We Are Chelsea - French friends or frenemies? With Oriane Jean-Francois and Maelys Mpome

Episode Date: December 4, 2024

This is We are Chelsea, the official podcast of Chelsea Women, brought to you in association with Škoda, the official car partner of Chelsea Women and proud supporters of women's sport. www.skoda.co.uk Caz De Moraes is joined by French internationals Oriane Jean-Francois and Maelys Mpome. There's lots of bickering, reflections on moving to London, and we test their knowledge of British slang. But who will win?  To watch the full episode on YouTube, click here: https://www.youtube.com/@chelseafc/videos Send us your questions to [e-mail] #WeAreChelsea Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello and welcome to We Are Chelsea, the official podcast of Chelsea Women, brought to you in association with Skoda, who are the official car partner for Chelsea women and proud supporters of women's sport. I'm Kaz de Mores and today I am delighted to be joined by French internationals, Orienne Jean-François and Myelis Mpomé. They both joined the club over the summer and made their debuts in October. So let's find out how they're getting on. in the new home, shall we? This is We Are Chelsea with Orienne Jean-Francois and Milis and Polly. This is We Are Chelsea

and I don't know if you've seen this season but we're having friendships on so I'm hoping that you're good friends. Yeah. We are good friends. I'm answering for Bosovoz. Ariam's like, it depends on the day. She was so happy to do it with me.

No. Yeah, you were. No, I didn't know. Ariane's plain hard to get. She's like, maybe. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe not. She just loved that game. That's all. She loved me being like, oh, let's be friends. Oh, I see. You know? Every time I'm like, did you miss me? She's like, no, but she loves me when I just came out. Last international break, she was with the U. 23. And I was with the first team. And she, like, she came with us because a player got injured.

And she was so happy. She came with the first team. And I was like, guys, can you? just choose another player on Milis. I'm tired to see her. I saw she's lying. She was so happy. I'm tired to see her. And even we had a lunch. And like the table, we had to choose a paper to see on which table we will be.

And me, Miley's and Sonzi went. Yeah, that was crazy. Just sitting next to each other. I was going to ask you that because we had the Swedish girls on at the start of the season. And they told me that there was a little Swedish group. Is there a little French group? Are you always together? No, not that much.

Miley and Sonti are always together. Yes, true. Ev is the mom. So you need something you just go to have. Yes. It is helping us so much since we're here. And what about Sandy? Where does she fit into the group?

Sanji is always with me, I would say. Okay. Yeah. Your best, you're twin. Yeah. Always together. And you're the cool one. And you're like, I'll come in and out.

when I want yeah I mean yeah I don't have group I just speak with everyone and she loves to speak with me you see you see that's the problem that's the problem we always think of the French as like French romance French people are lovers they like so maybe there's like a little game that you guys are just used to doing culturally it's true that's real a lot of a lot of French people are like this like I like the game yeah always like you know But she's not from France, France Oh, where did she from?

I'm from French Guyana Oh, okay I was like France France I was France France Okay Okay French Guyana So you're a bit cooler Mm-hmm

Much more I'm from Paris Like in Paris Everything is speed People are And me I'm just You know But they are

they can be a bit mean. But I feel like sometimes you're just mean, but it's a lovely way to be mean. I'm being mean with you because I love you, you know. Sounds really toxic. Yeah. I'm slightly worried. But that's just how it is. I agree.

Orian's just like, I'm not, I'm going to say nothing. I'm going to keep it quiet. Yeah. Because all the time, like, girls in the changing room are just asking if we're having an argument when we talk French. Because we're like, you know, so rude. when talking and Roger is saying so kind thing. So it sounds like, to be fair, I'm Brazilian,

like my mom's Brazilian. And when I speak to my mom and we're talking, my husband sometimes goes, oh my God. Yeah, what are you talking about? And I was like, nothing. She's coming for dinner. And he's like, what was that? Yes, exactly.

Okay. Sometimes I would just be like, I miss you. But in French, I'd be like, I miss you. And then they think I'm mad. how did you tell us how you say it in french use the tone um you me monk yes and orian what do you respond you ma't ma'm not okay

i didn't miss you yeah i didn't miss you yeah because every time when i came and there's like a day off i'm like oh i miss you and she's like um so actually you're more paris french than you yeah you think so she's been playing in Paris for a lot of years yeah you've got it more because that's quite a oh my god lovable yeah and you're like step away calm down now we've got obviously sonya's also French do you speak to sonya in French or do you speak to her in English it depends yes it depends oh what does it depend on I mean if we're on the pitch and if she has

to give an restriction she will do it in English like okay because all her players can understand okay yeah but if you're having a one-to-one then you would speak in french yeah but sometimes we just mix it like she would be like morning and we're like bonjour because we're french i mean you even when she she says my name she's with her english accent she's like orian yeah in french she's like she says like orian oh because she's trying to maybe why do you think she's saying She wouldn't on a one-to-one call you. No, but I understand it's just like switching the whole day and then you start not speaking a good French, not speaking a good English.

Yeah. And you end up not speaking at all. Okay. How have you guys enjoyed moving to London? How have you found London life? Similar to Paris? I feel like it's pretty similar. A really busy city.

And people are always, they're speeding. I love it so much. Ooh. I actually love it. yeah yeah i love it like what do you love most i love like being alone in london and having so many people around me but still being alone you know yeah in your own space but with so many people around you i love this feeling i mean that means you're a city gal for sure yeah for sure yeah i went to london sometimes and i mean yeah i love it okay there's some quiet um i mean you you know around

london i there is a yeah like an open space with some bars and restaurant you know what I mean I went here and was nice yeah it is nice and actually at Christmas it's lovely because they set up markets and then in the summer I think they have like um I think it's a carousel in the summer and people sit there and sometimes there's buskers it's quite I quite like it so I agree with you have you been to any good French restaurants not yet no I've done an Italian one Japanese African but not French which Japanese restaurant did you go to? It was in the shirt.

Oh, sushi samba. Yeah. Yeah. Brazilian and Japanese. Oh, okay. I didn't know. Yeah, they infused the two. Oh, yeah, that's a good one.

Did you find the lift a bit scary when you went up? No, I was too busy taking photos in the elevator. Do you know, why out of the two of you does that not surprise me? And why I can see why Ariane's like, you see why I have to put up. with who did you go with I go with some friends that were at my place at the time okay French friends

yeah so do you get I guess that must be quite nice because France isn't too far do your friends and family get to come over a lot yes it's only one hour fly yeah one hour fly and if they get the Euro star it's what like two hours yeah two hours my mom is working the Eurostar

is she yeah she's so good for her yeah oh you don't tell me this You did not tell me this. Yes? Because you're not listening to me every time I talk to you. Wow, wow, wow.

So that's interesting for you because now you're like, can your mommy get me discount? Yeah, we can talk. Yeah, we can talk about it. If you want to. You know, we can, yeah, have a business about that. Is there anything that you miss from France that you're like, oh, I really need to bring back? The food. Yeah, French food.

food yeah definitely but is there something in your cup it's like do you go whenever you go back to france you're like i have to take this back like i know the english people if we go abroad we have to i don't remember the name pastry oh the pastries yeah yeah yeah no uh the white cream you put when you cook oh like start no not like cream fresh yes yes and we call it cream fresh which is your word but every time i go to the shop i don't find the one i won't so every time I just go back with like 15 in my suitcase I thought you were going to say mustard oh no but you got some here

and you like it you like English mustard it's not English but I found a French one yeah so it's good yeah it's fine but even the English one was fine the one that I okay yeah so cream fresh for you are you bringing anything back in your suitcase no nothing You know, I went to Brixton and it's because I'm from French Guyana, it's quite similar to my culture. So I love to go here.

Did you go into Brickston Market? Mm-hmm. Because in Brickston Market, that's where there's everything, right? Yeah. And good restaurants and good restaurants and they're nice little pop-up restaurants. Oh, I didn't try yet. But I was never eating such like French food when I was in France. Now that you've left, you're like, I miss my food.

Exactly. Exactly. What food were you eating when you were in France? I love a South America food, like a faritas. Oh, Latino. Yes, all that. I love it so much. Okay.

Now, my next question is going to be, to you, Ariane, how would you describe? You're already. It's your facial expressions for me. How would I describe, Myles? Yes. Myles is... girly like proper girlie you know she needs time to fix every single details okay like what like the nails your hair um makeup like you know what i mean she's okay very girly you're very

naturally beautiful you don't need makeup my least okay okay ohriam's like don't say that i'm not I'm happy that she told you that I'm happy for you thank you i appreciate you're both beautiful nine of you need makeup now my lisa how would you describe ryanne she's like slow everything's slow she talks slow her reaction are slow she's low she's low thing slowly i'm just calm i'm not slow no yeah you mean laid back no no yeah laid back yeah chilled always like we had to come here and she was like oh wait i've got to brush my teeth and she was brushing her teeth so i appreciate you brushing your teeth and it actually three minutes is much longer than we think and you should brush your teeth for

three minutes it was actually at least five no she's lying she's lying she's got a she's got a fresh breeze for like at least two days i saw a tic-tok of you guys where they asked you if you were going to have a type like a movie title of your life what would it be and you said drama cream for my life why we're talking about it in the car before coming why because i was talking with my dad and he misunderstood what she said he was like someone in your tale calls you drag queen i was like what are you talking about he was like yeah i just got instagram for you and now i'm watching Chelsea's Instagram and I saw her and I was so mad why is she calling you like that tell him it was a misunderstanding because you know I don't want to be mad with your dad even with

your mom because I need to set up some business so yeah please go to your dad yeah and tell him it was a misunderstanding no she said drama queen but you said that it wouldn't be drama queen the title of the movie would be everything you think wouldn't happen that does I can't say it again it was already just so hard last time and too long for a title it is a bit long it's not it's not gonna be blockbuster number one I don't think but why

what is it about your life everything's unexpected or it doesn't happen look a finger yes exactly everything like there's always something happening that shouldn't like every time everywhere I go I meet some people that I shouldn't

I'm always like the wrong place at the wrong woman with the wrong person I'm saying the wrong thing that has gone to make it easier for you. I love that. Oriane's advice, I think you need to find God. He's the only one that can help you right now. Maybe. What would be the title of your movie?

Layback. Yeah. Yeah. He's such a burying movie. No. No, a good movie. I think it would be good. I also saw it on TikTok.

that you're a little bit of a singer. When? I don't know. You did a little song. Oh, at the beginning of the season. I don't know when it was. Yeah, it was in camp because... Yes, yes, it was.

Yeah, everyone had to sing, so I had to do my job. Are you a singer? No. Are you a dancer? You didn't... I mean, she didn't sing yet. You haven't done your song? No.

What, the initiation song? Yeah, she didn't. Why have you? I've not done one. Because everybody asked me to. Do you know, this surprises me. I feel like I'm so shy for this type of things. Because I'm not a good singer actually.

So it would be a little bit dancer. No, neither. Yeah, I'm just sitting. You're a good model. Maybe I could model. But I feel like I haven't got enough patience for that. Right. Okay.

Well, yeah, I mean, I'm not suggesting you. So you don't want to sing. You don't want to dance. I don't want to be a model, so what do you want to do? Football player? You're good. I was good. Yeah.

But after that. After that, I think that I would have loved to be a psychologist. Really? Yeah. Why are you looking at her like that already? Yeah. Why are you looking at me like this? I will never go to her.

Never. And I will never take you. Never. But I want to do that in like prisons. in prisons you want to go to with criminals yeah

oh why I don't know I feel like it's so interesting to know why people did what they did oh yeah it's a very dark layer

to you interesting yeah what would you be if you weren't going to be a footballer when I was younger I wanted to be

physio oh physia yeah I started um study so like I did it for two years in France okay but after that I just stopped so now I'm still asking myself what I would do after would either of you ever become a coach no I could I could see that actually and you need calm coach selected I love that you were straight away no no I couldn't why because when I'm done with football I don't want to have to do anything with

sport. Oh. Ah, with sport at all. No. What are you going to do? I don't know. I mean, you're so young. You don't even have to think about it. But yeah, I mean, I don't, I don't care if I get so big. I don't care about anything, then I'm done. For sure, I would stay in sports world. I don't know if I would stay in football, but I need to be in contact with sport. What other sports do you like? On board. Hamble Yeah, it's big in France actually Hambol

Yeah Taekwendo Taekwondo Yeah Okay Is there any other sports That you are interested in I love to play ping pong

I was not expecting that Yeah I was not expecting that I love it so much I was expecting Like the fingers problem When I came here

I was just looking for a club Maybe just in my free time To play ping pong Yeah but they were all full they were full yeah oh my god who's playing ping pong on a level that it's really busy and full that you can't join a lot of people actually yeah yeah i was sure you were going to say basketball oh no don't like it not good i was basketball no i'm not good at it's what a shame because

you're so tall yes true but they didn't choose the ping pong chose me yeah exactly i want to play a game with you okay i'm going to say like phrases with english slams and you have to guess what the meaning is so it's called the Brit Quiz if one of your teammates says to you I want a chin wag what do they want

can you rip it if one of your teammates says to you come let's have a chin wag chin wag like we go have a drink no but I love it chin wag

this is your because you're thinking chin chin this is your chin and it wags it's talk let's have a chat chin wog chin wag so you can learn

and then go up to I don't know one of the Brits and say it and they'll be really surprised I'm going to keep it in my mind the next one is if someone at the club says

I'm serving you a fry up what are you eating I'm done with you I'm serving you a fry up yeah what are you eating it's a kind of food if someone says it's a fry-up what's a fry-up it's a mess I don't know

I think you'll probably think it is a mess it is like the breakfast bacon eggs beans mushroom is fried isn't it typical English breakfast it's a fry up I didn't know do you like the typical English breakfast

no it's actually a mess no beans for breakfast I'm sorry but I can't Sorry But they're sweet beans No, that's your nut Okay It's not like you're having kidney beans But okay

If someone says I'm chuffed with your performance I'm impressed Yes Chuffed You're happy with your performance So you know that one No

Oh Did I give it away by smiling Yeah I think so Or maybe the intonation Yeah Okay I'm going to try and not give that way if your housemates the people you're living with they say that they're

skinned what does that mean I love our hands face someone says I'm skinned skint skint skins skimed joker low droker not joker they've got no money got no money at the moment wait skin so someone said if the bill if you go for dinner with someone and they go I'm skinned they do not want to pick up that bill ah they're broke they're broke They're skins. Oh, okay. They're broke. I'm not good.

Because my mom's not going to give you discount. Exactly. If I said, I'm peckish and I want some grub. What does that mean? You're hungry. Yes. How do you know that? I don't know.

Very good. What does grub mean? I don't even know. No. Food. Oh, okay. I'm peckish, I'm hungry, and I want some grub food. I have, I have to keep that one.

Yeah, are you always hungry? Yeah, and I'm always complaining about eating as soon as possible. Oh, so you can say that, peckish, I'm peckish. Yeah. Peckish is like a little bit nicer than hungry. Yeah. Okay, this one's a good one. If someone says to you, do you want a cuppa or do you want a brew, what are they offering you?

A cup. A cup. Do you want a kappa? Is it about food? Yeah. A cup of tea? Yes! I'm so good.

But don't forget everything when you step. Kappa. And normally, in the south of England we say kappa, and in the north of England we say brew. Okay. Do you want to brew? Kappa. Kappa is here. But I feel like I've already heard Kappa.

Maybe the worst. Yeah, maybe. Maybe they do say it. Do you want a kappa? And if a player scores a screamer, what does that mean? Such a nice goal. The banger. Yeah.

Yeah. Very good. Yeah. Screamer. Oriang got the football one. That's it for me. I love it. In Brazil, we'd say gollas. Golass.

Golassu. This podcast is brought to you by Skoda, the official car partner of Chelsea women and proud supporters of women's sports. It's football season, time for afterwork training, muddy boots and early morning weekend games. Whether you're playing five-a-side after work, cheering the kids on from the sidelines on a Saturday morning, or gathering with your mates to watch the big leagues each weekend. Skoda's the perfect companion for your everyday adventures. Zip around town in the fully electric eniac or give the squad a lift home in the all-new seven-seater Kodiak.

There's something in the range to suit teams of all shapes and sizes. Don't just take my word for it, though. Search the SCOTA range today to jump in and see for yourself. I just want to say you made your debut in October. What was it like? New club, new country, playing for the blues for the first time. How did it feel? It felt so good.

Yeah. Yeah, I was so happy. Yeah, it was against Madrid in Champions League. Yeah. It became a big win. Intense. Yes, because the end of the game was crazy. Yeah, a bit.

A bit. Yes, it was such a rush on the field. And you touched on the fact that you made your first French international first team debut recently. Yeah, true. So apart from being excited to see Oriane, how did that feel? No, I was so happy because, yeah, I feel like so many great things are happening these days for me. And it was just something added to all these things. So, yeah.

And I guess my next question is to both of you. But, Orienne, how do you compare the WSL to the other leagues that you've played in? Every weekend, I feel like you're never sure about who's going to win the game. Like, it's really tough. And all the games are really interesting. Yeah, it's true. I felt the same. Like, more intense, more physical.

Physical, yeah. And which stadium have you enjoyed playing at the most, as in a way, not home games? Celtics? Yeah. Yeah, I would say Celtic. Yeah, I would say so. The same. Nice.

Like their fans. Yeah, a lot of fans. Not bad. Yeah. That atmosphere was really intense. Was it your first time to go to Scotland? Yes, it was. It was.

No, no, it wasn't my first time. No? No, because I've been there in 2019 with the national team because we had the European championship with the 19th. And what did you make of Scotland? Not much, actually. Could you understand them when they spoke with their accent? Yes.

No, sorry, but as he's speaking, Erin, it's really hard to understand. I feel like it's harder for me to. understand what Millie said sometimes. Millie, okay, Millie's north. I mean, yeah, Millie's northern England. But sometimes I don't know if it's her accent or her voice. Yeah, the voice. Yeah, it's not helping, actually.

Because she's so, you know, hi. Yeah. I'm going to say that to her when she's next on. I'm going to be like, listen. Don't want to get in trouble. So you can understand Erin better than Millie. That must be because Erin is being clear when she speaks to you. Because the Scottish accent can be really tough.

It is. Yeah. It is. Maybe I didn't know it. I don't know. But I'm sorry, sometimes for me, 10 in the morning, it's too early to speak English so I can't. I mean, even understand English for me some, like, some days, it's really hard. It's really hard.

Sometimes I'm just like, my brain is off. Yeah. Don't piss me off. Oh, it's my favorite expression here. Oh, what is it? you piss me off yeah I'll have to say it no I even say to French people

when I'm done I'm like you piss me off I love that I love that that's your favourite we sent our daughter a lovely beautiful daughter to England and she's come back and that's what she's learned and that's what she says to everyone yes I love this one

I use it to your French friend okay brilliant This one in rubbish. Like, you saw rubbish. Another great confidence booster. Now we've got some fan questions that have come in. We asked them to send in some questions for you both. And one of the fan questions is,

how do you balance your work, your social and your private life so well? I mean, the truth is we don't know that you handle it very well. But do you? That's why I was going to say. I don't know if I handed it really. No, but I feel like sometimes it's hard to find a balance. Yeah. Sometimes it's like more football and then it's hard to make time for friends and family.

Do you do a lot of like Zoom calls or FaceTime? Yeah, a lot of FaceTime. I love FaceTime. Spend my whole time on FaceTime. I mean, I don't spend that much time with my phone. Even my message, I don't take the time to reply. Oh, yes. Last year she got injured.

and I sent her a message and she answered two weeks after I was like I don't even care about your injury anymore two weeks yeah I have a problem with that I mean I answer to my parents I or sometimes I feel like it's just always the wrong timing

okay yeah like my mom is always calling me at the wrong time she's like oh I called you twice and then she's called me during the warm up during the training station during the team meeting so it's hard so you're texting her at the wrong time

that's the problem thank you it's the wrong time I was in training yes for 11 o'clock at night sorry while being injured I have to improve

I have to improve on that point okay one of the other fan questions is what's been the biggest surprise since you arrived at Chelsea the fans that are traveling to every away games yes true yeah yeah yeah true everywhere we go we always have fans so much that's crazy yeah even in

scotland last time like here it was crazy yes that's what we love to hear nice okay and what how do you handle like away fans if they're being really does it make you go i'm gonna show you yeah i feel like it's funny sometimes yeah it's really funny yeah when they get mad so funny she's like we always win so they're always angry and it's funny for the moment we always win if you could choose one player to come out of retirement who would you choose

men and women both yeah Ronald Gino yes I was so sure you were going to say Zidane or something you picked a Brazilian when I was younger

I love to watch his skills on YouTube Oh, yeah. He's so, yeah, it's such a good player. Yeah, he was like an artist on the picture. Yeah. Yeah. Who would you pick, Oryan? I'd say Michael Lili, because since I'm there, everyone is comparing to him.

So just need to see what I was doing. Yeah, love it. And my last question, who made the best first impression when you arrived at the club? like on the pitch let's do both on the pitch and as a person I'm the pitch

I would say you you because I really didn't know her on the pitch and I was yeah impressed by what she was doing she's such a great player

I think and out of the pitch I would say Maika yeah because she's got such a pure soul yeah

she does Yeah. She does. She told me, have you ever eaten ice cream with her? No, yeah. But I've seen that for it. Yeah, I saw. She said she's fast. Yeah, very fast. I'm excited. Maybe you should try and have an ice cream with it. I don't like ice cream. You don't like ice cream? No, that's a shame. I'm so sorry. You don't like ice cream? No, I really can't. Even, I mean, even in winter, I can eat ice cream. I can't even during summer. What do you like? ice cream the texture the texture yeah it's cold yeah i don't like it i really don't like ice cream so when it's hot what do you orange juice okay that you would have orange juice instead of ice cream yes i mean what is the opposite of ice cream like maybe soup it's like hot chocolate and melted hot chocolate maybe yeah yeah do you like a hot chocolate no then neither you don't like that either yeah you don't know if the

is the problem then no but no it's really the texture of the ice cream i don't really like it so what's the problem with the odd chocolate yeah too hot sorry i'm beginning to see why he said drama queen you see who made the best first impression on you or ian on and off the pitch i would say lj okay yeah a lot of skills and out outside i'd say z and not not Italiancy, yeah, very nice person. Yeah? What did they do to welcome you? Or it was just the way they were being? As I said

about half, they are like moms. Oh. Yeah. Really kind in there. How old is Natal? We say in England we take you under your wing. No, we say the same in France. Yeah? How do you say in French? I'm just the same. Okay.

How, if you can fast forward to the end of the season, This is my last question. To the end of the season, what would make it a successful season for you? Champions League. Of course. And everything else.

Four titles. That's what we want to hear. End of interview. Love it. Yes, we are Chelsea. That's what we expect from the Frenches. Up the Chels. Up the Chels.

Give me a fist pump, you two. You're very cool. Have you enjoyed the podcast? Yes. Would you come back on? Yes. Maybe. Not with my list.

Yes, I was going to use to say nothing. No, and actually. With someone else, please. And I've come back. Well, thank you so much, guys. I know you're busy. Enjoy the rest of your day. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for listening to We Are Chelsea, the official podcast of Chelsea Women, brought to you in association with Skoda, who are the official car partners of Chelsea women, and they are proud supporters of women's sport. Remember to subscribe, give us a review,

and send in all of your questions. to we are Chelsea at ChelseaFCFC.com. See you next time.