GURO REITEN insists Chelsea are ready to “run through a brick wall” for Emma Hayes as they chase a quadruple trophy triumph.
And the Blues star, 29, says duels with their Conti Cup final rivals Arsenal are the best to win – but the worst if they end in defeat.
Tomorrow the Norway forward’s team will take on Jonas Eidevall’s Gunners in a battle to lift this year’s Continental Tyres trophy.
The 3:00pm clash at Wolves’ Molineux home will be the first chance for either side to win silverware this term.
It will also be the final opportunity for the team to attempt to win the contest for a third time under Hayes.
After 12 years at the helm, their boss, 47, will leave Chelsea at the end of this season to take charge of the USA Women’s national side.
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To date the Women’s Super League leaders have won 15 trophies under their manager.
And Reiten insists she and her team-mates always have their eyes on the prize when it comes to chasing silverware.
The versatile forward said: “We just stay in the moment and do our jobs, but the motivation for winning trophies is always there and it has always been there.
“I don’t think we’ve spent too much time thinking about Emma leaving.
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“If you ask anyone in our team, they want to win everything.
“I don’t think we need more (motivation). I don’t know if you can get more motivation to win a trophy.
“With every game we play now, the pressure is there. We have to win.”
Reiten, whose senior club career began with Sunndal, a local team based in the Norwegian county she was born in, has notched up more than 150 Blues appearances.
Since her May 2019 transfer from Norwegian side LSK Kvinner for a reported £13,000 fee, Chelsea have won 10 major trophies including four league titles.
The Blues ace, whose mother coached her to play in multiple positions during her childhood, credits Hayes with continually raising standards in Chelsea’s performances.
She adds: “Emma demands so much from us every single day, raising our standards.
“She says, what was good enough yesterday isn’t good enough tomorrow, it’s kind of her thing.
“With this league, the level is so much higher, and you need to take steps to just be a part of this team.
“But Emma is honest, she will tell me what I need to do better.
“She wants to see the effort, the energy and everything put into it.
“Everyone is willing to go through a brick wall for her.
“We want to be better as individuals, but also as a team.
“And even though there have been challenges and tough times, we have that mentality.”
Among the challenges the two-time League Cup winners have faced this term are injuries to a few senior players including skipper Millie Bright and star striker Sam Kerr.
The team are also without forward Mia Fishel and defender Aniek Nouwen.
The duo, like Kerr, are currently sidelined by anterior cruciate knee ligament injuries.
And these circumstances have led Chelsea to rely on the strength in depth of their squad during a run of 16 wins from 19 games.
It means a lot to beat Arsenal. They won the Conti Cup last year, so we want to take the trophy back.
Guro Reiten
Results that followed a hefty 4-1 December loss to Arsenal in the league.
Reiten adds: “There are so many good players in our team.
“This year with injuries and with new players coming in, you just have to adapt to whoever you’re playing with.
“They are all different with different qualities.”
The build-up to tomorrow’s duel is almost a rerun of last year’s Conti Cup final lead-in.
And like then Chelsea will enter this game following an earlier win against Arsenal in a major contest.
Their 3-1 defeat of Gunners this month dented their rivals’ hopes of a first WSL title win since 2019.
Reiten said: “They’re probably going to come to the final and want revenge for that.
“It means a lot to beat Arsenal. It’s the best game to win and the worst one to lose.
“They won the Conti Cup last year, so we want to take that trophy back.
“But it’s always intense, tight games against them.
“It’s like when you play a team and then two weeks later, you’re going to play them again.
“It’s about who’s going to change it up who’s going to do something different. It’s going to be interesting to see.”
Over the course of her Chelsea career Reiten has emerged as an influential figure on and off the pitch for the WSL giants.
Her deft touch in their Champions League quarter-final second-leg draw with Ajax set up the first Blues goal in the contest for record signing Mayra Ramirez.
And the forward enjoys being a role model for younger Blues players as well as contending with the pressure of winning trophies and retaining titles.
She said: “It’s weird because I feel like it’s just become a part of me. With every game we play now, the pressure is there.
“We have to win, we need to score goals.
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“I don’t know if I’m thinking about it the same way I did a few years ago, where I was more nervous and more stressed about it.
“Now it’s like, ‘this is this is just us, this is our job’.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
