Sonia Bombastor: Chelsea coach blames injuries for 2025-26 season decline

Chelsea manager Sonia Bombastor said injuries are the reason behind her team’s decline this season.

Back-to-back defeats to Arsenal and Manchester City left the defending champions, who have won the Women’s Super League for the past six seasons, 12 points behind the leaders with eight games remaining.

After the 5-1 loss to City, Bombastor made comments that some interpreted as blaming a lack of squad depth for their woes, but the French manager insisted that was not what she meant and that she was referring to how injuries had affected their season.

She said: “I tried to say that the depth of the team was affected by the absence of key players in key positions, and perhaps this is the main reason why we are in this situation.”

“English is not my first language, and perhaps because of the language barrier, I did not express it clearly.”

After the City match, Bombastor also said she would be “happy” to leave Chelsea if the club’s management felt she was no longer the right person for the job.

However, speaking ahead of Sunday’s trip to Tottenham Hotspur, she insisted she retained her support for the club.

She said, “I felt the club’s support from my first day, and I don’t feel pressure. They support me and the players.”