Ten days ago, I published my first post of the new season where I pondered on the Women’s team doing better than last season’s 4th place. Two games in and things are not looking too rosy as we currently sit 11th from 12.

Anyone not being given the final score but only the stats from yesterday’s game at West Ham could be forgiven for coming to the conclusion that Blues were victorious:
– Possession: 53%-47%
– Shots: 17-12
– Shots on Target: 9-4

But The Hammers won 1-0.

So where is it all going wrong? In her post-match interview Marta Tejedor said that she was “… pretty much happy with the performance, not the outcome…we played good football and got better and better, at the end every chance was at the same goal. We had control of the match but again were not able to score. That has been our biggest problem since the beginning and is our issue right now. If we could have got something from the chances we created it would have been very different.”  In a nutshell, controlling the game but not finding the back of the net. It’s a perennial problem, and not just in the Women’s game.

So, again, ‘Where is it all going wrong?’ According to Tweeting fans we’ve not had a goal scorer since Ellen White left. They forget that she was on the injury list for months last season and yet goals were still scored and games were won. That aside, they demand a goal scorer be brought in. But we do have goal scorers, both in the veteran squad members and the newbies. And yet…

It’s a funny old game and chance plays an important role. As Marta said, if created chances had been converted things would have been different. I’ve seen a goal scored from a rebound off the top of a ponytail. What are the chances? Ponder this – two shots taken from the same position by the same player, in the same prevailing conditions, will act completely differently. It’s the law of Physics. Of course skill plays a role – not least in the high standard of keeping goal this season. But in the end it comes down to this game is not yours, but the next one may be. It’s happened before, and chance and Physics say, it will happen again. Until then, keep training, keep developing the skills and, above all, keep the faith.