“Questions will be asked” of Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor following her side’s underwhelming 1-1 draw with Twente in their Women’s Champions League opener, says former England forward Lianne Sanderson.
Chelsea were favourites heading into the tie, having put nine goals past the Dutch champions across two group-stage meetings last season.
And after tournament heavyweights Barcelona, who have knocked Chelsea out in the semi-finals in each of the past three editions, thrashed Bayern Munich 7-1 on Tuesday, the Blues would have been hoping for a statement win of their own as they search for a maiden European trophy.
Instead, they were forced to settle for a point, with Sandy Baltimore’s 71st-minute penalty cancelling out Danique van Ginkel’s opener for the hosts.
Bompastor’s record as Chelsea boss is incredible, with 38 wins, five draws and three defeats in her 46 games in charge.
But Wednesday’s “disjointed” performance was the product of the seven changes made to their starting XI, according to Sanderson, who said Bompastor “took Twente lightly” and made the “wrong team selection”.
Ellie Carpenter, Millie Bright, Baltimore, and Aggie Beever-Jones were the only players retained from Friday’s Women’s Super League draw with Manchester United.
“Questions will be asked of Sonia because this is the competition all Chelsea fans want to win. It’s only one game but you look at other teams, like Barcelona, and they got off to a flyer,” Sanderson said on Disney+.
“Bompastor made too many changes. It looked disjointed. Too many changes, the chemistry wasn’t there. A lot of the players that started had minimal minutes.
“Fans will feel frustrated. Twente deserved that. Most people expected Chelsea to go on and win it, so fair play.
“Ultimately, Bompastor is going to have to make some difficult decisions in all competitions. She is still trying to find her best XI. She can’t keep everybody happy.
“Tonight it was the wrong team selection. They took Twente lightly and Twente deserved it more.”