinking about the next best thing to bring in.”

Will the exits include Bompastor? Having said last Sunday she would respect whatever decision was made on her job, she insisted that she had the club’s full support on Thursday.

Keeping her makes sense. It was only last season that Chelsea were breaking records, there is no obvious alternative and Bompastor could still guide the club to their holy grail by winning a first European title in May. That Chelsea rank poorly in chance conversion and winning duels indicates their problems are exacerbated by poor finishing and a lack of grit, rather than tactical flaws.

Injuries have been debilitating. Mayra Ramírez, the striker, has been dearly missed all season, while Bronze, Nathalie Bjorn and Niamh Charles also feature on a long list of absentees. Not all injuries are down to chance, but Bompastor has been unlucky.

Equally, Chelsea have often looked short on imagination this season and Bompastor has lurched between a back three and back four. In her only other senior head coaching job, three years at Lyon, the first was the most successful. Amid last season’s domestic brilliance she lacked pragmatism when Chelsea lost 8-2 on aggregate against Barcelona in the Champions League.

Sacking Bompastor would be immensely brutal, but not extraordinary. She is already the WSL’s second-longest serving head coach.

The Tottenham game, then, is vital. Win and Chelsea could move back up to second, and the past week would appear a wild overreaction. But if Chelsea lose, they could drop as low as fifth. In that scenario, Bompastor would face serious questions over her position — no matter her command of English.

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