I won the quadruple with Arsenal and they must stop Chelsea to keep it sacred

Winning a quadruple is no small feat.

Former Arsenal goalkeeper Emma Byrne knows exactly what it takes.

She was part of the only English team ever to achieve it in the 2007/08 season.

One of her teammates that season was none other than talkSPORT's Lianne Sanderson, who scored 51 goals in 36 appearances in that historic season.

But Arsenal's historic achievement could well be emulated by another English club this year.

As Emma Hayes prepares to bid farewell to Chelsea at the end of this season, the club remain in the running for those four all-important trophies.

But there's one person who is desperate for Chelsea not to achieve the quadruple this year - and that is Byrne.

She told Sanderson on talkSPORT's Women's Football Show exactly why.

"I don't want anyone else to win from England. I'm going to be honest!" she laughed. "As soon as an English club wins, that's it! It's not prestigious for us."

Indeed, in the 16 years since the Gunners' achievement, no other club has managed to win the WSL, the League Cup, the FA Cup and the Champions League in the same season.

On a serious note, Byrne told talkSPORT she does believe clubs could well be close to achieving it.

She said: "I think an English team can do it again, I mean, they have the resources, they're improving so much, they can compete.

"But I always say, the Champions League, it takes you maybe three or four years, maybe longer to actually get used to it, to get accustomed to the level.

"And it's now that Chelsea have that chance because they've made their mistakes, now they know what it takes.

"They got absolutely battered by Barcelona in the (2021) final and I think that was a bit of a lesson for them.

"It just takes a lot of things to go your way for you to win that tournament and that's why it's always going to extra special."

Chelsea might not have been as clinical as they have previously been this season, but they have found ways to get the job done this season.

The dispatched Sunderland with a convincing 5-0 win to reach the semi-finals of the League Cup and will face Ajax after reaching the knockout stages of the Champions League.

They also currently sit top of the WSL table and are looking to make it five titles in a row.

One of the teams who had been tipped to stand in Chelsea's way this year was three-time WSL winners Arsenal.

Jonas Eidevall's side have not won the WSL since 2019, but their squad depth following the return of a number of injured players looked sure to make them contenders.

However, the Gunners have not quite been up to the task this season - despite their 4-1 thrashing of at the Emirates.

Arsenal more recently suffered a shock 2-1 defeat to West Ham in a performance which epitomised so many of the problems they have had this season.

However, reflecting on this loss, Byrne had a somewhat surprising statement to make about the struggling side.

She said: "I do think Arsenal are the best team in the league.

"But they're too inconsistent."

She added: "I think they've got the potential and when they've played well, when they've played against Chelsea, they look like the best team.

"I've watched City, I've watched Chelsea, I can pick points where you can get at them - I can see where you can beat them. With Arsenal, I can't see it. They're so strong."

Strong or not, Arsenal's WSL title race is no longer in their own hands.

That loss against West Ham was their third this season, after an opening day loss to Liverpool and a historic first ever North London derby defeat to Tottenham.

Even if Arsenal win all of their remaining WSL games - including the one against leaders Chelsea on March 17 - they will have to count on the Blues dropping at least three points in their other games to have any chance of winning the league.

And that does not even take into account the formidable Manchester City, who currently sit three points ahead of Arsenal and who have won their last nine games in all competitions.

In short: there is a reason no side has ever won the WSL after losing more than two games in a season.

And Byrne admitted that despite being impressed with Arsenal, there was a key element of their play that was holding them back.

She said: "It's in the box. It's players in the box, it's movement in the box, it's committing numbers in the box.

"They do everything else...really well. They keep possession, they play really nice through the thirds, that system: two holding, and then the three and then the one - it just allows them to play really nice football.

"Nice triangular passing, they do it really well. They do it the best in the league and that's what I'm going off.

"But at the end of the day, when they get the ball...in wide areas, when they get the ball into the box, they don't have enough players in there. They don't have enough movement in there. It's really static."

A theme of Arsenal's play this season has been a consistent failure to capitalise on chances and to convert opportunities into goals.

Byrne added that they were certainly in a predicament that was entirely of their own making.

She said: "When you drop points like that and drop points in two games before that...you can't expect to win the league and you shouldn't."

And though she does not want Chelsea to win the quadruple, Byrne did add that they could hardly be blamed for their dominance given the failure of other WSL teams to make them pay.

She said: "Chelsea aren't playing well either, Chelsea shouldn't really be at the top because they're not playing well.

"But at the end of the day, when the opposition or the other teams aren't doing enough you can't really blame Chelsea for that either."