Sonia Bompastor has described how she will take key learnings from this season and further develop the team's winning mentality in order to compete for the Women's Super League title next season.
This Sunday sees us face Manchester City in the Women's FA Cup semi-final, just four days after they found out they had won the WSL title for the first time since 2016 following Arsenal's draw with Brighton on Wednesday night.
That brought to an end our winning run of six consecutive league trophies, and while Bompastor praised her opponents, she is already assessing how we can take the title back next season.
'First and foremost, I want to congratulate Man City,' said our head coach. 'I think it's a great achievement from them. Congrats also to Andree (Jeglertz), being able to achieve that in his first season in this league.
'Our job is to make sure we reflect on our campaign. We review everything that happened, and we look at the future with a lot of ambition, but also solutions to be able to fight back to win the league next season.
'We reflected on that last season, even when we were able to win the trophy. That's a part of the processes you need to have in your club when you want to stay at the top. I think what is good in this club is that everyone at all levels is reflecting on how we can improve and how we can stay at the top.'
With the Women's FA Cup still to fight for this season, Bompastor wants to temper any disappointment over the outcome of this season's WSL with a rational analysis of our campaign, even if the aim at Chelsea is always to win.
This, she feels, is crucial to be able to build with clarity and confidence ahead of 2026/27.
'We are an ambitious club, so we want to make sure next year we are fighting for the title again,' she continued. 'When you are Chelsea, you aim to win everything, and I think that's our ambition, that's our mentality.
'I said from the beginning, when I joined this club, I wanted to make sure we stay at the top, and we keep winning. We want to win as many titles as possible, and I think we cannot just say it's an okay season. But considering the fact that we faced some transitions this year, it could have also been worse.
'I think that's why it's important to stay balanced and not to go too high when you are in your highs, not to go too low when you are in your lows. That's what I'm trying to do, stay levelled, and make sure I analyse the season with facts and reality.'
Key for Bompastor is the mindset aspect of the game. The head coach also wants to ensure the players have access to everything they need to perform at an elite level, giving us the best chance of winning each match.
'We want a winning mentality to be the culture around the women's team,' she concluded. 'All the details around all the support we can bring to the players. I think there are many things we can do.
'We are already doing a lot of good and positive things, but we also know we have room for improvement. It’s for us to reflect on that and to be able to bring the best support into our environment to make sure the players can perform at their best level.'