Sonia Bompastor: Can new Chelsea boss build on Emma Hayes' legacy? (2024)

Published

15 August 2024

Sonia Bompastor arrived at Chelsea with big boots to fill.

Her predecessor Emma Hayes won 14 major trophies, including five successive Women's Super League titles, before joining the US women's national team.

It is an impressive trophy haul but there was a glaring hole in her Chelsea resume - no Women's Champions League.

This is where Bompastor comes in. The former Lyon boss has won three European trophies as a player and manager and hopes to do the same in London.

The 44-year-old hopes to build on the strong foundations set by Hayes but insisted, as she addressed the media for the first time at Stamford Bridge, that she is "a different person" to her predecessor.

"[Hayes] gave her life to the club. The base is really good, and she left the club in such a great position," said Bompastor.

"But I was not expecting anything else from her. She's such a great manager and person - so it is good for me to come after her.

"I have a different vision and philosophy. I’m just trying to build on that legacy and find a way to manage the players and staff.

"What is really important is to come to this club, respect everything that was built before and build my own vision. I hope we will be successful."

There are already parallels between Bompastor and Hayes.

Bompastor says she "hates losing" and "doesn't want to talk about it" when she does, driven by a need to win - something we saw in abundance with Hayes.

The two are also mothers. Bompastor has four children, including twins, and she held them in her arms as she mingled with members of the media on Wednesday.

Moments earlier, the Frenchwoman had announced she "really likes pressure" and joked she was unable to answer a question because of a language barrier when asked about Chelsea's approach for her while she was still Lyon boss.

She also questioned the domestic calendar and its lack of support for English clubs competing in Europe - something Hayes argued for many years - and gave us an insight into the level of aggression she will show in her management style.

"I'm a very different person to [who] I am as a manager. In life I think I'm quiet. I like to enjoy life and bite on everything," said Bompastor.

"As a manager I am really competitive and I don't like losing. I am a really bad loser. I never want it to happen.

"I am also a manager who really likes to take care of people. It's a difficult job. I am completely different at home and in my job. You will see, I think we will have some fun times together."

This is a new era at Chelsea and Bompastor's presence marks that - so how will her team play?

She has recruited the likes of England defender Lucy Bronze from Barcelona and France forward Sandy Baltimore from Paris St-Germain this summer.

Bompastor says she is building a squad that can cope with the physical demands of the WSL and its competitiveness every week, as well as having the quality in depth to challenge on multiple fronts for silverware - most notably in Europe.

"I want to have a team who are really dominant in the league [and] in the Champions League. We want to have the ball as much as possible," she said.

"I want the players to be really committed. I want them to enjoy being on the field, playing a good style and [in a] fun way for everyone, scoring a lot of goals.

"This is what we are going to try and achieve. My job is to make sure it's clear for the players, and for them to be free on the pitch and to express their talent."

Implementing a new style can sometimes take time, Bompastor admits that herself, but she is under no illusions as to what the expectations are.

"I know when you are in a club like Chelsea, the results are the most important, and you have no time to build your game model," she added.

"You have to be an efficient team from the beginning. I know that, and I know I want to make sure from the beginning you can see my own way to coach."

Chelsea went through a thorough recruitment process to replace Hayes but Bompastor was always their top priority.

They said it was her winning mentality, drive to embrace a new challenge and her success in Europe that attracted them to her.

She comes with pedigree and there are high expectations.

"At the moment I don't feel any pressure. Even if the club puts me under some pressure, I'm the one who puts even more pressure on myself," said Bompastor.

"I don't need someone to come and tell me what I have to do. I've signed for four years. I think four years is a good time for me to put in my own philosophy, vision and what I feel."

Her decision to leave Lyon was not an easy one. She ended her playing career there, led their academy, and then became head coach of the first team for three years.

Bompastor's children - the eldest being nine years old - had to move schools. They moved home, moved to a new country, a new culture and now mostly speak their second language.

"I just felt like it was the right time for me to have a new challenge, and this is what I'm looking for in my life, always to have these new challenges," said Bompastor.

"After these three seasons [at Lyon], everyone was so used to each other. You just go to your comfort zone, and sometimes it's good to come out of your comfort zone.

"For me, the goal is really clear. I wanted to come to a club who has ambitions to win the Champions League in a new country, with a new club...

"This is something really special."

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