EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsIf Chelsea's early stumble in their Women's Super League opener is anything to go by, they could be in for a frustrating campaign in front of goal in what is supposed to be their reascension to domestic glory.For the most part, everything was going Chelsea's way. Lauren James opened the scoring in the 11th minute, and the hosts dominated the game thereafter. But their profligacy in front of goal -- 34 chances but only eight on target -- prevented them from putting the result beyond doubt.Chelsea's wastefulness came back to haunt them. An organized Aston Villa press created confusion at the back, with miscommunication forcing defender Veerle Buurman into a costly mistake that allowed Villa to level the tie and leave Chelsea with dropped points on the opening day.It is, of course, far too early to draw any sweeping conclusions from one result. This is a new 24-game campaign following the league expansion, and Chelsea have only played one of them. But a 1-1 draw - the first time Villa have ever taken points off the eight-time champions -- was hardly the statement the scorned, dethroned former champions would have wanted to make.Chelsea had been spoiled in recent seasons. By their own admission, they had become accustomed to being the benchmark in England, setting the standard, leading the way and, for the most part, making the domestic game look deceptively easy.They had been blessed with a world-class attacking line, a manager with 12 years of experience at the helm who had built a squad specifically for her football, and a domestic landscape in which few rivals were matching their level of investment. For six consecutive seasons, no club could quite find a way to knock them from their perch.That spell was finally broken last season by Manchester City, who claimed their first league title in a decade and, in doing so, brought Chelsea crashing back down to earth.After Hayes' departure in the 2023-24 season, manager Sonia Bompastor inherited a winning squad, and though she made a few changes, the majority of her team was the squad that Hayes had crafted. That season returned a domestic treble.Last season was the first in which the French coach began putting her own stamp on the place, swapping out the "old guard" for players that better fit her playing style and vision. Indeed, that was going to come with its fair share of teething problems and thus Chelsea dropped points, looked mismatched and for the first time since 2019, only returned one trophy -- the League Cup -- following an insipid campaign, marking one of their worst campaigns on paper in modern club history.This season represents something of a new beginning. It is Bompastor's first full campaign with a squad that is increasingly her own. The transformation is already clear. Six of the XI that started against Aston Villa were Bompastor additions since her appointment in July 2024, although some of those deals may have been set in motion before Hayes' departure.The process of dismantling, in some ways, a winning machine in order to build a new one can prove considerably less forgiving than simply maintaining what came before.For all of Chelsea's business over the past two seasons, they still appear to be without a nailed-on No. 9. The ball simply did not fall for Aggie Beever-Jones on Saturday, despite the forward getting the ball into the back of the net only for her effort to be ruled offside.Former Manchester United forward Melvine Malard scored twice in the 6-2 aggregate win over Real Sociedad in the Champions League qualifiers but has been sidelined with injury since the first leg, while new signing Manaka Matsukubo's future remains shrouded in uncertainty following vague comments from Bompastor about when she might return.Then there is Mayra Ramrez, who missed much of last season through injury, returned during Chelsea's victorious campaign at the all-WSL World Sevens tournament, only to suffer another injury during preseason. There has been no clear indication yet of when she will be back.James and Alyssa Thompson have previously been capable of filling the void, but with Chelsea looking to reassert their authority in the competition, both were deployed in their more natural wide roles. That left Chelsea lacking a consistent presence in the box, limiting what either winger could offer as the attack began to falter.The problem might have been less glaring had Aston Villa's debutant goalkeeper not produced a performance capable of answering almost every question Chelsea asked of her.Many would have expected 21-year-old summer signing Akane Okuma to be third choice to England internationals Ellie Roebuck and Emily Ramsey. But with both unavailable, Okuma was handed her first start between the posts and she proved decisive.The Japanese goalkeeper kept Villa in the contest almost single-handedly, producing nine saves to deny Chelsea and ensure their dominance in chances did not translate into a comfortable victory.There are positives to take, too. Chelsea's ability to create a myriad of chances from across the pitch is encouraging and suggests there is plenty more to come from this side. The imperative now is a simple task: to turn those opportunities into goals if they are to have any chance of returning to winning ways."We're not going to panic," summer signing Katie McCabe said. "It's only the start of the season."That is perhaps the most fitting way to assess the afternoon. Chelsea have no reason to panic after one game, but they will know there is work to do.The Blues will be hoping this faltering opening proves little more than a stumble, and that, come the end of the campaign, the WSL trophy is back where they believe it belongs: in their cabinet.
