Bompastor and Abily the ‘missing ingredient’ for Chelsea says Bronze | OneFootball

Chelsea full-back Lucy Bronze says that head coach Sonia Bompastor and assistant Camille Abily have what’s required to take the club to the next level.

Bompastor was appointed as new head coach of The Blues in May. She has been tasked with carrying on former boss Emma Hayes’ legacy and winning a first UEFA Women’s Champions League title.

Since getting to work in South West London, Bompastor has added a number of new faces to her squad including full-back Bronze. When reflecting on her move to Chelsea, Bronze highlighted Bompastor’s appointment as an important factor. She believes that the new Blues boss and assistant Abily have all of the attributes to take Chelsea to a new level.

“Chelsea have been the best team in England for five consecutive years, so being at a top team was important to me,” Bronze said when speaking in a Barclays Women’s Super League media event.

“Sonia [Bompastor] and Cami [Abily] coming in as the coaches; two people I know very well as friends as well as coaches and players, I know how ambitious they are. They’ve got that missing ingredient that could push Chelsea up to that next level in terms of Champions League success.

“For me, it was a no-brainer in the end. Sonia said ‘come and play with me’ and I said ‘yeah, let’s go’.”

Bronze went on to discuss Chelsea’s identity. She believes that former boss Hayes’ legacy remains embedded within the team but new head coach Bompastor will bring an additional level of control.

She said “That same Chelsea mentality of winning, being hard to beat is still there. I think those things that Emma [Hayes] instilled on the team and the club will always be there. Sonia is adding her ways to that.

“We don’t want to by any way scrap the success that Chelsea’s had. In terms of football, we still have that fast, attacking speed of play but maybe there’s a bit more ball possession, a little bit more control of the game.

“Chelsea have been known for bullying teams around right until the very end. We’ve got that but now we can add a little bit more control and try and control games as well.”

Chelsea kick-off the new Barclays Women’s Super League season with a fixture against Aston Villa at Kingsmeadow on Friday night. It will be a battle of two new managers with Bompastor’s Chelsea facing Robert de Pauw’s new-look Aston Villa. Bronze gave an insight into what she is expecting from The Villans.

She said “They’ve still got a quality group of players and a lot of players that I know well. Some of my best friends play there and I’ve probably spoken to them more than others, so I do know a little bit about Villa.

“The new manager has come in and set-up how he wants to play; quite diligent, quite strict. It could be a different Villa but also, a different Chelsea as well. I’m sure that people will be watching to see how the two teams compare against each other.”

Chelsea’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Aston Villa kicks-off at 7pm on Friday night. Limited tickets remain on-sale and can be purchased by clicking here.