Emma Hayes built a dynasty in England. Can she restore one with the USWNT?

Published 4:31 pm Thursday, May 23, 2024

Emma Hayes had only a few days between raising another trophy with her Chelsea FC players and starting her tenure as coach of the U.S. women’s national soccer team.

“In an ideal world, everybody would love to be sitting on a beach somewhere now for a couple of weeks,” she said Thursday amid a whirlwind of media appearances in New York. “But my perspective is really clear: You don’t get many opportunities to go to an Olympics in your life.”

Before diving into her new project, Hayes took Sunday off to host a Star Wars-themed birthday party for her son, Harry, with some 40 guests. “Most of them 6-year-olds, which was enough to remind me I can’t wait to go back to work,” she joked.

Now the job begins on this side of the Atlantic, in a country where the 47-year-old Hayes worked at the grass-roots levels for years before excelling in the pro ranks in her native England.

She accepted the U.S. position in November, under the condition she could attend to family obligations and see out her 12th season at London-based Chelsea. Coming off disappointment at the past two Olympics and last year’s World Cup, the U.S. Soccer Federation obliged.

Hit the ground sprinting

An ocean away, as she won a fifth consecutive English top-flight title and 16th trophy overall with Chelsea, Hayes worked with U.S. interim coach Twila Kilgore in formulating tactical ideas and rosters for training camps, friendlies and tournaments.

“I feel like I’ve been able to quietly get to know the job without being in the job,” said Hayes, who praised Kilgore’s work.

Now that she is stateside, Hayes must hit the ground sprinting. She is off to Denver to prepare for the training camp ahead of friendlies against South Korea on June 1 in Commerce City, Colorado, and June 4 in St. Paul, Minnesota.

By late June, she plans to select an 18-player Olympic squad, plus alternates. Two friendlies precede the trip to Paris, including a July 16 send-off in Washington against Costa Rica.

The Americans have won four gold medals but none since the 2012 London Games. And in Paris, with a new coach implementing new methods and ideas and several young players in the mix, expectations are tempered.

“I am never going to tell anyone to not dream about winning,” Hayes said. “So go for it. But we have to go step by step and focus on all the little processes that need to happen so we can perform at our best level. If we can perform at our best level, then we have a chance of doing things. But we’ve got work to do.”

Hayes’ long-term aim is to prepare the program for the 2027 World Cup in Brazil. As an astute student of the game — “It’s not unusual for me to get up at 2 in the morning” to watch matches, she said — Hayes understands the evolving competitive landscape in the women’s game.

Spain conquered the World Cup last year. England is now a power. Colombia and others continue to rise.

“The rest of the world [does] not fear the USA in the way they once did,” she said. “And that’s valid. It’s our job to grasp quite quickly what we need to do to get close again to those levels.”

Hayes’ journey

Hayes is quite familiar with the U.S. terrain. She coached boys’ and girls’ youth soccer in greater New York and guided Iona University before a short pro stint with the Chicago Red Stars in Women’s Professional Soccer, the NWSL’s predecessor. She was a consultant for WPS teams in Rochester, New York, and Washington before joining Chelsea in 2012.

Her U.S. connections go beyond soccer. Through Nike coaching seminars, Hayes said she has become good friends with Dawn Staley, the famed South Carolina women’s basketball coach.

The arrival in New York on Wednesday brought back memories of her first U.S. adventure — “fighting to stay in the country on different visas and wondering if I get enough to pay the rent,” she said.

“My journey has been bottom up, so I have so much of an appreciation. … I will give it absolutely everything to make sure I uphold the traditions of this team.”

The journey to coach the U.S. national team came as Hayes sensed her time at Chelsea was winding down.

“I feel like I’ve got a huge boulder off my shoulders,” she said. “It’s liberating for me. I feel re-energized, excited.”

What does she see in her new players?

“I like energy, and I think this is a group that [is] really hungry,” Hayes said. “They’re ambitious. They’re keen to do well for their country. And I can feel there’s a sense of excitement.”

In Denver, she plans to meet with each player individually. She already knows some of them well; Catarina Macario is a Chelsea forward, and Crystal Dunn played at Chelsea in 2017-18.

Shortly after her hiring, Hayes visited U.S. camp in South Florida to share her vision with the players.

Hayes has already shaken things up a bit by inviting a few newcomers and changing some roles, including Dunn’s. (A longtime left back, she is a forward on this roster.)

In two months, Hayes and her new team will begin their Olympic quest.

“Are the USA at their best possible position today? No,” she said. “It’s about where we finish when we need to that matters to me. I want to focus on that instead of: Where are we in the world rankings? Where are we in comparison to Spain? No, where are we in [comparison] to the best version of ourself? That is what next week will give me a better idea of and then what gap can I absolutely close between now and the Olympics.”