The United States women’s national team are set to hire Chelsea women’s head coach Emma Hayes to fill the void left behind following Vlatko Andonovski’s departure.
Final details between Hayes and the USWNT are still being ironed out as she will see out her final season with the Blues which won’t end until May.
SOURCE: The #USWNT are set to hire Emma Hayes as their new manager, a source tells @Backheeled.
Hayes will continue with Chelsea until the end of the WSL season. She may join the USWNT during international breaks before taking over fully.More ⤵️https://t.co/XnX09z0Ezk
— Joseph Lowery (@joeclowery) November 4, 2023
Emma Hayes to depart Chelsea at the end of the season.
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) November 4, 2023
Hayes was appointed as Chelsea’s boss in 2012 and has transformed the club from mediocrity to one of the strongest women’s clubs in Europe. She’s led Chelsea to six FA Women’s Super League titles, five Women’s FA Cup wins and to the 2021 UEFA Women’s Champions League final.
FIFA recognized her as the best women’s coach in the world for 2021. Her list of honors and trophies as a manager are incredible which explains her induction into the Women’s Super League Hall of Fame in 2021.
Has there ever been such a high-profile head coach hire for U.S. Soccer in the modern era?
Looking at the list of head coaches for both the men’s and women’s national teams, Hayes’ resume exceeds all of them at the time of hiring.
The names of the past 23 years include Andonovski, Jill Ellis, Tom Sermanni, Pia Sundhage, Greg Ryan and April Heinrichs for the women’s team. For the men are the likes of Gregg Berhalter, Bruce Arena, Jürgen Klinsmann and Bob Bradley.
Klinsmann was a big name at the time he joined the USMNT having managed Germany and Bayern Munich previously, but not even he breathes the same managerial air as Hayes.
How Hayes leads the USWNT will be interesting to see. The Englishwoman has previously said that while she was born in England she was “definitely made in America” as she got her coaching start with the Long Island Lady Riders, Iona and a short stint with the Chicago Red Stars.
Hayes will be in charge of the fostering a winning mentality in the new era of the USWNT. The days of the Megan Rapinoe’s, Julie Ertz’s and Carli Lloyd’s are either over or coming to an end.
Who better to lead the next generation of USWNT stars than one of the world’s best coaches on the planet? Hayes is here to change the style and mindset of the national team.
She’s been critical of U.S. Soccer and the USWNT in the past telling the Telegraph that more creativity is needed.
“I think America are massively short of creative talent. When you're playing against more well-organized teams, better-coached teams, you have to break them down, and that breaking teams down is a combination of strategy, tactics and personnel, and I don't see that they've got the personnel to do that,” Hayes said.
“There's still a huge amount of talent in this U.S. team, but with so many of the squad playing solely in the NWSL, it doesn't offer enough diversity to their squad in terms of playing against different styles. Here in Europe, where you're playing in different competitions, Champions League or cups, players aren't going to be fazed by other things because they come up against different football week in, week out.”
Hayes has identified some of the problems the USWNT has, now it’s up to her to fix them and restore the team to its former glory.
