Fresh from scoring her first goal for the Blues, Chelsea FC Women striker Sam Kerr hailed the quality in Emma Hayes’ squad as she continues to settle into life in London.
After impressing on her full debut against Reading at the start of the month, the Australian international featured from the bench against Bristol City and in our Continental Tyres Cup quarter-final win over Aston Villa.Kerr however saved her finest display to date for our comprehensive win over defending Women’s Super League champions Arsenal, netting the second goal of the game in our 4-1 win at Meadow Park on Sunday. While there were plenty of plaudits for her display at Arsenal, Kerr believes her seamless transition into the team has largely been down to her new team-mates.‘They are easy players to play with, look at the quality, they are unbelievable,’ she said.‘Coming to this league I didn’t know many players other than other internationals or a few here and there, but I’ve been really surprised with the quality of players that don’t have big names.‘To be honest the quality has been really impressive and the quality of people have been impressive and surprising because you don’t really see the quality of individuals when you are watching a game as much.
‘I was excited for the rest of season when I first rocked up, the girls are unbelievably talented and we have just got to keep playing as well as we did at Arsenal for the rest of the season.’Kerr’s smooth transition into the team should come as no surprise with the Australian captain the all-time leading goalscorer in the W-League with 70 goals and a further 69 in the USA having represented Western New York Flash, Sky Blue FC and Chicago, claiming three golden boots and two MVPs. When asked about adapting to life in England, the 26-year-old believes she will improve as an all-round player during her time in the WSL.‘Coming to the ball, it’s always been something that I’ve tried to work on but the players here are I guess bigger, stronger and they go through you a little bit more,’ she commented.‘That’s the main reason why I came here because I have been really good at the transition part of the game and getting in behind but there are smaller fields, smaller pitches, so you've got to keep the ball a little bit more. So yeah, that’s definitely the main part but also just being an all-rounder.’
Regarding her first goal for the club, Kerr was coy on its importance, insisting the result and the team’s overall objectives are all that matter.‘I mean yeah it was good,’ she said. ‘I didn’t have to do much, Guro [Reiten] got the ball in perfectly but it was nice to get a goal and get the monkey off my back but the win is the most important thing and the performance was unbelievable, so really happy for the team.‘We are really confident, every day in training the quality is amazing and everyone is fighting for positions. We were really confident going in to the game but it’s only one game and we can’t get caught up in one game.‘It doesn’t mean anything other than we beat Arsenal, so we have got to keep going and there is quite a way to go.’Sunday’s trip to Charlton Athletic in the FA Cup fourth round will be Kerr’s last appearance before she returns to Australia to help her country in their quest to qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
The Blues' next home game takes place on Sunday 2 February against West Ham United. The WSL match kicks off at 2pm and tickets are priced at £1 for juniors (under-20) and seniors (under-65) and £9 for adults.