A blog of two halves

Blues survive Spurs attack before finding their form

The games are coming thick and fast for Chelsea Women, with Brighton and Arsenal visiting in the next four days.

1 February 2021
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Player of the match Melanie Leupolz tangles with Spurs captain Alanna Kennedy in Sunday's 4-0 victory

The games are coming thick and fast for Chelsea Women, with Brighton and Arsenal visiting in the next four days.

Based on last weekend’s storming performance against Spurs Women, the Blues’ dazzling form offers real hope of cementing the place at the top of the Women’s Super League.

Yet Chelsea began Sunday’s game at Kingsmeadow completely on the back foot and having to weather chance after chance from a Tottenham side who flew out of the blocks.

For 20 minutes they were all at sea as keeper Ann-Katrin Berger made key saves from Shelina Zadorsky and Kit Graham, while Ria Percival – wearing a white protective facemask like the Lone Ranger – struck the post.

Grilled about why her side had been uncharacteristically pinned in their own half for 20 unnerving minutes, manager Emma Hayes blamed sloppiness. “We played into their hands, but credit to the opponents,” she said. “There’s an expectation on this team to win all the time and perform amazingly, but we’re human and sometimes we’re not at our best.”

She said that sometimes a team needs reminding about life’s realities, and that success has to be earned.

Chelsea suddenly found their rhythm and purpose, firing home two quickfire goals and eventually running out comfortable 4-0 winners – but it required the astute touchline guidance of Hayes to wake her players up.

Mel Leupolz, who scored two goals including one from the spot, shone for the Blues. Maybe the German pro, approaching her 27th birthday, was inspired by the arrival of Thomas Tuchel at Stamford Bridge – a manager widely admired for his tactical nous.

He seems to have got neglected and marginalised players fizzing again, suggesting interesting times ahead at Stamford Bridge.

Hayes, too, is proving adept at developing younger players, promoting Jorja Fox and Aggie Beever-Jones to the first team squad, and encouraging Jessie Fleming to build confidence in a forward role.

Wednesday night’s clash with Arsenal Women at Kingsmeadow could prove crucial in the race for the title.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.

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Tim Harrison

Tim is our Chelsea FC blogger.

Tim has been writing Chelsea match reports since the late 1980s for newspapers and, more recently, websites.

When he first reported on the Blues, the press box was a metal cage suspended over the lip of the old west stand - and you reached it via a precarious walkway over the heads of the fans.

But he has been a Chelsea fan since his father took an excited seven-year-old to watch Chelsea v Manchester United in the mid 1960s... and covered his ears every time the chanting got too ripe.

In July 2005 he wrote The Rough Guide to Chelsea, published by Penguin, which sold 15,000 copies.

His favourite player of all time is Charlie Cooke, the mazy winger who lit up Chelsea's left wing in the 60s and 70s.

When he isn't watching the Blues, Tim acts, paints, writes and researches local history.

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