Soccer

‘Same ambitions’ as Sonia Bompastor chases trophies with Chelsea

Former Lyon boss Bompastor is stepping into the shoes of Emma Hayes, who led the Blues to five league titles in a row.

Sonia Bompastor has trophy ambitions at Chelsea
Sonia Bompastor has trophy ambitions at Chelsea (Bradley Collyer/PA)
By Reuben Rosso-Powell, PA

Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor believes supporters should continue to expect titles under her tenure ahead of her first Women’s Super League match against Aston Villa on Friday.

Bompastor, who took over from the departed Emma Hayes in the summer, wants to continue the former Blues boss’ legacy by winning Chelsea’s sixth successive league title.

The French manager is no stranger to silverware in her career. She became the first woman to win the Champions League as both player and manager with Lyon before making the switch to London.

When asked if her ambitions for trophies match Hayes’, Bompastor said: “The same. We have the same ambitions.

“When you’re Chelsea you just want to win every title, want to compete in every competition.

“We know all the teams will be ready, it’ll be tough. The players are competitive and so am I so we like to be in that position where we can compete.”

Chelsea beat Villa home and away last season before lifting the title on the final day at Manchester United.

Bompastor has not overlooked Robert de Pauw’s side and talked up the importance of starting the new campaign with a win at Kingsmeadow.

“We’re the holders of the title and want to start strongly in the league tomorrow night,” she added.

“It’s really important. Coming to Chelsea I know how competitive the league is here, if you look at Villa’s results they had a good pre-season and beat Manchester City.

“We have respect for Villa, they have a good quality squad, so the first game will be important and we need to focus on ourselves by starting as strongly as we can.

“We’re ready, we will have a hard time because this league is not easy but we’ve worked hard and feel ready for that.”

Chelsea announced Jorja Fox, who was on loan at Crystal Palace, and midfielder Sophie Ingle have both ruptured their ACLs.

The news will come as a blow to Bompastor who will now be without the experienced Ingle for a considerable period of time.

“It’s sad, we’re gutted for Jorja. We also had Sophie who tore her ACL so at the moment we just want to focus on supporting them,” she said.

“It’s sad news for Jorja and Sophie, the club’s helping to support them and I think they’re both important for us.

“It’s not good news or a good time.”