da bet nacional： Emma Hayes' side sealed the deal on Saturday, beating Manchester United to it on the final day, and it's their best one for several reasons

da brwin： Chelsea manager Emma Hayes is well-versed in dealing with the media. For someone who handles incredibly pressurised moments with relative ease, answering a few questions from the press isn’t a problem. But, after her team beat Manchester United in the 2022-23 Women’s FA Cup final on May 14, she was left a little lost at how to respond a particular thought put to her in her post-match press conference.

“You don't see many dynasties in world sport,” was the musing at the start of the journalist’s question. Before it could continue, Hayes interrupted with almost an embarrassed giggle, almost reluctant to associate herself with such a huge thing.

“Sometimes managers are not given that opportunity, but also not all of them have the stamina to know how to do it,” the journalist added, before asking: “Do you think this is what you're building now?”

Hayes pondered and let out a sigh. “That’s a good question,” she replied, before reflecting on the work that goes into building a winning team like Chelsea’s. She talked about not seeing her son as much as she might like and how she’s given everything to this club to win 14 trophies in the last eight years.

That number is now 15. Chelsea’s successful defence of their Women’s Super League title is their fourth league triumph in a row. It’s a feat that’s not been done since the greatest dynasty in English women’s football, that of Arsenal’s incredible women’s team under Vic Akers – where Hayes was his assistant.

The Chelsea boss might’ve been tentative to describe the success she has enjoyed on the blue side of London in the same grand terms you might relate to that team – but make no mistake, the achievements of her and her Chelsea team are well and truly remarkable.

And this WSL title, which the Blues won on the final day of an enthralling 2022-23 season, is their most impressive to date.

GettyNo Kirby or Harder

One of the biggest obstacles Chelsea have faced this season is injuries to key players, namely to Fran Kirby and Pernille Harder. Kirby hasn’t featured since February due to a knee problem, starting just five league games all season. Harder has only started two more, having missed the opening weeks of the campaign and then had a five-month spell on the sidelines midway through it.

Losing two of their most important and influential players for large parts of the year has had a huge impact on the attack, with Sam Kerr having to adopt a much different role that might have reduced her goal output but only increased her workload and importance.

Most strikers in world football would’ve struggled massively in that situation. Kerr, however, stepped up. The performances from herself and assist-machine Guro Reiten have been crucial in ensuring Chelsea have remained a free-scoring side, despite many of the attacking pieces around them being new to the team.

AdvertisementGettyHit in the heart of defence

Those are not the only significant injuries Chelsea have had, either. As the run-in approached, the Blues lost their two first-choice centre-backs, Millie Bright and Kadeisha Buchanan. Bright hasn’t played since late March while Buchanan is only now working her way back to full fitness.

It means that Maren Mjelde and Magdalena Eriksson have had to step up in the heart of defence. Mjelde had only started five games all season before March, while Eriksson has had a difficult final year for the club. The captain has been unable to maintain any real consistency while being bounced around positions, playing as a centre-back in a back four and a back five, as well as at left-back very regularly.

However, since the injuries to Bright and Buchanan, both Mjelde and Eriksson have been outstanding at the biggest point of the season, in must-win league games, the final rounds of the FA Cup and a Champions League semi-final.

They’ve really had to bring their best every three days, too, given the crazy schedule that comes with the end of any campaign. It’s no mean feat to have done that so well given how their individual seasons had unfolded beforehand.

GettyA summer of change

Having these key players on the sidelines has been even more significant given the mass change to Chelsea’s squad over the summer. Long-serving players Drew Spence, Ji So-yun and Jonna Andersson all left the club, players who brought a lot to the team on and off the pitch in varying ways.

The incomings represented one of the Blues’ busiest summers for a while, with five senior signings made, while Lauren James fit the cliché of ‘like a new signing’ as she prepared for her first full season at the club having got on top of her injury problems the year before.

Combined with the injuries, this meant that Chelsea suddenly had fewer leaders and fewer experienced heads to turn to in those big moments. Those that did remain needed to step up massively.

Alongside Mjelde, Erin Cuthbert is perhaps the best representation of them doing so, the Scot having shone in her revised midfield role this year and showcased those growing leadership qualities. That her playing style is the embodiment of rolling your sleeves up and getting stuck in makes the depiction even more perfect.

GettyUnder-par performances

The result of all of these factors? Quite a few under-par performances from Chelsea. There have been few stand-out displays from the Blues this term, though they did save one of them for the penultimate weekend’s huge victory over Arsenal. It has been a season defined more by the way they’ve ground out results, instead.

That has caused Hayes frustration at times but, after the FA Cup final triumph in May, she took a moment to applaud what it said about her players to keep winning despite the team being in “transition”.

“I think when you go through transitions, you have to accept that it isn’t always going to be clean because you're developing new partnerships,” she said. “My big thing is how can we still keep winning while transitioning?

“This year I've tried to get as many players as many opportunities to keep developing their experiences in all areas of the pitch and to win knowing we're in that stage… This is by far and away my most memorable FA Cup final. Definitely.”

She’ll surely feel a similar way about this WSL title, then.