Chelsea's Dramatic Decline in WSL Performance

Chelsea have experienced a significant downturn in the Women's Super League (WSL), shifting from an unbeaten domestic dominance to trailing 12 points behind the league leaders within just nine months. Once the preeminent force in English women's football for nearly a decade, Chelsea aimed to secure their seventh WSL title this season but now find themselves fighting to maintain a spot for next season's Women's Champions League.

The scale of their decline is stark. Their recent 5-1 defeat to Manchester City on Sunday was a particularly harsh setback.

Following the match, head coach Sonia Bompastor committed to continuing her search for solutions but acknowledged she would be "happy" to step down if the club's leadership deemed it necessary.

Identifying the Causes of Chelsea's Struggles

The most apparent indicator of Chelsea's troubles is their results. Last season, the team dropped only six points. This season, however, unexpected setbacks—including a loss to Everton, a draw with Liverpool, and consecutive defeats to rivals Arsenal and Manchester City—have resulted in 15 points lost by 1 February, marking the first time in 11 years they have suffered back-to-back losses.

On Sunday, Bompastor subtly expressed internal frustrations, highlighting the squad's diminished depth compared to the previous season. She emphasized how this limitation has constrained her tactical flexibility and ability to rotate players to maintain freshness.

"Without making too many comments on that, I would have liked to have been in a better place from the last transfer window," Bompastor said when asked about summer recruitment.

Of the five players signed during the summer, only Ellie Carpenter and Alyssa Thompson have become regular starters. Chelsea broke their club record by paying nearly £1 million for Thompson and invested in Carpenter as well, but Bompastor had hoped for more reinforcements.

Injuries to key players such as Mayra Ramirez, Nathalie Bjorn, and Lauren James have further impacted the squad's defensive and offensive capabilities at times this season.

With the January transfer window closing on Tuesday and no new signings made, Bompastor's dissatisfaction is evident. Meanwhile, WSL leaders Manchester City secured American midfielder Sam Coffey, and Arsenal are preparing major pre-contract agreements for Spain full-back Ona Batlle and England international Georgia Stanway to join in the summer.

"A lot of people talk about Chelsea being an example of having depth in the squad and of having players with different profiles they can bring into the game. Right now, I don't think we are in that place," Bompastor stated on Sunday.

"I'm not saying that explains everything, but being in that position probably doesn't help. As a manager I will always [accept responsibility for] the results of this team so I need to focus also on what the solutions are for me to be in a much better place.

"It's tough because I have to focus on the players available but when you have many games in a row, you can't rotate as much as you want and you can't bring in the exact profile you want in the game."

Performance Issues Beyond Squad Depth

While Bompastor's concerns about squad depth carry weight, Chelsea's performances reveal additional troubling trends. Despite a roster rich in talent and experience, the team has appeared devoid of creativity and lacking in clinical finishing.

The once formidable 'mentality monsters' are no longer seen as invincible, showing vulnerabilities in defense and inefficiency in attack.

According to Opta statistics, Chelsea are underperforming their expected goals tally more than any other team, scoring 24 goals from an expected 29. In their 2-0 loss to Arsenal, they managed 18 shots but only one was on target.

This season marks the first in the WSL where Chelsea have recorded one or fewer shots on target in multiple matches, including a 1-1 draw against Liverpool.

During the opening 15 minutes of the second half against Manchester City on Sunday, Chelsea held 70% possession, yet City scored twice in that period.

The 5-1 defeat represents the joint-largest loss Chelsea have suffered in the WSL and places them at their furthest distance from the top of the table since the final day of the 2018-19 season.

"It was two top teams playing against each other and one was efficient and the other was not. I'm not putting everything on the players, but we made too many mistakes and we need to solve that," Bompastor said post-match.

"I always reflect on my own decisions and my tactics. I'm always hard on myself. We played the game against Arsenal with a back three. This game, we changed the system to a back four and tried something different with...