Emma Hayes brings new energy and a fresh perspective to the USWNT, but with immediate sky-high expectations

After a six-month wait for her arrival, the US women’s national soccer team has a new coach and Emma Hayes scored two victories in her first games on the sidelines. The team’s two-game series against South Korea was the last before the Olympic roster was announced.

Rainy weather couldn’t even slow the show as the USWNT welcomed Hayes with a four-goal win in Denver and closed with a soggy three-goal victory in Minnesota, where conditions made the London native feel like she was at home.

“I was absolutely sweating to death in Colorado the other day,” she joked. “So this was absolutely heaven for me. I enjoyed the fast pitch, the nights under the lights and the great crowd brought a lot of energy. I loved listening to the drum behind the goal. It felt like I was in Europe, so I better attend a few more During the MLS games I loved the atmosphere.”

Now that she has two matches under her belt, Hayes’ tour has officially started. But she would hardly call herself a rock star. She references her disdain for the pompous comparison in her audiobook “Kill the Unicorn.” She also said she hates operating in silos, as she puts it, so it was no surprise that the most anticipated U.S. soccer project of 2024 included not only Hayes, but several members of her former Chelsea team. staff as the program looks ahead to new projects. processes.

“I’m just building on what we’ve already presented to the players and it doesn’t matter if [they] play in Europe or the US. It’s not relevant. It ensures that there is complete clarity from me to them about what their expectations are. And I think it’s been a really good coaching week from all the coaches to get the information across in a short and concise manner,” Hayes said of her first international appearance with the team.

“But I couldn’t have asked more from anyone this week. And for that reason I feel happy. But now it’s between now and the next camp. You have to analyze all the things. You have to be absolutely right in the run-up to the Olympics .”

A coach who is different from her predecessors

Hayes has spoken out about how her coaching role models differ from time to time. She speaks of admiration for her friends who are head coaches in other women’s sports, such as University of South Carolina women’s basketball Dawn Staley and Duke University’s Kara Lawson.

She is authentic and takes pride in the personality she brings to her new venture as USWNT head coach. She may bring a layer of intimidation to some in US Soccer with her superior soccer IQ, but that’s almost refreshing for a 40-year-old program that’s just starting to feel like it’s welcoming new ideas.

During former head coach Jill Ellis’ time as manager, she referred to a changing of the guard during her time, with players reaching 150 or 200 caps being a rarity in the future and was met with discussion. She introduced a number of young players who are now mainstays, notably Rose Lavelle, Mallory Swanson, Tierna Davidsonroc and Lindsey Horan, but her player pool was full of contemporary talent and won another World Cup in 2019, despite the 2016 Olympics in Rio. disaster.

The Hayes era already feels different. Since their exit from the 2023 World Cup, eleven different players have made their debuts. Hayes’ lineup in her first game on the sidelines averaged 25.5 years old and in the second game averaged 28 years old. While the principles to ensure a balanced selection existed before her arrival, we are seeing this happen in real time.

The beginnings of the USWNT program began with talented teenagers growing up with the team and becoming legends. Young players were slowly woven together, typically through collegiate systems and time in youth programs, until the torch was passed with players making hundreds of appearances against younger players who would also eventually earn hundreds of caps.

The perception that we don’t want to overwhelm players with too much too quickly also became part of American football culture, a culture completely different from the rest of the world, but if those same players just kept working hard, their time would pass come eventually. .

The 2023 World Cup presented a squad with several players playing in their very first World Cup and it went as everyone expected. Former USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski was criticized, not so much about his selections, but about the way he used them. Not using the full 23-player roster, a lack of in-game substitutions and players still trying to figure out their roles during the tournament naturally led to a historic round of 16 exit.

So when USA Soccer and Athletic Director Matt Crocker came to Hayes, it was with a very specific intention: to get the U.S. women’s program back on track, compete in the Olympics and implement its principles. Her strengths as an effective communicator and decision-making are important components of her coaching style.

With Hayes, she is already checking off items on USWNT fans’ wish lists. Integrate and play new players with less experience? Done and still happening. Formal changes? Done and were shifted in the game. Rotate players? Used every available substitution and only two players were not used during this period.

“One thing I learned is that I really realized why this team is so special,” Hayes said during her first week with the USWNT.

“It always looked like this from the outside. But on the inside it is really a special place. And when you are in a special place, you can experience many special moments and even see it again [Tuesday]. It’s really hard to play against the same team in such a short time. I think the team has recognized what it takes to make progress.”

Looking ahead to the Olympic Games

The former Chelsea manager is clear that mutual respect and understanding between players, coaches and staff will be driven by similar goals. She said that before their last match against South Korea, she shared a sheet of all the things that define them because you are reminded of their virtues during the most difficult moments.

“It is a team that can adapt. It’s a resilient team. They are a flexible team – those are their words, not mine. And… I get excited about growth and I’m excited about our joint development,” she shared with the media during post-match comments. .

Hayes must now announce a final Olympic roster, deadline for all teams on July 3, but some national teams are likely to announce it before that date.

She has been busy non-stop since her arrival in New York on May 30, and the coach revealed that after the games in South Korea, there will be a staff meeting for reflection and preparing a project plan for the next camp, and preparing timelines for the Olympic Games. It will be a plan for her and the staff, and will not be shared with players until the final roster is selected.

Then she takes some time to rest, but only briefly, until she returns to New York for the team’s Olympic farewell matches. So it’s not exactly a relief she feels now that her first matches are in the record books.

“I really feel excitement. When I think about relief, I remember what it’s like to win a title, and when you get to the end and think, that’s relief. I feel something completely different. that I can really have a big victory.” influence on this group. In turn, they will have a great influence on me. And I told them today that I haven’t stopped smiling all week,” she said.

“Of course, I visualized what this would be if I came here. And I know the importance of this team from the outside, but also from within. I really appreciate everything that it’s about, and I just really want to do it.” I’m so proud of doing that. But they also welcomed us all, you know I brought staff from all over the world, and we felt really welcome. It can be difficult to have to lead, but also to be new, but I have felt from the I started feeling supported and that gives me a lot of confidence.”

Ready or not, Hayes is here to help U.S. Soccer enter the global game in ways it’s not used to and that’s a good thing. The federation needed to make a statement on the hiring, and it did so by getting one of Europe’s winningest coaches, a mega-signing, to show that the program would not remain stagnant, but would still be a leader in taking the women’s game to the next level. and achieving even higher standards for red, white and blue.