Player of the season contenders
Millie Bright is the player with the most minutes for the club this season, but does she have your vote for player of the year?
It’s that time of year again when we start to wonder who will be Chelsea’s player of the season winner once all is said and done.
While of course think all the players have had an outstanding year, there are a select few who stand out from the rest and here I will break down exactly why they are the final nominations.
The final player is Millie Bright.
You can read the player of the season contender articles on Sam Kerr here, Jess Carter here and Erin Cuthbert here.
All stats in this piece correct up to 22/04/2022
No Chelsea player has managed to play every minute of every game this season, but at 3248 minutes, Millie Bright is the Chelsea player who’s featured most for the Blues so far this season.
In fact, the only minutes missed by Bright this season was the final three minutes vs Arsenal on the opening day of the season, when she was replaced by Jessie Fleming as Chelsea chased a late equaliser, and the final four minutes of the following game, a 4-0 win vs. Everton, as she was replaced by Aniek Nouwen.
Since then, she’s featured in every minute of every game we’ve played this season, showing her importance to the team and to manager Emma Hayes.
And given the fact that Chelsea have conceded just 8 goals all season in the WSL, three of which came on the opening day, it’s no surprise that the player that’s been in the team all season, would be included in our player of the season conversations.
As you can see, Bright’s heatmap reveals just how influential she’s been on the pitch for Chelsea this season. Out of Chelsea’s defenders, only Jess Carter (424) has competed in more duels than Bright (379). While only Nouwen’s 65.9% duel success rate is better than Bright’s 63.9%
But where Bright really stands above her team mates, is in the aerial duels, with the 28-year-old competing in 133, with a success rate of 69.2%. The only player coming anywhere near those figures is captain Magdalena Eriksson, who has a 63.1% success rate from 111 aerial duels.
Bright also leads the team in terms of interceptions, with 180, which is well clear of Nouwen (108), Carter (133) and Eriksson (99).
Something that needs pointing out, is Bright’s pass percentage, which is the lowest across both short and long passes, but it is worth noting that Bright has attempted 2377 short passes compared to Nouwen’s 1120, Carter’s 1639 and Eriksson’s 1310.
For long passes, the gap is similar, with Bright’s 358 long passes eclipsing Nouwen’s 134, Carter’s 182 and Eriksson’s 163.
Add to that the fact that Bright has played almost double the minutes of Nouwen and Eriksson and over 500 more than Carter, you can see why her passing numbers might be slightly lower than that of her fellow defensive team mates.
However it’s not in statistics and percentages, even though they are fantastic, that Millie Bright has earned her place amongst the fellow nominees.
On the 16th December 2021, Chelsea went out of the Champions League after a 4-0 defeat to Wolfsburg, but it wasn’t just the match they lost, they also lot captain Magda Eriksson to injury.
The injury would see the Swedish international miss 3 months of competitive action, a period in which Chelsea played 11 games, losing just once, in the Conti Cup final vs Manchester City.
Under Bright’s captaincy, Chelsea were able to gain a vital point against Arsenal, and a 1-0 win over Manchester City in the WSL to keep the title in Chelsea’s favour. They also beat Manchester United 3-1 in the Conti Cup semi-final and Aston Villa and Leicester City to get through to the FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal, a game they also won without Eriksson.
It was just last season that the absence of Eriksson in some key games that Chelsea looked incredibly vulnerable, with Sophie Ingle having to drop into defence.
Now, Chelsea looked, with the exception of the cup final, defensively solid, which is due to the great performance of all the defenders, but it has been Bright who has lead them, and the team, through this period to ensure we are still challenging for titles in May.
Bright has been faultless for the entire season, and the only down point is that one of her 40-yard rockets hasn’t gone in yet! (But there’s still time).
Chelsea have the best defensive record in the WSL this season, conceding just 9 goals in 20 games. That alone should be enough justification for the leader of this team to be included in player of the season conversations.
When Chelsea needed a leader, Bright stepped up, and has used her experience to guide youngsters like Aniek Nouwen and Jess Carter to reach levels that not many predicted early on in the season.
And whilst it’s only fair that all the defenders, including those who’ve played wing back and the goalkeepers, get their due credit for such an outstanding season, I believe that the role that Bright has played, by wearing the armband and setting the example for her team mates on the pitch, means she’s deserving of a place amongst our player of the year nominations.