Emma Hayes is expecting a difficult game against West Ham United at Kingsmeadow this afternoon when the Blues play our first fixture of the Continental Tyres Cup, and she wants to see her Chelsea Women players put on a better team performance than last week.
The Blues managed to take a point away from a determined Brighton and Hove Albion in our second Barclays Women’s Super League fixture last weekend courtesy of a late goal scored by Adelina Engman. It could have been a completely different match had we taken our chances, an issue which Hayes knows needs to be rectified quickly if her side are to stay in the running for silverware this season.
‘It’s important I see a good performance, I was disappointed with the way we performed against Brighton,’ she said.
‘I want to see an effort from the team that is worthy of a Chelsea team and we have to make it difficult for the opposition. We have not done that enough so far, I think we’ve been careless out of possession.
‘I want to see determination from the whole team to win the ball back. We need to get bodies forward into the box at the right time and start to produce a performance that our players are capable of.
Read: Chelsea v West Ham preview.
Hayes also highlighted that the WSL has strengthened and with our trophy aspirations, she is calling for her talented squad to dig deep and take responsibility in producing performances that they are capable of, starting against West Ham.
‘It’s another good opponent (West Ham), they took Arsenal all the way and I think every league game is going to be like that. I don’t think there is going to be a weak opponent personally.
‘Every team at this level has gone up another notch and we have to be prepared to roll our sleeves up and match every bit of effort the opposition put in and then our qualities can shine. But until we do that, it’s going to be an extremely difficult game.
‘I can’t say what the outcome will be from game to game, I know the team are always working on their finishing, but it’s about taking responsibility.
‘I want to see the character of the players shine through to show me that they want to be the player that creates and gets goals for the club. Simply we are not scoring enough goals and that’s clear, it’s got to become an even bigger focus from the players.
‘It’s about our determination and our hunger around the penalty box and I haven’t seen enough from us in those two games. We have to commit ourselves with an intensity and ferocity that I have not seen yet.’