So, Naomi Girma, how do you top a treble-winning season? The US international, sitting relaxed on the 3G pitch at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground, bits of the rubber crumb being squeezed between her fingers, does not hesitate before answering.
“We feel like we have another level we can get to,” she says. “It’s not about how we maintain this level but how we continue evolving and keep getting better. Having that mentality is always better than focusing on making sure no one catches us.
“If you ask any one of us, we feel like last year we could have played better, we could have had better performances so continuing to evolve as a team and continuing to get better is what we’re going to prioritise.”
Chelsea did not only win the league, they went through the whole domestic campaign unbeaten and won the FA Cup and League Cup too. True they did not have the best of performances at times, but they still won, and won, and won, powered by a mentality not dissimilar to that seen in the US women’s national team. “That’s what I was gonna say,” says Girma when that is put to her. “That’s my favourite type of way to be, to play: never say die, ’til the final minute keep pushing, never give up.
“That is the mentality I have been raised with and try to bring to a team. So, whenever you’re around a group that believes that and is trying to put that into every single game, every single session, that just brings out the best in you and the group. It’s one of my favourite parts of this club.”
Girma arrived from San Diego Wave in January with a record-breaking price tag and a stellar reputation that set expectations high. In the middle of the NWSL off-season, her final league match played in October 2024, hitting the ground running was always going to be tough. “It’s definitely awkward timing, coming in in the off-season,” she says.
“No one will ever expect more from me than I do for myself. All of those expectations from other people were there, but I wanted myself to come in and make an impact as much as I can, more than anyone else. I got injured, that’s soccer, and it was about having perspective. I didn’t come here to play for six months, I’m here for four years now so, while it’s hard in the moment, this was a long-term decision and a place where I see myself playing and getting better for a while.”
Leaving California, where she was born, grew up, studied and played, for Chelsea, felt right. “The decision to try something new and leave was just me wanting to challenge myself, to push myself out of my comfort zone,” says the 25-year-old defender. “It felt like the right time in my career to take that jump, post-Olympics felt like a good time to transfer and get settled somewhere new, and then Chelsea specifically just always stood out to me as a club.”
Two US internationals at Chelsea, Mia Fishel – now at Seattle Reign – and Cat Macario, helped sell the club to Girma. “I obviously knew so many of the players who play here,” says Girma. “Some I knew personally, some I just had played against, and just the culture, the environment, being in London, it all just felt right to me, so that’s why I chose to come.”
There were pros and cons to arriving in January, on the one hand you enter midway through a campaign, but on the other hand it provides a distraction. “Moving is always difficult,” says Girma. “It’s always going to be a step out of your comfort zone, but coming in in January you’re kind of thrown into things right away and you just have to figure everything out immediately. You don’t have time to think about it.
“You’re just like: I’m here. We have games. I need to be ready. Now, I have a full off-season too and getting to build through pre-season has been really nice. I already know the staff and the players going into a pre-season and it feels like you know, I’ve been on the team for a while. So, there’s advantages.”
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Away from the pitch, the cold was the roughest shock to the system for the Californian, who reads a lot, cycling through genres book by book, and plans to have a go at painting. “It’s not super different just because it’s English speaking here but when I first got here, January, I was very cold so that was a bit of a shock for me, something I expected though,” she says. “My brother’s visiting me right now so people have been coming over, it’s a nice opportunity for friends and family to get over and they have somewhere to stay and hang out.”
The Guardian’s last big interview with Girma came in January 2024, when the player spoke passionately about her decision to work with Common Goal on a mental health retreat for players. “It’s definitely one the most proud things that I’ve done, just, ever,” she says. “You never know how it’s going to go or how people are going to respond to it.” The response was sensational, players effusive about the impact of the event.
Now, they are targeting the 2026 men’s World Cup in North America. “We have so many players who’ve been a part of the programme and who want to continue with it. It’s great if I’m doing it but the more players we have the better, so hopefully working towards hubs throughout the US will mean getting to work with more players,” she says.
Back in the present, at Chelsea, on the pitch it didn’t take long for things to flow and relationships to feel normal. “I actually felt comfortable pretty quickly playing with them,” says Girma. “I feel like towards the end of last season it felt normal. That’s a testament to them, the communication style and the way we kind of mesh together.”
Working with a manager, in Sonia Bompastor, who played in defence herself is a bonus. “I really wanted to develop as a player where I was moving to. To have a manager who played in defence always helps in terms of working on the littlest of things and tweaking certain things that just make us that little percentage better.”
The rest of the WSL – and Europe – have been warned.
