WSL: Beth Mead and Lauren James share their title hopes amid changes at both Arsenal and Chelsea | Football News

“The Women’s Super League is harder to win than ever before,” Beth Mead tells Sky Sports as she looks ahead to her ninth season at Arsenal.

As the north London club enter a new WSL campaign, ending Chelsea’s five-season reign as champions is at the top of their list of priorities. Doing so would see Arsenal claim their first league title since 2019.

Mead is one of five survivors from the last Arsenal team to win the title. The prospect of a new challenge to return to the top flight of English football has been damaged by the departure of Vivianne Miedema to rivals Manchester City. Miedema left after seven seasons with the Gunners, during which she became the WSL’s all-time leading scorer.

The departure of the Dutch striker caused a stir in women’s football, with some questioning Arsenal’s ability and ambitions to win the competition.

“It’s okay if people don’t support us,” Mead said Sky Sport.

“It’s been a frustrating few years. We’ve been there a few times for the league, but it wasn’t good enough.

“We were devastated to see Miedema leave and go to a rival team. It’s not nice to lose teammates. She was a great player in the locker room, her performance speaks volumes.

“It’s not easy, especially when you have a player for so long who you’re so used to playing with and who is so good on and off the pitch for us. But you adapt, you learn and you try to do your best with the team we have.

“It’s part of football now. Football is now a big business in women’s football and these kinds of things are going to happen.

“Now we’ve brought in some players who will hopefully make a big difference for us. And I’m really excited about the team we have.”

New manager, same ‘winning mentality’

Chelsea have also undergone some major changes themselves. Emma Hayes announced she would be stepping down as boss after 12 years at the club, during which she won 15 honours, including two doubles and a domestic treble. Lauren James believes the faith Hayes showed in her allowed her to be herself on the pitch.

“Hayes has had a huge impact on me,” James said Sky Sport.

“She had her arm around me when I needed it and was there to tell me when I needed it. She showed a lot of faith in me to get me back to Chelsea.

“During our three years together, she played a huge role in me being able to be myself and play freely.”

Former Lyon manager Sonia Bompastor has been tasked with replacing the long-serving Hayes at Chelsea. The French manager has a track record of her own, having won three consecutive Division 1 Feminine titles and led Lyon to a league and European double in 2022. Despite a change in the dugout, James expects standards to remain the same.

“They are clearly two very different managers,” she said.

“But both managers have a winning mindset and have won things, and big things too. Things take time, but she is starting to adapt to the team and everyone is getting used to her well.”

Tough start for Arsenal offers early chance

The level of competition in the WSL means that there is more emphasis on each game. Arsenal’s season starts on Sunday at the Emirates against Manchester City, live on Sky Sports.

Last season, City finished five points ahead of second-placed Arsenal, but now that they have poached a player in Miedema, their chances of winning the title are gone again.

“It’s not going to be an easy game,” Mead said.

“There are pros and cons to such a difficult match at the start of the season.

“If you start the season well and beat one of your rivals, then chances are you will start the competition well.

“Hopefully we’re on the right side, starting with three points, but consistency throughout the season will be hugely important as the league becomes more and more competitive. Your bottom teams are now even harder to play against.

“We just have to do our job and try to score three points every week.

“It won’t be easy, but hopefully we can perform at a consistent level throughout the season and hopefully that can get us over the line.”

Always looking for improvement

James finished joint second in the goalscoring charts behind WSL Player of the Season Khadija Shaw, who found the net 13 times in 16 league games last season.

Her return was an improvement on the previous season, when she scored five goals. After being nominated for the Player of the Season award, James has set her sights on continuing her journey, both personally and with the club.

“Every year you want to do better than the year before,” James said.

“I just keep trying to score and help the team win as much as possible. Every year it gets harder (to keep winning). Every year Chelsea always wants to make their mark.

“For us, this season is about finding and maintaining consistency. All teams continue to improve and players come and go, so the competition is greater every season.”

The Emirates are ‘home’

On a personal note, Mead’s new season begins nearly a year after she returned from a 330-day absence due to an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

Mead returned in October 2023 with a decisive assist from the bench against Aston Villa in a 2-1 comeback win at the resilient Emirates.

Mead scored eight goals and provided four assists for Arsenal in the 16 games she started for the club last season, completing 11 months of what she describes as a “grueling” rehabilitation.

“It was long. It was hard. It was grueling,” she said, recalling her experience on the sidelines.

“I had my ups and downs and there were days when I didn’t feel like doing the same boring things over and over again.

“I came back to the Emirates and the noise of the crowd, the appreciation of my teammates for what I had been through and the fact that I had gotten back to that point afterwards was just worth it mentally.

“It seemed to take away all those bad days during rehab. But it’s not an easy process to go through.

“It’s a space I’ve never been in before. I’ve never had an injury of that magnitude before.

“I was proud when I got back on the field to do what I could again.”

In May, Arsenal announced that the Emirates Stadium would become Arsenal’s primary venue from the 2024/25 season.

The news is a reflection of the growing popularity of women’s football. However, it adds another challenge, as players adjust from regularly playing in Meadow Park in front of a 4,500 capacity crowd to the Emirates, which can hold 60,000 fans. For Mead, however, the transition is one the Arsenal team is ready for.

“Oddly enough, the Emirates really feels like home,” she said.

“We have so many opportunities to play there more often. But originally it was a big step from playing for 3,000 people to 60,000.

“It’s something we had to get used to. Wherever we are, wherever we play, we have to make it our own fortress.

“The girls we brought into the team, like Mariona Caldentey, are used to playing in front of big crowds in Barcelona and the Nou Camp, where 90,000 people came to watch their games. So hopefully they will adapt very smoothly.

“Playing regularly at the Emirates brings a lot more pressure and expectations. It’s about dealing with that as a team and as individuals.”

Can Arsenal, fuelled by the Emirates and a dressing room keen to prove the sceptics wrong, end their wait for glory or will Chelsea, under new management, continue their dominant position?