An unforgiving 7-0 defeat wasn’t the performance that Crystal Palace were hoping to show their fans on their first Barclays Women’s Super League match at Selhurst Park. They were thoroughly outclassed by an experienced, world class Chelsea side.
Manager Laura Kaminski broke down the game to the media post-match to look at where things went wrong. It’s hard to sugarcoat such a result- but it’s hard to be too harsh on the newcomers, who had to face the five-time reigning champions in their second game in the league. She touched on the mentality of the squad and the realities they’ll have to face head on.
Embed from Getty ImagesWhat did Laura Kaminski say?
“These nights are tough. We’ve had back to back world class opposition, it’s about as tough as it gets for a club that’s just come up, but in no ways am I hiding or making any excuses.
“I think our first half performance was strong again, as it was against Spurs, but we’ve got to be better coming out after half time, and I think I’ve got a group that isn’t hiding from that.”
“There was a moment where we could’ve come inside at half time at 1-1, I thought we created some good chances and caused them some trouble inside their 18 yard box, and to do that against a world class side shows a lot of potential.
“We’re still finding our way across two games and those two games don’t define our season, these are the opportunities that we need to improve. What I say to the players is that these aren’t occasions, these are opportunities to get points, and the group are disappointed that we dropped, but these are the harsh learnings that we have to go through and get better”.
Embed from Getty ImagesPromoted sides regularly struggle in the WSL due to the monumental gap between it and the Championship, something fans saw last season with Bristol City. Kaminski spoke about the differences between the leagues and how they need to adapt in order to survive in the WSL.
“In the Championship last season we had a higher percentage of possession, and if you gave the ball away in the Championship you wouldn’t be punished so harshly. You would make a mistake, be able to get away with it because maybe the technical quality isn’t as high across the whole squad compared to the depth of squads in the WSL. We have the ball in good moments, but unfortunately we’re learning harsh lessons that if you give the ball away at this level you will be punished.”
One undoubted positive of the night for Crystal Palace was the support from their home crowd. There were more than 5,000 in attendance on a cold Friday night, and they didn’t stop singing and motivating their team until right to the end – something the manager was keen to praise them for.
Embed from Getty Images“The fans deserve some credit for their reaction for the way that we’ve started this journey and it feels like the fans have got an understanding of the group and the level and what this group is trying to achieve.”
It’s been a brutal start to WSL life as Palace have now conceded 11 goal in their first two games, something that’s sure to have an impact on the mood of the squad. Despite this, Kaminski remained optimistic that they won’t fall too far and reiterated that it’s her job to ensure that her team know the hard work will soon pay off.
“You could say that will sink in but it’s my job as a motivator and a leader of squad that the targets are set and we work hard to achieve them. And if they fall short of achieving them then I’ve got to pick the squad up along with staff around me that work tirelessly to make sure we don’t let them sink.
“In house we set a lot of targets that we need to be better at, and we’ve just got to be positive with small steps, marginal gains, all the steps that we took to win a league and it’s a similar mindset of those marginal gains.”
Palace are on the road twice this week, facing Aston Villa in the League Cup on Wednesday before travelling to Leicester on Sunday. Follow all the action here on FromTheSpot.
