Have we seen Chelsea’s new first-choice midfield? Keira Walsh, Erin Cuthbert and Catarina Macario started together for the first time in Sunday’s 4-1 win over Everton, our first glimpse of how Sonia Bompastor might set up the team after signing Walsh last month from Barcelona on a four-and-a-half-year deal.
Comparing the strength of the weekend’s FA Cup line-up and the midweek League Cup semi-final starting XI with last weekend’s against Aston Villa in the league, it is clear Bompastor is heavily prioritising the cup competitions, which makes sense given Chelsea’s seven-point lead at the top of the Women’s Super League (WSL).
January signing Walsh started both cup matches and has already racked up 181 minutes in three games since joining on deadline day.
The immediate insertion of Walsh into the team is a testament to how highly rated she is by Bompastor — and why Chelsea spent big on bringing in a player who had six months left on her deal at Barcelona.
In Walsh, Chelsea have someone who can anchor the base of the midfield, calmly distributing the ball, freeing up 26-year-old Scotland international Cuthbert to hunt down turnovers from wherever she wants.
Chelsea’s previous first-choice midfield line-up consisted of Cuthbert and Sjoeke Nusken playing as a ‘double pivot’ (two holding midfielders), whose similar styles rank them in the 90th percentile and 87th percentile respectively for tackles and interceptions per 90 minutes in comparison with midfielders from the top nine leagues of the women’s game.
Both players will win back the ball, but they are not as comfortable playing it forward. It is why the duo excelled, for example, in last season’s out-of-possession masterclass as they beat Barcelona 1-0 in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final, but occasionally leave something to be desired against teams who want to sit back against Chelsea.
“With the game today, it was the best midfield for us because we were expecting to face a really low block with not a lot of space,” Bompastor said in her post-match press conference.
“I’m lucky enough to have a lot of different options, so going into a different game, maybe I would pick another option. This option brings me a good balance but also good chemistry between them. But as you can see, like Sio (Nusken) coming in, she can bring something different. Maika (Hamano), she came on as a right-winger and she is a different profile, but it brings different options in the game.”
Chelsea had gone a goal down against Everton after Sara Holmgaard’s corner was misjudged by goalkeeper Hannah Hampton and ended up in the back of the net. Everton manager Brian Sorensen said in the post-match press conference that the midfielder had not intended to score. Nevertheless, it meant Everton became the first team to breach Chelsea’s defence in 2025 — seven games into the year.
Chelsea needed a penalty to get back into the game, though Ashley Lawrence looked as if she was fouled just outside the area. Macario converted and Mayra Ramirez’s chip over Everton goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan gave Chelsea a half-time lead.
From there, it was plain sailing — Everton’s only shot on target was their goal — although manager Bompastor noted it took Chelsea a while to see off the game, with Hamano getting the third in the 71st minute. Sandy Baltimore added a fourth from the penalty spot in stoppage time.
Macario celebrates after scoring Chelsea’s first (Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
Chelsea had to play the final 10 minutes with 10 players after centre-back Nathalie Bjorn was forced off with a hamstring issue, but they progressed to the quarter-finals with ease.
“We were confident enough in our qualities and talents to come back in the game,” said Bompastor after the match. “Probably we sometimes take more time now — if you compare it to the beginning of the season — to score more goals in the game, or to score a third one to kill the game. But we created a lot of chances and now if we want to move forward a little bit more, because we always want to improve, we need to be more clinical.”
The out-of-possession aspect of midfield is still crucial to Bompastor, so it is no surprise that with Macario returning to full fitness, she appears to be Bompastor’s first-choice No 10, with Lauren James being preferred on the wing.
Against West Ham United in the League Cup on Wednesday, Bompastor could be heard loudly encouraging James to press when she came off the substitutes’ bench, even in the dying minutes of the game with Chelsea leading 2-0. James was notably more committed defensively against Everton, playing on the left, with Guro Reiten relegated to a bench player for the moment.
As she regained fitness from an anterior cruciate ligament injury, Macario’s pressing was slower to return than her technical ability, but her blend of creative and physical is exactly why she was so crucial to Bompastor during her time at Lyon.
Bompastor has rotated heavily during her time as Chelsea manager and will undoubtedly continue to do so as the team balances competing in four competitions.
As she said, there are a lot of different profiles available to her in midfield. But the Walsh-Cuthbert-Macario triumvirate most closely resembles how Bompastor wants her team to play. For many years, Chelsea’s midfield has felt a bit like a case of square pegs in round holes. Now, that’s ancient history.
(Top photo: Harriet Lander — Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
Read the full article here