We Are Chelsea - Treble-winning season with Sonia Bompastor

Episode Date: May 22, 2025

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 head coach Sonia Bompastor to celebrate Chelsea's treble-winning season including going unbeaten in the league. Sonia shows off some new English phrases, we check in on how her family have adapted to London life and we find out just what it meant to her to win at Wembley. 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 they are proud supporters of women's sport. I'm Casdemore's, and today I'm delighted to be joined by head coach Sonia Bonpasta. Fresh off the back of the FA Cup final, she is joining me to look back on some of the highlights of Chelsea's treble winning season. This is We Are Chelsea with Sonia Bompaster. Well, Sonia, thank you so much for coming back on the podcast. How are you fresh off the treble? Just won the FA Cup. I mean, you must be feeling great.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I feel great. We feel great. I think everyone in the club, what a season. What a season. I think, yeah, if we have said that when I first joined the podcast earlier in the season, I would probably will be thinking, really. But we did it.

So, yeah, really happy. We were pleased fatigued and not that fresh. But really pleased with all the hard work we have put together. I do want to go back to when you first were on the pod and we were talking. And what, I guess, were your expectations back then? Because you said, I would not have believed this. I mean, unbeaten. three trophies.

Because it was big shoes to fill at the start, right? Yeah, I have to say, yeah, big shoes to fill at the start, for sure. I was coming and joining the club with a lot of ambitions, and I think I said that from the beginning. I could feel the ambitions from the club and my ambitions were matching. But, yeah, difficult to believe we were going to have a season on beaten because I also knew we were coming in the league

where we have a lot of really good teams with a lot of really talented squads and I know also this league is really competitive so yeah I would have accepted the fact like we were dominant in England but probably I was not thinking being able to achieve that with being unbeaten and at what point when you were unbeaten

did the pressure start to mount because you're like well we can't lose now to be honest I think I started to think about the fact we could stay unbeaten in league after the man united away game when we won one zero there i think some journalists before were mentioning that already but i was not having that in my mind i was really focused on the fact like we wanted to achieve the wsl title and yeah we knew we still had the faker final to play for um but after that game i started to feel like yeah maybe it's possible because we only have two games left and we are in a really good dynamic and now it

has to be a goal for us because winning the WSL title this season is been great but just the fact we have been unbeaten is the sherry on the top of the cake so yes and I improve my English by the way so no yeah really really nice to have these feelings and yeah all this joy yeah with the season we had. I remember at the start of the season, you said to me, when I'm in the kitchen with my kids and I'm making food, I let them just make a mess. They need to try. And it's something similar that you said around the players. I would rather they lose 100 balls than they managed to keep two. And a lot of the players have that. She just wants us to try. She wants us to just be experimental, just go out there, be courageous, be brave. Do you think that

that was the beginning of the kind of key moment. So I want to ask you, how did you do it? Which is obviously really difficult. To achieve that, I think, first of all, I want to thank my players for sure because they are the ones who are on the pitch. I just think they have the talent enough to achieve that. And I think we have death in the squad.

So the season has been a really long season, but because we had that death in the squad, we were able to rotate and to keep freshness into the leg. and into the mental for the players to be ready to perform in every game and in every big game. So I think it's really important, first of all, to mention that and to give a lot of credit to the players, but also to all my staff. I think most of people work behind the scenes really hard, and I think you can only achieve that great things when everyone is on the same page, going in the same direction with the same vision. so I think it's a team performance. But also, yeah, my job is to make sure I bring the support to my players.

They feel when they go on the pitch, they feel the confidence coming from the manager. And I think that's what I'm trying to do anytime in the season. It's sometimes not easy because, you know, I have to make some decisions. So sometimes players are starting games, sometimes not. And this is where you need to make sure, like, even when the players are not starting, they keep the confidence on yourself. that's a challenge but that's part of my job to make them comfortable and confident going into every game. Yeah, that's a big challenge.

I think that's probably one of the most challenging aspects of the coach's role because there's also so many different personalities. So the way that you would coach one is probably different to how you'd coach another. And we saw that with Nat, who was not getting so much game time. And then she kept the confidence, she kept it going and has had a phenomenal season. you navigate the different kind of personalities and keep that going? Because it's got to be exhausting. Yeah, it's difficult, you know. I am the manager, but I am also a human. And sometimes it's difficult to manage the feelings because I am the one who is telling my players, oh, you are not starting a game. And sometimes I feel bad for that because I know they are sad.

That's about the feelings, but also I am the manager and I can't show them I'm vulnerable. because that's my job and my responsibility to make that call, that decisions. And I think, yeah, that's just like for them to understand, like, part of my job is making that decisions, but I'm always behind them, supporting them. And also, as you mentioned, like, not beyond, she has a, she had a fantastic season. She played so many games after the beginning of the season. And I think, yeah, in the beginning was not easy because as you just mentioned, She wanted to play more minutes.

She was not playing that minutes. And I think, yeah, she kept her confidence, which is really important in that moment. And, yeah, when she had that opportunity, she just took the opportunity to perform, to get back in the team. And, yeah, after with her performances, she just stayed in the team for the rest of the season.

And in our environment, that's what happened. We need to have a competitive environment. And sometimes you have to be patient. You need to keep your trust, your confidence, to make sure, like, when the opportunity comes, you just take it. Yeah, it's a mental game. But I also want to ask on the good point, what are the celebrations like? Because the treble is a big one. And unbeaten.

What were the celebrations like? What were the emotions in the dressing room like? Yeah, I think it was a bit difficult because after winning the WSL title, we couldn't really party because we knew we still had one game to go. with the HECA final. So we had great moments with friends and family. What was nice was the fact we knew we were going to be champions in the last game. So we were going to celebrate with the trophy at Stamford Bridge with the fans, with friends and family being there.

And I think it was really great to have everyone around and to be able to celebrate that, especially with your final game being at home again with your fans in the stadium. So I think it was really nice. The club was really good because they organized a really good party. And yeah, we just enjoyed without going crazy because we knew we still had one game. But after the last game in the FA Cup final, I think, yeah, it was the perfect movement for us to celebrate all together again. And I think it was the right timing for us to celebrate and to go more crazy, if I could say. And your children were in the dressing room at Stanford Bridge, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. What was it like for them? Yeah, it's nice, you know, because sometimes as a mom, it's also difficult to get the right balance. And yeah, this season is being a challenge for them as well, you know, moving as a family. Even if I said from the beginning, I think in the club everyone helped us to settle in well as quick as we could. And I think it was a really nice thing because if you want to give your best, you have to have your family on board with you. And I think just the fact the club helped us to. to settle in well

was really nice but it's still a big challenge for them with the buyer language coming into a new country a new way to live because you know

we are living in a city really big city where in France we were living in the countryside so it's so much a big transition so much change for them they still are arguing

sometimes because we had a really good garden big garden in France and here in London is a small garden So Gabban sometimes wants to kick some balls and we have to go to the park to do that. So, yeah, sometimes we still have some challenges, but it's nice. And yeah, I think we all enjoy being here and being living in London.

I love the kid's challenges. We've got to go to the park to kick the ball around. When you just want to sit in your sofa and watch TV. How crazy did the players go when they finally celebrated? And do you think that they really let loose in front of you? Yeah, I think, yeah, after the game on Sunday, they just let them go. And I think they really celebrate. I think that's important also for us to have that moments together, create memories.

Because as I already mentioned, I think we spend so many time together. And I think that's okay for us also in that moment to just be ourselves and to celebrate as much as we can. So yeah, it was a really nice moment all together. and I think we really enjoy that. I loved seeing you with the third goal. You basically roared. You were like, roar! You roared on celebrate.

How did it feel in that moment when that goal went in? Yeah, no, it's nice because when you are winning the game only one zero, you know everything can happen and you can't really breathe. When we scored the second goal, I felt like we were in a really good position and I felt comfortable to start to think we were going to win that, trophy and the third goal was just like the relief or not the relief

but the fact like you could relax everything and just celebrate and enjoy because most of the time as a manager until from the beginning of the game until the end you are just so focused on the game plan and how you can help and support your players on the pitch so when the result is 3-0 up

and with 10 minutes to go I think you can and start to relax a little bit and enjoy all the atmosphere and the celebrations. On the flags, on the FA Cup final, it said the words unrivaled. What do you think that word means to you? Yeah, I think just for us to realize we had a really great season.

We have been dominant domestically in England. It's a really nice feeling. I think just the fact we have been unbeaten is just incredible. Yeah. So, yeah, I think now we have this new statute. We are part of history because it never happened before. And I think being part of history is something always nice because people will remember that moment and this season forever. So I think it's a really nice feeling. But now we need to go with this statute for next season. That's the problem that you've created, Sonia. You've come in strong. You've done amazingly well. Is there a little bit of fear that you're like, oh, I did a bit too good. Not a fear, but yeah, now you need to sustain that statute and going into the next season,

we'll have to, yeah, maintain that high standard, high level. And I think these high expectations, we want to maintain them as much as possible. It will be difficult. But now we want to make sure for next season we stay dominant in England, but we always want to make sure we are able to compete against the best in Europe. now this is a question that obviously I'm going to have to ask but people ask it all the time it's going to be a hard one can you pick one moment

that you really truly love this season and it can be off the pitch or in training it can also be behind us no I think it's difficult to only have one moments because we lived so many good moments in the season on the pitch outside the pitch so really difficult but if I have to try to pick one I would say, yeah, just the fact we had the chance to finish our season at Wembley

in a Hefe Cup final where I think most of the teams want to be in that final and I think in terms of history being able to play a final in that stadium which is a stadium where everyone knows around the world so yeah, just being part of that event being able to win 3-0 a final against Man United with a strong opponent I think it was probably the best and the ideal way to end the season and I think it could have been more perfect than that. How do you describe that Wembley atmosphere for those who have never experienced it?

Again, I think it's difficult to put some words to really describe your emotions and your feelings. But wow. Wow. And yeah, I think we as a woman game, We have to really enjoy that moment because being part of that final in front of almost 70,000 people in the stadium, it's something different. It's something I never experienced before as a player and as a manager. So, yeah, really nice to be part of that final in that stadium. And I want to make sure we keep that for the future in the women's game because that's really, really special. And we saw there that there's new investment into the club with Alexis O'Hanian.

I mean, is that exciting for you? Does it feel like a new era for the club? How does it feel knowing that someone's so significant is investing so much? Oh, it means a lot for us. I think we already felt like we were in a club where we could feel the support coming from the ownerships. But again, to have a new member of board coming, joining, and investing in a woman's team

such as Alexi, I think it's incredible. It just again shows the ambition the club have and the high standards the club have. So as a woman manager or player, I think

Chelsea is the right place to be at the moment. I think having this great support coming from Alexi, I think yeah, just we feel we are going even to go further in our ambitions and again we want to make sure we compete in Europe against the best teams so we feel pretty lucky to be in that position and to have these people who wants to invest in

the women's team in Chelsea but also yeah we want to make sure for the future we do our best to be the best team in the world I saw you introducing your children to Serena Williams and him when they were there what did she say to them how did your children react yeah she just spoke a little bit French to them because, you know, she played in Roland Garo, so many tournaments in Paris. So she has a pretty good French. Does she? Yeah, yeah. So it was nice. I didn't know that. Yeah, so she's pretty good speaking French. And I think the kids were so happy to listen to someone speaking French to them. And my oldest, yeah, daughter was talking

about the fact she wanted to know more about Serena William. Was she really a famous person in the world that I was, yeah, I will explain later to you, but she's really famous. She's a great athlete and a great person, so it was nice. Yeah, just some few nice worlds with them. And yeah, after we went home and I showed them who was Serena William and they were, whoa, okay? We know more now, but no, really nice moments. And you know, we spoke a lot about being professionals, players, manager, but also these moments as humans are something really great to share. So So, yeah, it was really nice. This podcast is brought to you by Skoda,

the official car partner of Chelsea women and proud supporters of women's sport. 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.

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Is that something that you are just going to beeline for next season? Yeah, we want to compete in every competition. And I said that. I can see that. I've asked you a question. You've gone, oh, I'm stressed now. I don't want to put pressure on you. But it's just as a fan.

Yeah, no, I think like it's okay for me to have the pressure because I really enjoy that. I think it makes me better because, yeah, the pressure just makes me, wanted to do my best and working really hard to make sure I achieve the goals and the ambitions the club have. So I think that's okay. That's part of the job. But again, like we want to make sure in the future we are in a good place to compete for the Champions League.

I think that's the only trophy who is missing at the club. We were already disappointed because this season, I think the two games we played against Barcelona were not the games we wanted to have against. them so yeah big frustration but in the same time we want to make sure going into the future we just fix what we were missing in that two games to make sure we are in a better place to compete but again I think it's also important for us to stay dominant in England so I think I can't say like the Champions League is more important than the other three trophies I think all of them are really important so yeah I want to make sure next

season we will stay dominant in the league in England, but also we'll be probably in a better place to complete for Europe. Do you think that having this new investment might bridge that gap with Europe a little bit more? I hope so. I hope so because I think with this investment, we will be in a place where we can now continue to think about what we can improve as a club. And I think it goes to maybe thinking.

about what we can improve in the squad, maybe in the infrastructures, maybe in our environment, day by day, in the staff. And I think we need to make sure we just bring the right people for the players to fill the support because every day we are asking them

to perform at the highest level and we just want to make sure we bring them what they need to be able to be in that position. So now that the season is coming to an end, what does your summer look like? How do you wind down and switch off and relax? Although can you with all your children as well?

Yeah, yeah. I think it will be different. Just the fact you will have maybe two months without games in the weekend. I think it will be good for me just not to feel the pressure on the results. It will be good also to be around my kids on the weekend because for them sometimes it's difficult where most of the parents are spending time with them on Saturdays and Sundays. And I'm at the games so sometimes they can come and enjoy but not. always so I think it will just be good to be around them on the weekend I think also yeah I will

be working sometimes from home sometimes coming here I will be going and watching the Euro this summer is going to ask yeah really important tournament with a lot of players Chelsea players involved in that tournament so yeah I will have some time also back in France going back to my house in Nyon which will be really nice for me also and my family so yeah pretty long break even if yeah it's not like a two month break we still are working but in a different way which is nice because you can relax a little bit more how much of london have you and your family really managed to explore a lot actually yeah yeah a lot because i think yeah during the international break i will have the opportunity to spend some weekends with the kids and

during the week. And I think, yeah, I want to make sure I enjoy London because it's such a nice city to live in. And yeah, we went to some theatres to see some musical comedies. We went, yeah, to see the Lion King, Shrek also, yeah, with the kids. I remember Shrek because it was in the beginning when we first came. And it was so annoying for me because the kids couldn't understand what they were saying and every two minutes they were asking what did she say what did he say so i was like okay maybe before we go to lion king we'll wait for them to understand a little bit more but yeah really nice we went for some museums in london which is really nice and also we love to bike in the city and so we bike a lot with the kids and oh my god i would love to see that

are you all on bikes or do you have one bike with like a trailer and they're No, no, no. They are really good. We only have the youngest one with me. And yeah, all the three of our children's are on bike. And they are pretty good on doing that. So we have a big line on the streets on the road. But yeah, we are pretty good on respecting all the signs and everything. But it's really nice. Yeah. Well, big tick for a French person saying that she loves London. Yeah, no, it's nice. It's a really nice city to live in. Yeah. I love it. And at the moment, the weather has been great. has been fantastic like I have to be honest coming here maybe my two fears were a little bit the food but actually now I can say I can find pretty much what I want even if I'm still missing two or three different things but yeah what are things that are missing cheese yeah and la baguette a real French baguette and I don't drink any alcohol so I'm not missing wine or cheese and baguette yeah maybe a good croissant or pan en chocolate maybe you could do a review

maybe you could go to a few cafes and french boulangeries and then you pick some croissons and you can give us a six out ten ten out ten eight out of ten yeah sonies picks no to be fair the food is being great and the weather yeah i was expecting maybe in london every day to rain and it's not the case. So I think people make it worse when actually it's not the case. The weather has been fantastic and I really enjoyed it. I think we just sometimes love a little moan. Yeah. We just want a moan and then we just like to talk about the weather. So it's easy to normally just get what I have. But I think it's the same everywhere. Yeah. Do you? Because if it's too hot, we go, oh, it's too hot. To be fair, like in the staff, we have kind of a battle because, yeah,

when it's like 15 degrees, all my English staff turn the air conditioning on. And I'm, I'm like, it's freezing, please, turn it off. But yeah, so we have a bit of a competition with that in the building sometimes. I love that. The aircon, guys, this is not summer. Yeah, it's cold. What's your favorite thing that you've learned about British culture? I would say maybe living in London, the diversity in the city and the fact like people are really open-minded.

and you can see all these different people in the morning sometimes walking on the street with their PJ on that's fine no one is like yeah even paying attention to that so I really love that relaxing mentality and the fact like you can be yourself no one is going to judge you so it's really nice for me and also it's really nice to show that to my children yeah yeah I love that because the French are known for being really chic yeah and always being like yeah looking good prim and proper. Yeah. So the thing you like most is that the English, you're like,

I'm in my pyjamas and I don't care. Yeah, that's fine. And I don't care love. Yeah, exactly. Most of us are probably mums. Yeah, exactly. We haven't slept, so we've just walked out. Yeah, exactly, which is nice.

Which is nice. Are there any new British phrases that you find yourself saying? So I didn't know why people sometimes were using these words, but yeah, I really now I'm starting to use them as well. it's bless you when you have a situation where yeah you feel a bit sad or you know when someone makes you feel sad you're like oh bless you and yeah I felt this one is one I didn't know before I join and now I'm almost saying yeah these worlds every week every day almost we're unbeaten and won't three bless you yeah no I won't say that but yeah it's a good one it's a good

one. And my final question, what does planning the season ahead look like and involve? It's slightly different to your day to day when the season kicks off. But what will it look like? Yeah. This week we still have some training sessions with some players, preparing them going into the row. And I'm also meeting all my players individually because I think it's important for them to have this time with me to reflect on. Like an end of year review. Yeah, exactly. that's really important yeah individually for all of them to be able to give me some feedback on the season on the pitch outside the pitch from all the point of view and I think yeah I want to show them it's okay for me to be really open-minded and I want to make sure like they understand we want to improve going into the next season so it's really important for them to give this feedback to us just a curiosity when you do the reviews with the players can you tell if they're nervous or not. Because I imagine it's like when they're going to meet the head teacher.

Yeah, yeah, exactly. No, yeah, you can feel some of them are coming and they are a little bit nervous. But I just want them to understand from the beginning of the meeting, it's a relaxed. I want them to feel like, first of all, because we had a great season. So it's so much easier to do a review when you won't free to be trophies. But also because, yeah, most of them did well. So I think it's really positive. And I want to make sure because also we have.

at the end of the season, everyone is like fatigued and tired coming after this season. So for me, it's more positive feedback and just, yeah, making sure they understand where we want to go for next season. And, yeah, just basically to tell them to enjoy their break for the ones who will have a break. Sonia, thank you so much for giving me so much time. Thank you for this season. What a season you have given us.

a fan, we are just like, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Felicitation. Congratulations. Merci. And we'll see you next year. Yeah. Thank you so much. And I really enjoyed being part of Chelsea. And again, yeah, this season has been incredible. So hopefully next year will be even better. Thank you so much. Thank you for listening to this season of 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 they are proud supporters of women's sport. Remember you can watch us on YouTube and subscribe to the channel to make sure you never miss an episode. We'll see you next time. Bye-bye.