American revolution: How Emma Hayes has revitalised the US women’s team
Emma Hayes is only nine games into her reign as manager of the United States women’s team, but already she has them on the brink of an Olympic gold medal.
The former Chelsea boss finally took charge of the US side in June, after her appointment had been announced back in November last year. After seeing out her obligations with the Blues, the Englishwoman led the Stars and Stripes to a thumping 4-0 friendly win over South Korea. And she and her new charges have been rolling ever since.
The 2024 Olympic football tournament was always going to serve as an early barometer of the Hayes era.
After the States logged their worst-ever return at the World Cup last year, eliminated in the last 16, the Paris Games would both demonstrate how much work the 47-year-old has on her plate to restore the US to the summit of the women’s game and how quickly she could make an impact.
READ: Emma Hayes teaching the US a few lessons about humility ahead of Olympics
The answer to the latter is: pretty damn quickly. The US cruised through the group stage on maximum points, scoring more than twice as many goals (nine) and they’d managed in the entirety of the last World Cup (four), before edging out Japan and Germany in gruelling extra-time battles.
As they prepare to face Brazil in the gold medal match in Paris on Saturday, here are five things we’ve learned so far about Hayes’ stewardship of the USWNT:
Fluid football
Some of the USA’s football at the 2023 World Cup was pretty turgid. Needing a result in their final group game to ensure progress to the knockout rounds, the States laboured to a goalless draw against Portugal, giving up a 56 per cent share of the ball in the process. They then drew a blank again against Sweden in the last 16, losing on penalties.
At the Olympics, the USWNT have already looked a team transformed under Hayes. They romped through the group stage with a 3-0 win over Zambia, a 4-1 hammering of Germany and a 2-1 victory over Australia that was made to appear closer by a stoppage-time consolation goal for the Aussies – the US enjoyed 71.7% possession in that game and displayed some of their most eye-catching play of the tournament.
They haven’t made it look as easy in the knockout rounds, tested sternly by Japan and a resurgent German side – and Hayes has praised her side’s resilience in coming through those challenges. But already, so soon into her tenure, Hayes has managed to implement the kind of fluid playing style for which her great Chelsea teams were renowned.
Busting the block
In the past, even when at their dominant peak, the USWNT have at times struggled to break down sides who decide to sit back and defend deep.
In their final game of their Olympic group, Australia tested the States’ ability to break down a low block once more.
Faced with a deep and backed rearguard, the USA didn’t panic; they stuck to their game plan and were ultimately rewarded. In the face of frustration for much of the first half, Hayes’ side kept moving the ball and prodding at the Matildas’ backline before, in the 42nd minute, they made the breakthrough via Trinity Rodman.
Rebuilding resilience
Although the hard-fought knockout wins over Japan and Germany showed that the USA are not yet fully back to their all-conquering, dominant best of previous years, Hayes celebrated her side’s struggle.
“I could see today that players were having to dig to the deepest place within them,” she said after the extra-time win in the semi-final against Germany.
“I’ve said this all along – the reason I want to play the team together for as long as possible is because I want them to develop that. I want them to suffer. I want them to have that moment because I do not believe you can win without it.”
Before the game, Hayes had shown her players a video of the ultrarunner Courtney Dauwalter. The clip showed Dauwalter how she enters what she calls her ‘pain cave’ during 100-mile races, in which she envisions herself in a hardhat, shipping away at her intense discomfort with a chisel.
Hayes wants her team to embrace discomfort in a similar way, fighting through and building resilience. The Japan and Germany games might not have forced the USMNT into the kind of cavern of suffering Dauwalter detailed, but they showed they can persevere through arduous matches against tough opposition.
Emboldening best players
It was a bold and headline-grabbing decision pre-tournament for Hayes to exclude USWNT legend Alex Morgan from the Olympic squad. But in the absence of the veteran striker, young members of the side have stepped up and shone in France.
In particular, the front three of Rodman (22), Sophia Smith (23) and Mallory Swanson (26) have been dynamic and devastating, each notching three goals so far along the USA’s road to Saturday’s final at the Parc des Princes.
It is not only the attackers who have been emboldened to play their best football under Hayes, though. After her faultless performance in the semi-final win over Germany, the manager had high praise for defender Naomi Girma.
“Look, she’s the best defender I’ve ever seen,” Hayes said of the 24-year-old San Diego Wave centre-back. “I’ve never seen a player as good as her at the back. She’s got everything: poise, composure, she can defend, she anticipates, she leads. [She’s] unbelievable.”
Uplifting atmosphere
Playing for the most successful national team in the history of women’s soccer inevitably comes with a hefty weight of expectation. Beyond the tactical tweaks she has made since taking charge of the USWNT, Hayes’ impact has been most felt in the way she has lifted the mental burden the American players carry.
“We’re a different team since she’s come in,” said Smith. “She’s so hilarious and chill and funny, and I feel like that’s exactly what we needed.
“We have the players, we have the talent, we just needed someone to come in and believe in us and put us in the best position to succeed. Emma’s doing exactly that.”
