5 things we learnt from Arsenal 0-1 Chelsea

Sonia Bompastor’s Chelsea emerged victorious in their first contest against a fellow Barclays Women’s Super League side on Sunday when they played Arsenal in a pre-season friendly.

The London rivals faced off at Washington Spirit’s Audi Field as preparations ramp up for the new WSL season, scheduled to get underway in less than a month’s time. Chelsea reclaimed bragging rights after a 1-0 defeat in March’s League Cup final through new signing Sandy Baltimore’s second-half strike.

Here are five key takeaways from the friendly encounter.

The WSL gets a glimpse of Bompastor’s management

Sonia Bompastor is a fairly new face for plenty of British fans unfamiliar with her work at Lyon, and this provided a test flight in an all-English clash where supporters could scrutinise her strategy. If rival teams are hoping for a more docile and slow-paced opponent in Chelsea than they had under Emma Hayes, they’ll be left disappointed.

The Blues came out fighting, employing a high press when Arsenal’s back line had possession and making use of their physical full-backs to push the game towards the opposition goal wherever possible. Lucy Bronze, for instance, looks as though she’ll enjoy plenty of attacking freedom from her new manager. Bompastor’s Chelsea has a distinctly attacking emphasis and they looked the more threatening of the two sides in the final third with Johanna Rytting Kaneryd and Aggie Beever-Jones particularly bright sparks in the forward line.

Last season saw Hayes’ side break the WSL goalscoring record for a single season – once this side has had a little more time to gel, there’s no reason to think they can’t hit similar heights, and that’s without even mentioning Sam Kerr.

Kafaji injects flair into Gunners’ attack

One particularly exciting signing for Jonas Eidevall this summer is the arrival of Rosa Kafaji from BK Häcken. At only 21, Kafaji already boasts nine international caps with Sweden and Champions’ League experience with her former club.

Having secured her services on a long-term deal, fans were keen to see what she could offer their attack in the aching absence of Vivianne Miedema. They weren’t disappointed – and in partnership with Alessia Russo, it was evident that Kafaji will supply flair, energy, and creativity to the Gunners’ attack. Supporters could delight in her cheeky flicked pass to Leah Williamson early on, just one example of the youthful exuberance she can add to their build up play.

Kafaji’s strengths as a number 10 behind Alessia Russo in helping the striker create chances were clear, and she also impressed with her off-the-ball energetic pressing. The prospect of having the Swedish international for many years to come is an exciting one for Arsenal after seeing what she offered in this friendly.

Chelsea’s youngsters make case for starting spots

There was plenty of young talent to be excited about for Chelsea supporters too. It’s no secret that the Blues boast an incredible squad depth, but the sheer quality of their starters often means we don’t get the chance to see some of those younger prospects in action – except in games like this.

Wieke Kaptein, for example, was an unknown quantity for most – the teenage midfielder signed last summer but spent the season on loan back at her former club FC Twente. She will have been a pleasant surprise for fans not familiar with her work, impressing in the first half with dynamic forward runs and an especially camera-worthy through ball. At just 18, she is already proving she can slot into a team of this quality.

Maika Hamano, 20, began to break into the team with six appearances in the WSL last season following a loan spell at Hammarby. If today’s performance is anything to go by, she will be pressing for regular first-team minutes this campaign. The Japanese international covered an extraordinary amount of ground in the middle of the park, especially considering the sweltering conditions, and also produced a couple of moments of magic like a clipped pass over the back line to Aggie Beever-Jones.

Finishing touches still needed for both managers

There were plenty of positives to take from new faces, as well as familiar names who looked fortunately undaunted by a busy Olympic summer. Though Arsenal were narrowly defeated and couldn’t get on the scoreboard, they created plenty of chances to do so both through corners and through fast-paced transitions, which were helped by the unpredictability Kafaji introduced.

Chelsea might be disappointed not to have a more convincing scoreline on the board but can ultimately be happy with a strong performance in unfamiliar conditions plus the disruption of unlimited substitutions. However, both Eidevall and Bompastor will lift negatives to work on from what was a relatively equal game, and both will have to refine their game plans.

Bompastor’s high press was frightening to the Arsenal defence on occasion and Eidevall will hope some more pre-season minutes will help his players work any rustiness out of their on-the-ball abilities. At the other end of the pitch, they must work on clinicalness: the ball entered Chelsea’s box plenty of times to no avail and they missed opportunities, such as Alessia Russo failing to pick up on a Zećira Mušović mistake in the first half, that could prove costly in the league.

For Chelsea’s part, though they overall looked to be settling comfortably into Bompastor’s system, some work is needed to ensure that committing bodies so high up the pitch doesn’t leave them vulnerable to counter attacks as it did on several occasions (particularly considering Arsenal’s speed in the transitions). However, the overwhelming takeaways will be positive for Chelsea – and for Arsenal, a few more weeks to iron out issues should really be enough.

Read the small print of the team sheet

A takeaway for the entire league, though, comes not even from the game but from the team sheets. Arsenal and Chelsea’s squad depth has reached a point where, in a game with unlimited substitutions, no amount of rotation seemed to reveal any particular weak spots. The fact Sonia Bompastor could interchange most of her outfield players with very little impact on her side’s ability to execute her instructions speaks to how well Chelsea (on the women’s side, at least) have intentionally invested in players that fit together on the pitch, and should act as an example to other clubs.

Arsenal’s bench is also growing to be a frightening sight for opponents. The starting eleven they named wouldn’t look out of place in a competitve game and they still boasted on the bench a recent Olympic gold medallist in Emily Fox, World Cup winner Mariona Caldentey, as well as regular WSL starters like Lia Wälti and Frida Maanum. It is not only the eleven players who start against them that teams facing these two giants will need to worry about this season.