NEW YORK — One day, Emma Hayes may have time for a correct trip.
Last Saturday, she put the cherry on high of an epic 12-year profession at Chelsea by main the London membership she constructed from the floor as much as its seventh general — and fifth consecutive — Women’s Super League title. Then, on Wednesday, she flew to New York City with a brand new title in hand: United States ladies’s nationwide group head coach.
Hayes is diving head first into a brand new job with the Paris Olympics a mere two months away. She was formally employed by U.S. Soccer again in November however needed to complete out Chelsea’s season earlier than totally committing. Now that chapter has closed, and Hayes, who’s all the time up for a problem, will face her subsequent one: to revive the four-time World Cup champion USWNT to its profitable methods.
“Of course, in an ideal world, everybody would love to be sitting on a beach somewhere now for a couple of weeks,” Hayes joked Thursday afternoon throughout a roundtable dialogue with a small group of reporters at the National Women’s Soccer League workplaces in Manhattan.
“But my perspective is really clear,” she continued. “You don’t get many opportunities to go to an Olympics in your life. And so I only needed a day off on Sunday — I had a birthday party for 40 people, most of them six-year-olds — to remind me that I can’t wait to go back to work.”
This was a Star Wars themed occasion, thoughts you, and Hayes mentioned Luke Skywalker was there. Now there are “more Star Wars gifts than I care for in my house,” Hayes mentioned with a chuckle.
Following Hayes’ ultimate match with Chelsea — a 6-0 blowout win over Manchester United to clinch the WSL title — she advised reporters that she “categorically cannot carry on. I don’t have another drop to give, whatever it is.” But what she meant by that was that she couldn’t proceed in the identical capability as she has for so lengthy at Chelsea.
Managing the USWNT is totally different and has lengthy been Hayes’ dream job. She began her profession stateside and lived in New York for seven years. She labored her means up from teaching boys’ youth groups, to a ladies’s novice group, to the ladies’s group at Iona College, to the Chicago Red Stars, the place she drafted and briefly coached Megan Rapinoe.
Now it is all “coming full circle,” mentioned Hayes, who made certain to get at the least two walks in Central Park whereas visiting New York City this week.
“My journey has been bottom up,” Hayes mentioned. “I’ve worked hard to get to this point, and you could dream for something — we all have dreams — but it’s not often your dreams become a reality. And I always grew up with that notion, this whole ‘American Dream’ concept that you can come to a country, work in a certain way, and to work my way up through the system to be now the head coach of the U.S. women’s national team.
“I’ll give it completely all the pieces I’ve received to verify I uphold the traditions of this group.”
Hayes is a “serial winner” — that’s the term U.S. Soccer Sporting Director Matt Crocker used when he hired her. She won 16 trophies in 12 years at Chelsea, including seven WSL titles and five FA Cups. She was honored with an MBE and OBE by the late Queen Elizabeth II — honors of the highest order in the United Kingdom — for her services to football. She knows how to get the best out of her players, sets high expectations for herself and for her teams, and takes pride in leaving things in a better place than she found them.
“I take as a lot delight in that as I do profitable,” Hayes said.
Now the question is, will that winning translate to the international level? It became widely apparent that the USWNT was in desperate need of change after its shockingly early exit in the round of 16 at last summer’s FIFA World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Additionally, the squad hasn’t won a gold medal at the Olympics since 2012.
“If we will carry out at our greatest degree, then we’ve got an opportunity of doing issues,” Hayes said. “But we have work to do.
“The realities are the world game is where it is and the rest of the world do not fear the USA in the way that they once did. And that’s valid. So it’s our job to grasp, quite quickly, what we need to do to get close again to those levels.”
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Earlier this week, Hayes named a 23-player roster for upcoming friendlies towards Korea Republic on June 1 in Denver and June 4 in St. Paul, Minn., which might be her first matches on the USWNT sideline. This might be the solely camp she’ll have earlier than deciding on 18 gamers for the Olympic roster. However, she made it clear that “the roster is not determined. It’s very much open,” Hayes mentioned.
While all of this would possibly seem to be a frightening and fast turnaround, Hayes is detail- and process-oriented. She has her workers assembled — which incorporates former interim head coach Twila Kilgore in addition to 5 members from her Chelsea workers — and can meet with them Saturday in Denver earlier than the gamers arrive Monday. Hayes has a construction and timeline in place, and he or she mentioned all the pieces is deliberate out for the months of June and July.
Plus, Kilgore has fast-tracked Hayes and briefed her on every kind of issues over the previous six months. From World Cup learnings to choice course of to CBA to traditions to tradition to kits and extra, Hayes is now fairly well-versed in all issues USWNT.
“I want to know and make sure to maintain and uphold the right things,” Hayes mentioned. “[Twila and I have] been on many long calls late at night, certainly been to bed quite late the last few months. But she’s been a humongous help.”
Hayes has additionally scheduled one-on-ones with every participant throughout camp so she will be able to begin attending to know them on a private degree. She is aware of a number of — Catarina Macario and Mia Fishel play for Chelsea now, and Crystal Dunn had a stint with the membership in 2017 and 2018.
“I want to build trust,” Hayes mentioned. “I want to come from a place where trust is the foundation. I want to build a family environment that everybody looks after each other.
“And I acknowledge the program’s historical past and I’ve admired so many issues that the gamers have achieved over the years to advocate, not simply for themselves, however for the issues and causes that matter most. I do not need to change these issues, however I additionally need to be sure all people understands that all the pieces we do, we’ve got to ask ourselves, ‘Is this serving to the group win?’ That’s what my focus might be.”
The Hayes era has now — formally — begun.
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Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of “Strong Like a Woman,” published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her on Twitter @LakenLitman.
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