Emma Hayes: Hayes was named the next head coach of the USWNT back in November. But Hayes didn’t join the national team until May, when she was finishing up her last season with Chelsea and leading the Blues to their fifth straight Women’s Super League title.
The USWNT had a bad World Cup and had to leave the tournament faster than ever before. Hayes was then given the job of turning around the program. Even though she met up with her players right before the Olympics, she quickly became good friends with them.
As she talked about her experiences as an Olympic winner at a promotional event at Raising Cane’s, Davidson often brought up the problems the USWNT was facing before Paris. She said that Hayes made an instant difference, which shows how smart the 47-year-old is.
The player told Mirror U.S. Sports, “We all knew she was a great coach.” We knew she would be great for our group because we saw how well she worked with Chelsea. I think she was just what we needed at this time.
“But we weren’t sure about even the most basic things, like how she wanted to run a training session or how she coached from the sidelines. That’s why we had to learn those things during our pre-camp before the Olympics.” Her bringing in a new coach right before a big event was something we all noticed and agreed on. It was very helpful to agree that it was somehow strange.
“But we promised each other and the process, and it worked out great for us.”
According to Davidson, Hayes brings out the “joy” in her players. He also said, “She does a really great job of humanizing herself and recognizing the difficulties of her job and our job and what we have to do and the pressure that comes with it.” She says it out loud, which gives everyone a chance to calm down and remember that the game is just a game. Every game lasts 90 minutes, or sometimes 120 minutes, and our goal is always the same.
“That really let us go and let us play with joy, both as teammates and as friends, with each other, and get to know each other.”
Hayes quickly built relationships with the younger players on her team, who were part of a new group. She put a lot of faith in the scoring stars, and Sophia Smith, Trinity Rodman, and Mallory Swanson scored 10 of Team USA’s 12 goals at the Olympics.
Hayes really put his trust in young players in the 1-0 win over Brazil to win the gold medal. With an average age of 26.7 years, she put together the second-youngest U.S. team to ever compete in a gold medal match. As a veteran player like Davidson, Davidson was excited to see that the team had “limitless” promise going forward.
Davidson went on, “It was so exciting to see all of these young players grow into themselves this tournament and really express themselves on the field.” “I think it’s cool to see the different personalities, play styles, and chemistry building…” The fact that the event went so well is a great sign for the team’s future.
