Why Chelsea’s midfield is pivotal ahead of monumental clash with Arsenal | Football News

Chelsea’s midfield has become a new focal point for Emma Hayes this season as the Women’s Super League prepares to return after the winter break.

Hayes’ team continue their three-point lead at the top with a top-of-the-table clash against Arsenal live on Sky on Sunday as they aim to retain their crown and win their first European title.

In previous seasons, Chelsea were able to identify and solve problems in their strong defense and free-flowing attacks, problems in midfield were not easy to eliminate. Ahead of this weekend’s clash with rivals Arsenal, it could be an important area of ​​play.

The last two years have given the team little time to process how they can do it, with a 4-0 defeat at Barcelona in the Champions League final two years ago, and the completion of last year’s WSL campaign, where they pipped Arsenal for the league title on the last day of the season.

At the time, Jonas Eidevall’s Arsenal team had recovered by looking for another striker to break up the reigning champions, especially with main strikers Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema out with long-term ACL injuries.

Hayes, however, had several opportunities to bolster his midfield, to varying degrees of success.

The first was the introduction of Melanie Leupolz in March 2020. A former Bayern Munich midfielder, Leupolz slotted in easily, and was an integral part of Chelsea’s WSL-winning campaign, scoring nine goals in 34 appearances.

He also started 24 of 26 matches in the WSL and Champions League in 2020/21, leading the Blues in total tackles in the WSL while being one of Chelsea’s most creative players and midfielders.

It wasn’t until earlier this season in October when she announced her pregnancy, and after not playing football, things got complicated.

The latest news, however, will please Chelsea fans. Indeed, Leupolz has signed a new deal to stay with the club until 2026, and will return to practice as the maternity period is over.

In his absence, Hayes tried a different combination of players to bridge the gap. This starts with So-yun Ji taking a more conservative position alongside Jessie Fleming or Fran Kirby taking on the shadow striker role. When Ji returned to his homeland after eight years with the Blues, Hayes replaced the Korea international for Erin Cuthbert and Guro Reiten. Although the pair were up to the task, no one could replicate Leupolz’s efforts.

The season ended with a third consecutive title for Chelsea, but after the last three campaigns, many questions surround the team. Who or what will put the finishing touches on the team to replicate the league’s success in Europe?

Hayes admitted there was a ‘profile’ he was looking for in the summer, and it’s clear that the intractable midfield problem, so far, is at the top of his list.

Eve Perisset, Kadeisha Buchanan, Lucy Watson, Katerina Svitkova, Johanna Rytting Kaneryd and Jelena Cankovic. Cankovic looks like an ideal short-term replacement for Leupolz, while Svitkova’s ability to play in the center and on the right wing is a plus. The only thing he lost and couldn’t get, was the number eight.

Chelsea initially attempted to right that wrong by making a world record bid of more than £425,000 for French midfielder Grace Geyoro, following an impressive Euro 2020 campaign in which she scored six goals in 14 appearances. And apparently the PSG star also wants to move to London.

He spoke to a French newspaper Team: “I had several meetings with the management, I explained why and how I wanted to leave. Today, I have one foot in Paris and one foot in Chelsea. I have been at Paris Saint-Germain for ten years. Now, I have experienced many things , and now I have a chance.”

But despite the interest from both sides, PSG have stayed down, keeping Geyoro around their European and domestic ambitions, and this means Chelsea enter the 2022/23 season without an identifiable number eight.

Do they have backup options? Kiera Walsh and Amandine Henry are the names doing the rounds, but Manchester City obviously won’t sell the former to a rival club, and the latter is confident of staying in Women’s Division 1 territory with Lyon.

It was a tactical error that reared its ugly head in the first game of the season in an unexpected 2-1 defeat to newly promoted Liverpool. The Reds’ Katie Stengel fires home two penalties and has run from the factory in the middle of the park.

As such, the Blues have found themselves in the same place last season: behind rivals Arsenal after just one game.

Hayes had to go, but as she recovered from an emergency hysterectomy, she could only watch from the sidelines. The tactical tweaks he asked for general manager Paul Green were genius, but they were actually planned.

Enter stage-right: Cuthbert.

The Scotland international has missed out on Euro 2020, with his country failing to qualify. In the time it took for his England team-mates to win the tournament, Cuthbert was training one-on-one, getting used to his new role in midfield.

It was a role she would relish; Cuthbert has spoken to Hayes about his desire to play in midfield, having been a roaming left-sided midfielder. Although he had been assigned there last year, there was a lack of strategy behind what he ordered. This season has been very different, Cuthbert has an 88 per cent completion rate and links up well with his teammates.

“This pre-season, I have a lot of time to strengthen the ins and outs and get the position right,” he said in an interview with 90mins.

His partner-in-crime, Sophie Ingle, has been next to him, has developed a lot of experience in the role for Wales, and the couple so far has been a reckonable force. Ingle in particular has done a good job that Hayes rewarded him with a two-year contract extension. He was described as getting a call about the offer, and simply telling his agent: ‘do it’.

With the duo under pressure in midfield, Chelsea’s wingers can stretch the opposition’s defenses on the wings and increase the size of their attacking options – which will be key against Arsenal’s number nine, Stina Blackstenius.

Led by Guro Reiten. Over the last two seasons, the Norway international has revitalized Chelsea’s left wing, proving to be a lethal feature of the Blues’ 4-2-3-1 attack.

Most recently, he earned December’s Player of the Month, certainly thanks to his four-assist performance against Leicester City. Reiten could easily provide for the likes of Sam Kerr and Lauren James, as well as getting a goal of his own as they thrashed the Midlands side by eight goals. He now has nine assists in 10 games.

Where he has been key is flying through the middle and picking out key passes for James and co. As Arsenal have parted ways with Jordan Nobbs and are playing with Kim Little as their deepest midfielder, keeping Reiten on the line would be one way to contain this Chelsea team.

If Hayes’ team can maintain momentum with their current midfield plans, then their chances of replicating their success will increase. That started this weekend against Arsenal, and in particular, the signing of new Gunners striker Victoria Pelova.

Keep your eyes peeled on how the Blues fare over the rest of the season live on Sky, with all 35 games available on Sky’s flagship channel, including Sky Sports Premier League, Sky Sports Football and Sky Sports Main Event.

You can also follow the latest WSL news on ‘Inside the WSL’, hosted by award-winning broadcaster and journalist Jessica Creighton.