Space. It’s a critical commodity in football. It’s what the team in possession wants plenty of. It’s the thing the team out of possession wants to erase. As it was on Saturday in the Subway League Cup final between Chelsea and Manchester City.
City are a side full of wonderfully talented technical players. But one requires space to demonstrate one’s technique—something Chelsea were determined to give them very little of.
Chelsea also have some decent technicians, but in a contest where space is at a premium, they need it less. Their starting XI contained players like Mayra Ramirez, Cat Macario, Lauren James, Johanna Rytting Kaneryd, Sandy Baltimore, Erin Cuthbert, Lauren James, and Sjoeke Nusken; players with the ability to barge their way through the opposition, or sprint clear of them. If not both.
The opening goal of the game was a perfect object lesson.