Guro Reiten: The case for the baby-faced assassin

by Emmanuel Faith (2/6/23)

Above: Guro Reiten contesting possession for Chelsea in the FA Cup Final. Photo: Ben Phillips for Impetus.

When Sam Kerr won Chelsea’s player of the season, their fanbase was divided. A lot felt that the Western Australian deserved it – she has come up trumps for the team this season, especially in domestic cups showing why she is one of the best strikers in the world right now, while the other part felt Reiten should have won it for her consistent goal contributions through the season.

However, when The Athletic named their team of the season and didn’t include Reiten, the fanbase was shocked, and justifiably so.

This piece is written to shed more light on why Reiten should be in every WSL team of the season, and why she deserves all the individual accolades (even ahead of Kerr).

Reiten concluded the season with 20 assists, this is more goal contributions ahead of her celebrated colleague, Kerr, and other attackers like Leah Galton, Alexia Russo, Frida Maanum, Kenza Dali, Chloe Kelly, and more. In fact, only two players provided more assists than Reiten – Khadijah Shaw and Rachel Daly whose renaissance has been the talk of the town.

Talking of Renaissance, it is the first time we have seen the Norwegian spend a huge chunk of time playing on the left throughout a season. Chelsea boss Emma Hayes has rotated her as an inverted wing-back or left back, sometimes as an attacking midfielder on either side of the midfield, but this season, she has held down the role in the absence of Fran Kirby and Pernille Harder either beside or behind Kerr, tripling her assists contributions during the process.

Reiten was Chelsea’s best-attacking player in the WSL, joint-best player in the UWCL (tying with Sam Kerr with less minutes) and while Kerr has come up trumps in domestic cup finals, Reiten’s brilliance was crucial to getting to these finals.

Reiten was Chelsea’s best player of the season, indubitably so and the way she wrapped up the season, especially the last two matches is a testament to how productive her campaign has been.

On the penultimate weekend, she opened the scoring against Arsenal, and then her free-kick led to the second in a 2-0 win. On the final weekend, she assisted Kerr’s opener and then scored the second herself. Two crucial games, two Player of the Match awards. Isn’t that how to etch your name in the hearts of the fans?

The Norwegian star has consistently delivered excellence throughout the season contributing almost one-third of the team’s attacking output, she also has had spectacular performances like the four assists and one goal contribution in the 8-0 win over Leicester City last December, or the 8-0 win against the Albanian champions, Vllaznia where she registered four assists in 74 minutes, before being substituted. If she has delivered these electric performances, why is she not picking up the individual awards?

In a recent conversation with BBC where she was dubbed the baby-faced assassin, Reiten mentioned how she isn’t concerned about the individual awards or accolades, as long as the team is winning, however, the midfielder has been so influential on this Chelsea team this season, and her individual brilliance should not go unrecognized.

Reiten should stroll into any WSL team of the season, and should be spoken about with huge respect. The fans know this, and it’s high time journalists recognized this to sing her praises as deserved.

While our immediate focus is on the World Cup starting in less than 50 days, if this season is a predictor of what is to come, then we can expect more moments of magic from the assist queen next season. Until then, let the football community beware, Reiten is here, making history, and we should be committed to documenting this story.

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