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What happens when a leader departs a sporting dynasty? How can the transfer of power cause as little disruption to the team as possible? History has all too often illustrated that it is a far from easy adjustment; that it will take a little time to regroup and recalibrate.
For Chelsea, however, the transition from Emma Hayes’s decade-long reign to new beginnings under Sonia Bompastor appears to have caused barely a ripple. The club are unbeaten, registering 25 wins in 27 games. On Saturday they have the chance to claim the campaign’s first trophy – the League Cup final against Manchester City is a real an opportunity to stamp their mark as the business end of the season begins.
One of the players to have experienced the change is Aggie Beever-Jones. Having come up through the Chelsea academy and enjoyed a breakout season under Hayes last campaign, she is looking to establish her role under Bompastor. “All I ever knew was Emma in Chelsea as a kid,” she says. “She gave me that trust to come into the first team, but Sonia has added a new element to this team.
“She’s someone who’s done an immense thing for the women’s game. She is a great person; she’s won both as a coach and a player, which is an incredible achievement. We are lucky to have her and the staff that she has brought in.”
The 21-year-old cuts a relaxed figure but is clearly deeply motivated to succeed. She is embracing the opportunity to develop under her new manager and the experienced players around her. “It is a bit of tough love [with Bompastor],” she says. “She knows I’d rather hear it straight up and know what I need to work on. She knows how to get the best out of me.
“There are some training sessions where I can be frustrated that I’m not starting or not playing to the best of my ability, but she knows how to get my head out of that place. She tells me to focus on the basics and get the next action right. She’s really helped with the mental side of my game.
“Last year was a bit of a whirlwind. Having the season I had and scoring a lot of goals, there was a bit of pressure that I wanted to match it. At the start of the season, I maybe got in my own head a little bit, but if I’m playing with a smile on my face and with confidence, then I believe everything else will fall into place. I feel like I’m in a good place mentally and I [want] to keep working and give the right people headaches.”
Beever-Jones credits Chelsea’s success this season to the staff who “make Chelsea one of the best clubs” and the close-knit feel this high-quality squad have developed. “We’ve done a lot of team bonding,” she says. “It’s creating that whole philosophy that we are one club, one team, and we trust one another. If you trust people off the pitch, it does coincide on the pitch.
“It’s the mentality. We never settle even if we’re winning games. It’s always about looking at the performances and where we can improve. There’s no magic answer, but there is the unwritten aura we have to get through games and play to the best of our ability.”
Bompastor cannot be drawn on comparisons with Hayes’s tenure but hints at her team’s flexibility as being key to their success. “What I’m trying to do is to make our team as unpredictable as we can be,” she says. “We have enough strengths to possess the ball in certain moments of the game, but we also have the strengths to play direct football sometimes and to hurt teams with this style.”
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It was this versatility that served Chelsea well when they last played Manchester City. Their 2-0 victory at Stamford Bridge in November epitomised what it means to be patient out of possession and clinical with it.
The League Cup final marks the first of four meetings between the teams in 13 days. “I can’t say I’ve heard of anything like it,” Beever-Jones says with a laugh. “I don’t know how we’re going to prepare for it.”
It starts at Pride Park and the motivation to lift the trophy is evident. Beever-Jones was part of the team that lost in last year’s final and that has left them with “a bit of fire in the belly”.
“Lifting silverware means everything,” she says. “It’s part of Chelsea. We have that winning philosophy and this is the first step in that process. We’ve got a new manager, new players and a new philosophy. I’ve not won this trophy yet, so it would be a good thing to add to my name.”
