Pre season thoughts
12 days until the WSL kicks off, what have we learned from our friendly fixtures?
Pre-season came to a end on Sunday with a 2-0 win over Drew Spence’s Tottenham Hotspur team in front of a good crowd at Kingsmeadow. Goals from Pernille Harder and Lauren James in the first half was enough for the WSL Champions to win in comfortable fashion,
Chelsea had also travelled to the USA to play in the Women’s International Challenge Cup, Goals from Sam Kerr and Lauren James had put Chelsea 2-0 up against Champions League holders Lyon, but wholesale changes to the team in the second half saw Lyon score two late goals to tie the game at 2-2, and although they lost on penalties, the manner of the performance would’ve been encouraging for Emma Hayes.
As would the 1-0 win over the reigning NWSL Champions the Portland Thorns, as Chelsea had to hold firm defensively, especially towards the end of the game as they protected the lead given to them by Guro Reiten.
Chelsea’s team for the Spurs game consisted of just 11 first team players and 3 academy prospects on the bench, as a second Chelsea XI had played a match against Chelsea’s U18 men’s team earlier in the day at Cobham.
The games gave every player in the squad (excluding Fran Kirby) the chance to play 90 minutes before this ridiculous international break we have before the season starts at Stamford Bridge on September 11th.
I’d expect those that have stayed behind to play another fixture towards the end of next week/weekend, either against another WSL side or another men’s youth team, behind closed doors.
So, after three official games, two wins and one draw, 5 goals scored, 2 conceded, what have we learned ahead of the 2022/23 WSL season?
Well, if you remember in this piece from the beginning of August, Three things to look for in pre-season, I was looking forward to seeing; 1) which formation we would play. 2) the new signings and 3) the role of Jessie Fleming, so let’s take a deeper dive into all three sections.
1) Formation
Emma Hayes is forever telling us that we get too caught up in formations and how the players line up at kick off, but the truth is, how this Chelsea team operates on the pitch is probably the most interesting thing to cover.
Chelsea have been operating with a quasi-back three/back four system for some time now and it seems as though that won’t be changing any time soon.
The Blues have lined up with a back four, and have transitioned in games back to a three, things are fluid and flexible and we shouldn’t expect that to change.
What was interesting however, was the use of Erin Cuthbert as a lone 6, as Chelsea played a 4-1-4-1 vs Lyon, with Guro Reiten, Pernille Harder, Jessie Fleming and Lauren James ahead of her.
And in the 4-3-3 against Tottenham Hotspur, with Harder and James playing as attacking 8’s.
Many supporters have been calling for Hayes to sign a midfielder in the profile of Lena Oberdorf, but it appears that Cuthbert will be the player to take this role on for Chelsea.
She seems a perfect fit for it as well, able to cover vast areas of the pitch, can tackle (and foul when necessary), and also can pick a pass, much like the one over the top for Sam Kerr to score the opening goal vs Lyon.
You can read more about Cuthbert as the 6 here.
It appears Chelsea are still in the market for a midfielder, even after the signing of Jelena Cankovic (who I profiled here), and if that is PSG’s Grace Geyoro, who recently had the captain armband removed, this still suggests that Cuthbert as a 6 could be an option in many WSL games, as Geyoro operates best as a box-to-box midfielder and in a pivot, would compliment Cuthbert in big games.
The other interesting element we’ve seen in pre-season is just the sheer number of variations that this team can execute to a high standard. Chelsea can play with three at the back, four at the back, one in midfield, two in midfield, wide wingers, inverted wingers, deep lying number 10’s and much more.
Chelsea’s summer signings have enabled them to be more adaptable to a wide variety of opponents, whether they need to break down a low block, match high intensity or sit deep and play on the counter attack.
This Chelsea team can really do it all now, and it shows how serious they are about hunting all four trophies.
2) New signings
Chelsea have been extremely busy in the transfer market this summer, as we’ve welcomed Katrina Svitkova, Kadeisha Buchanan, Eve Perisset, Johanna Rytting-Kaneryd, Jelena Cankovic and Lucy Watson, who is out on loan at Charlton.
Unfortunately the signing of Cankovic came too late for us to see her in action, although she could’ve played at Cobham, just nobody knows.
But we have had a better look at the other signings, Kadeisha Buchanan played both 90 minutes of the Challenge Cup in the states, she was perhaps the most impressive player on the tour, finishing with an 89.2% pass accuracy, 52.9% long pass accuracy, 60% duels won, and 42.9% duels won.
Her partnership with both captain Magda Eriksson and Millie Bright has looked good, and her composure on the ball, ability to read the game and the ability to win the ball back have stood out.
French full back Eve Perisset is another new signing that caught the eye, she played 110 minutes over the two games in the USA, coming on for 34 minutes against Lyon, which included scoring a penalty in the shoot out, and 76 minutes of the 1-0 win against the Portland Thorns.
She also showed her versatility playing the full 90 minutes at left back vs Spurs, with Jess Carter coming in at right back.
Her link up with JRK in that game against the Thorns was encouraging, in that game Perisset had 5 crosses (2 successful), 100% dribble success and even made 6 recoveries in the opposition half as Chelsea attempted to smother Portland in their own half.
I’d like to see more from her in an attacking sense, but defensively, Perisset has shown all the things that impressed me at the Euro’s, and her positioning and ability to read dangerous situations have shone through again.
Swedish winger Johanna Rytting-Kaneryd has had a positive pre-season, there was concerns, especially in her home country, that playing time would be limited, but Kaneryd has featured heavily for the Blues.
The 25-year-old featured in both games of the USA tour, coming on for the final 30 minutes against Lyon and playing 81 minutes in the second game vs the Portland Thorns.
She completed 78.4% of her passes over both games, averaged 2.35 crosses per 90 (66.7% successful) and 2.35 dribbles per 90 (33.3% success).
Stats aren’t available for her performance against Tottenham, but she got into lots of great attacking positions, the only thing missing was that final bit of magic to score or create an assist.
This could be just down to the player getting used to her new surroundings, she’s come from a team where she was the top player and now is in a squad full of world class talent.
There could be an element of imposter syndrome, but as soon as JRK believes in her self that she’s meant to be in this Chelsea team is when we will see the best from her, something of which I’m extremely confident.
One player we haven’t seen much of is Katerina Svitkova, the Czech international played just 7 minutes vs Lyon, wasn’t used against Portland and then played in the behind closed doors game at Cobham.
Although she’s got the most WSL experience out of the new signings, you have to question her fitness levels considering she’s hardly featured.
Comment below which new signing has impressed you the most.
3) Jessie Fleming
Probably because she’s one of my favourite players to watch is why I was focusing on Jessie Fleming this pre-season.
At 24 years of age and a wealth of international footballing experience, it feels like now is the time for Fleming to be a feature of this team week in, week out, something we haven’t really seen in her Chelsea career thus far, despite increased minutes last season.
It’s also the final year of her current contract, and despite rumours of her signing a new deal just before sanctions hit former owner Roman Abramovich, there don’t appear to be any signs of a new deal forthcoming, so this season appears to be a vital one for Fleming’s Chelsea career.
Last season we saw Fleming operate in the Pernille Harder role, as a free floating 10 behind the striker. Many suggest she would be better suited to the pivot, but as I wrote in this piece, Chelsea’s playing style didn’t really suit this.
Her role vs Lyon in the opening pre-season game was an interesting one, she played sort of in between Cuthbert as the 6 and Harder as the 10. Sitting in when needed and pushing forward when she could to create an extra body in midfield.
She finished with 97% passing accuracy, 67% dribble success and 50% duel success in the game, creating a perfect link between defence and attack.
Fleming also played in the behind closed doors friendly vs Chelsea’s U18 academy side, and given the players available, it’s likely she would’ve played as a number 10 like last season.
Unfortunately for us, Fleming is now flying alongside Sam Kerr to Australia for a friendly in the week before the season starts, so hopefully fatigue does not stop her showcasing her talents against West Ham at Stamford Bridge.
So with the official pre-season done, and the majority of the squad away on international duty, Emma Hayes next task is to pick her starting XI for West Ham on the opening day in front of what will be a record crowd at Stamford Bridge.
Based on what we’ve seen in pre-season, my predicted line up is this;
Let me know yours below!
I was pondering the line up too.
I broadly agree. Carter may hold her place at right back.
JRK may start at the expense of Fleming, with James pushed infield. Lauren has been given the number 10 shirt, after all.
Ingle is looking very much a back up this year.
For me, Buchanan and Perisset have been the most impressive of the new arrivals - no huge surprise there.
Kerr and Fleming are playing not one but two friendlies Down Under (Buchanan has passed due to injury) - so I wouldn't be surprised to see both start on the bench for the first WSL match. But I would also imagine that the club is making sure they're not flying back from Oz in steerage!
BTW, I'm intrigued by the Sunday morning "ghost game" at Cobham. It's common for US college women's teams to practice against men - is this something that's done by WSL teams?