January 16th 2025.
Sonia Bompastor has been doing an amazing job as Chelsea's manager. The first half of the season was nothing short of incredible and now, after a well-deserved break and some warm-weather training, we are gearing up for what's to come in the next four months.
We only dropped two points in the Women's Super League, in our final match before the festive break against Leicester. We're also in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, but now we have the FA Cup and League Cup to contend with as well. This means we'll be competing in four competitions instead of just two, and our manager Sonia Bompastor has stressed to us the importance of giving our all in each one. If we manage to go all the way, we could potentially have another 25 games ahead of us before June.
One of the reasons I came back to England was because of the number of fixtures. Compared to Spain, where I used to play, the schedule here is much more manageable in terms of the amount of minutes we play. However, the main difference I noticed between the two is the time off we get over Christmas. At my previous club Barcelona, we would only have four days to ourselves, whereas here we were able to enjoy a well-deserved break.
After our draw against Leicester last month, the girls were all feeling like we needed some time off. Our schedule may have caught up with us a bit, but it was nice to return to hard training in Portugal on our recent trip away. This break was designed to get us prepared for the busy second half of the season, and it was great to have our striker Sam Kerr back with us after her long injury lay-off.
I haven't had the chance to play with Sam yet since I signed last summer, but she was definitely one of the big names that attracted me to the challenge of playing for Chelsea. She's not quite ready to join full training yet, but her return will be a massive boost for all of us, especially considering how intense the season will get.
Last season, when Sam was injured, it sent shockwaves across Europe. Despite her absence, the team has still been performing fantastically, but having her back in the mix will definitely make us even stronger. Our rivals should be worried, as we have a lot of talented players, both seasoned internationals and young talents like 17-year-old Lola Brown. Our bench is so strong that they could easily start for many other clubs.
Some people may wonder why we have such a big squad, but times like these are when it's important to have a deep bench. The fixture list is not going to ease up for a while, so we need to utilize all of our players. Earlier in the season, my teammate Erin Cuthbert said something similar, but I would much rather be in our shoes, playing in these important matches, than watching them on TV.
So far, everything has been going according to plan since I made the decision to leave Barcelona and join Chelsea. There was a transition period when Sonia took over from Emma Hayes, but I quickly adapted to her style and system. Training with the team was one thing, but it took me a while to get used to playing in matches, but I feel like I'm getting more consistent now.
There was a lot of pressure on Sonia when she replaced Emma, but she had already experienced something similar when she became manager of Lyon after their successful times. The expectations were even higher there, with the goal of winning European Cups. But she handles pressure well and always keeps us focused on the present. She's also very open and approachable, both as a person and a boss.
As we head into the second half of the season, it's important for us to stay grounded and focused. It's going to be a busy and challenging period, but we're refreshed and ready to take on whatever comes our way. As a British, female-led brand, ALIGNE is proud to partner with Lucy Bronze as we support and celebrate women in sports. Female athletes embody confidence and strength, and Lucy embodies everything that ALIGNE stands for.
In other football news, former Chelsea and Arsenal winger Willian has offered to join a Premier League club, while British No.1 Katie Boulter crashed out of the Australian Open in a shock defeat. Tennis legend John McEnroe has also made a prediction ahead of the highly-anticipated match between Emma Raducanu and Iga Swiatek.
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