Europe's Next Powerhouse?

Abdullah Abdullah

Description

Chelsea FC have enjoyed unprecedented success in England and Europe since Roman Abramovich arrived in 2003. The men's team has set a phenomenally high benchmark, which the Chelsea women's team now aims to follow. Club director Marina Granovskaia has one overarching mission: to replicate the men's team model and transform Chelsea Women into a European powerhouse - a side to rival the acknowledged queens of Europe, Olympique Lyonnais Feminin. So how has coach Emma Hayes set up her side to achieve superpower status? This book dissects the tactical concepts of the team, breaking down each phase of play, and explores the factors that make them a super-club with a viable chance of winning the elusive UEFA Women's Champions League. From team tactics to in-depth player analysis, Europe's Next Powerhouse? reveals the factors that have put them on a path to be a force in England and Europe for years to come.

Sujets

• Sociologie, société et politique
• Gran Londres
• Greater London
• Grand Londres
• London
• Europe

Informations

• Publié par: Pitch Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 24 janvier 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781801502139
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

First published by Pitch Publishing, 2022
Pitch Publishing
A2 Yeoman Gate
Yeoman Way
Durrington
BN13 3QZ
www.pitchpublishing.co.uk
Abdullah Abdullah, 2022
Every effort has been made to trace the copyright.
Any oversight will be rectified in future editions at the earliest opportunity by the publisher.
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A CIP catalogue record is available for this book from the British Library
Print ISBN 9781801500500
eBook ISBN 9781801502139
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Contents
Foreword
Preface
1. The Project
2. Emma Hayes
3. Build-up and Attacking Tactics
4. Role of the Forwards
5. Sam Kerr
6. Fran Kirby
7. Chelsea s Number 10 Role
8. Pernille Harder: The Modern Number 10?
9. Midfield Structure, Roles, and Problems
10. Ji So-yun
11. Melanie Leupolz
12. Sophie Ingle
13. Defensive Setup, Pressing and the Role of the Full-Backs
14. Magdalena Eriksson and Millie Bright
15. Maren Mjelde
16. Is the 3-4-2-1 Formation the Solution?
17. The Eleven
18. Can Chelsea Eclipse Lyon and Barcelona?
Photos
In memory of my loving grandmother. Your presence we miss, your memory we treasure. Loving you always.
Mum, Nunes, and Dad for their unwavering support.
Foreword
I GREW up in north London as an Arsenal fan. In many respects, as a young girl interested in football I was extremely lucky. Arsenal Women existed, were dominant and, at one stage, trained in the park opposite my council estate. When I went along to watch the double-winning parades there was the women s team on a bus behind the men s with their trophies in tow. Women s football was not abnormal, but it was far from normal too.
When I would trot around to the corner shop on the edge of our estate on Sunday mornings to pick up the newspapers for my dad, there was no women s football in the pages I would get leftover reading rights to. It was not on TV. The internet barely existed.
I had women s football in my line of sight more than most and yet my knowledge and awareness was still decidedly minimal.
Why am I discussing life as a young, female Arsenal fan in a book which picks apart and forensically examines how Chelsea Women have become one of the most dominant club teams in the women s game and taken themselves to the brink of European glory?
Quite simply because a book of this nature, one that analyses, discusses and explains the processes behind the building of Chelsea Women, speaks volumes to how far women s football has come. The very existence of this book is a part of the growing ecosystem around women s football and it is a big deal.
It also tells a story that needs to be told. Of how an extraordinary manager was given the time and space to construct a dynasty at a time when few other teams were as committed to the women s game. Emma Hayes herself has repeatedly said that one of her favourite aspects of managing the team is the tactical part. She delights in poring over the tactics board with her assistants for hours on end, working out exactly how she is to dissect the next opponent.
Ahead of Chelsea s Champions League semi-final against Lyon in 2019, Hayes gave myself and two other members of the press an insight into her analytical mind. In an hour-long session sat in her office she ran through the task at hand, pulling pieces across a tactics board as she rapid-fire reeled off who would be up against whom and how she would attempt to stop the seemingly unstoppable.
They failed. A 1-1 draw away was undone with a 2-1 defeat at home. Two years later, however, they would go a step further and reach the final of the competition only to suffer a crushing 4-0 defeat to Barcelona. There can be no doubting that Hayes has pored over that emphatic loss and is already well on her way to attempting to mastermind a way past the new European champions. Women s football fans revelled in being able to hear her in-game instructions during lockdown with stadiums empty, and a wider audience had a glimpse into her insane level of attention to detail through her punditry and co-commentary work during the men s Euros in 2021.
All the components that have gone into her Chelsea team reaching this point can be found within these pages. In many respects Abdullah Abdullah s book pays huge tribute to the manager who loves tactics by tactically analysing the way she has set up a team bidding to conquer Europe.
It also carves open a new corner of publishing on women s football. The small number of books devoted to the game have primarily been history books or biographies. Very few offer the reader an insight into the actual football itself and the nuances of the action on the pitch in the way this volume does. It will in turn go on to enrich the knowledge of fans, journalists, broadcasters, historians and coaches of a key team at a key moment in time. More critically, it broadens the space women s football occupies.
Suzanne Wrack
Preface
So remember me; I will remember you - Surah Al-Baqarah (2:152)
Alhamdullilah
IT S ASTONISHING for me to think that I m releasing a second book in the space of 12 months. The thought of writing one still surprises me but two is almost unthinkable, yet here I am. Writing Queens of Europe was a dream come true - depicting a technical love letter to a team I am so deeply passionate about. When I contemplated the choices for a second book, there was really only one team I wanted to write about: Chelsea. I ve supported the Blues since 2000, watching Jos Mourinho win back-to-back Premier League titles and both Roberto Di Matteo and Thomas Tuchel lift the Champions League trophy. Chelsea Football Club has been close to me for years and while I chose Lyon as my team in the women s game, I always wanted to do something around Chelsea so there was no better way to do it than through Chelsea Women.
They ve proven their credentials by being serial winners and the prospect of depicting their journey was something that fascinated me and made me want to dedicate several thousand words towards showing you what they re all about. The basis of this book is to present the tactical concepts that have made them so successful, but also an opportunity to answer the ultimate question of whether they re ready to take that next step towards European domination.
I talked about a growing network in my first book and that has expanded even further now. Role models have become acquaintances and even friends, along with an ever-growing group of followers which has been incredibly humbling. I ve met more astonishing people without forgetting my long-time friends (Domagoj, Lorihanna, Gavin, Ryan, and Daniel to name a few) who have stuck around even though life keeps us preoccupied. There are a few people to thank once again, all of whom played their part in making this book what it is.
First and foremost, I d like to thank my family for their support and patience in giving me the time after work to finish chapter after chapter, night after night. I was privileged to speak to a few top-class personalities who were nothing short of spectacular and made me feel a part of the community. Let me introduce and thank the contributors below, in no particular order:
Suzanne Wrack, women s football writer for The Guardian : Suzy is responsible for the foreword but has also been a great source of advice and inspiration in helping me write this book, especially with her vast knowledge of Emma Hayes.
Om Arvind (founder of the Tactical Rant Substack, contributor to SB Nation s Managing Madrid podcast, and Real Madrid diehard): Om is a new member of the network but feels like someone I ve known for years. He and I have been subject to numerous lengthy Zoom calls on tactical discussions on teams from the likes of Chelsea and Real Madrid, to Lyon and Sweden. His tactical knowledge was vital in affirming and learning more about tactical nuances.
Maram Al Baharna (senior player analyst and data consultant for Analytics FC), and Abhishek Sharma (data scientist and football consultant): I can t go by without mentioning the two G.O.A.T.s of data analysis. I wanted to take this book to another level and collaborating with two of the best in the business made sense when the opportunity arose. They were a tremendous help and all the visualisations you ll see are courtesy of these two.
Alex Ibaceta (journalist for BBC Sport) and Jessy Parker-Humphreys (freelance writer): A special shoutout to my two co-hosts and now friends, Alex Alexia Ibaceta and Jessy Jessy Parker-Humphreys, whom I do the Box to Box WSL podcast with. Our story began in November 2020 when we collaborated on a tactical webinar on Sarina Weigman s England side. This evolved into Alex inviting us to join her to revive her podcast. It s been an incredible journey and I m grateful to have learned and earned their respect.
There are a few honourable mentions for Mia Eriksson (sports photographer and analyst), Jasmina Schweimler (VfL Wolfsburg expert and writer for Sportbuzzer and WazWolfsburg ), Carlon Carpenter (Stats Bomb and Bath City FC analyst), Ame Ruszkai ( Goal s women s football correspondent), Donna Newberry (women s football analyst), Antonio Maza aka NWSL Analitica (analyst at California Storm and scout at Houston Dash), Keiran Doyle (assistant coach, University of Toronto Women s Soccer), Sophie Lawson (women s football freelance writer), Matt Davies-Adams (commentator on Chelsea TV and podcaster)