The 2024-25 Blues have already lifted two trophies in what Lionesses star Millie Bright dubbed 'the smoothest transition' after Emma Hayes' departure
It's hard to know where to start when discussing Sonia Bompastor's first season in charge of Chelsea. That unbeaten Women's Super League campaign, the first for any team in the competition's 22-game era, feels like a good place, but there are other records that are equally impressive. The Blues racked up more points in the WSL this year than any side ever has, while matching the best-ever return of wins. And there is more history to be made this weekend, too, in Chelsea's final game of a remarkable 2024-25 season.
When Bompastor leads her side out at Wembley on Sunday, to take on Manchester United in the FA Cup final, she'll be just one more win away from achieving something that Emma Hayes did only once in a monumental 12-year stint, in winning the treble. Despite Chelsea clinching seven league titles, five FA Cups and two League Cups in Hayes' tenure, they only lifted all three in the same season once. It says a lot about how difficult it is to achieve that feat.
It also says a lot about the impact Bompastor has made at a club she joined less than a year ago. By succeeding Hayes, she was following in some huge, ground-breaking footsteps. But she has manoeuvred that challenge perfectly to make a record-breaking impact right away – and, in her own words, with still plenty of room for improvement.
Getty ImagesObsessed with winning
Get even a glimpse into who Bompastor is as a competitor and it's easy to understand why she has been so successful already. As someone who represented Lyon, the eight-time European champions, as a player and a manager, it's no surprise that she has the winning mentality you need to be an elite coach.
In the build-up to this season, the Frenchwoman spoke about the desire to break records. While she literally couldn't improve the Blues' place in the WSL standings, with them having won all of the last five titles before her arrival, she could target other things. "You can always improve on being first with most points, most goals, most clean sheets," she said. "There are always ways to improve."
Bompastor might not have been on the money with the records she would break, only casually predicting the most points feat, but she was right. She could improve the team and she has. She's used those records to motivate her players, too. After clinching that 'invincible' season on Saturday, Keira Walsh revealed what the Chelsea boss said to the team before the game: "She said, 'It's not every day that you can go and break records. It's once in a lifetime, potentially'." That is someone who is obsessed with winning.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesRight amount of change
To get to those feats, though, Bompastor needed to understand the best way to build on Hayes' success. Many of the pieces were in place for her to continue to deliver trophies, such as the strong squad, the exciting pipeline of young talent and the winning culture in the dressing room. In that sense, it was almost trickier to make her mark on this team, because to change too much could be disruptive. Lucy Bronze put it perfectly when she told : "We're trying to develop something whilst not taking away from the legacy that Chelsea's always had."
It's a sentiment Johanne Rytting Kaneryd, signed by Hayes in the summer of 2022, echoed. "The way Emma built up this team and this culture, you can't just come and change it like that," she told reporters before Sunday's FA Cup final. "That's been very good. It's been natural as well. You never know when you switch the coach. I think, looking back, it was probably the best way possible. I think they both remind each other of each other."
Getty ImagesSmooth transition
That has made for what Millie Bright described as "the smoothest transition I've ever experienced". That's a huge compliment to many people – to Hayes, for leaving this team in a place that was so favourable for her successor; to Bompastor, for getting the players on board right away with her vision; to the club, for nailing a crucial appointment; and to the players, who have given everything to make this season a success.
“Change is how you want to take it really," Bright added, speaking to about the switch from Hayes to Bompastor. "You could make it a bad thing or a good thing. For us, I think it came at the right time. I think everyone accepted that and I think we needed that to go to another level. We needed something fresh, something different and, to be honest, I think everyone's taken their game to a new level this season. Collectively, we've become even stronger."
It's no shade to Hayes, who has been instantly successful herself in the United States, delivering an Olympic gold medal just weeks after taking the women's national team job. But sometimes a change is just needed to freshen things up, and Chelsea are benefiting from that right now.
Getty ImagesNot without disappointment
That all said, this hasn't been a faultless first season for Bompastor. Failure in the Champions League is the elephant in the room, with the Blues handily beaten via an 8-2 aggregate scoreline by Barcelona in the semi-finals. That is the competition that was spoken about so much when Bompastor arrived, given she is the only person to win the women's edition as a player and a manager, at Lyon. However, she's not been able to give her new team what they need in Europe just yet.
There have been underwhelming performances in the competitions she has been successful in, too. Through the second half of the WSL in particular, it became a regular occurrence for Bompastor to bemoan elements of her team's display, a lack of ruthlessness or a goal conceded, despite never losing. That's a glimpse into the standards she has.
"I think next season we can push on and improve a lot more," Bronze told . "We've not been at our best the second half of the season. So I think Sonia's done well so far. I think she wants a lot more from us and I think we can give it.”
"She wants to play attacking football with a lot of intensity. Of course, a season is long. It's hard to be on your highest level all the time," Rytting Kaneryd added. "I think, somehow, the strength we have in this team is to always find a way to win. I don't know how many games we scored in the last five minutes.
"In the beginning of the season we were talking about how we always had a good start from every game. We scored in the first 20 minutes. Then, we had a tough period during the winter, and somehow we still managed to win. This winning culture… Of course, Emma was a winner as well and it was very clear with her as a coach, too. I think that just comes natural in this club. But I really feel like Sonia demands a lot and she's very clear with what she wants. I think that's really good to have."
