USWNT: The Emma Hayes Era
Get to know the new USWNT as she takes the helm for her first major tournament with the USWNT. Can she lead the team back to the top?
This is Part Two of the Soccer Freaks’ fan guide for the women’s soccer tournament at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Click here to start from the beginning.
The bad news first. The USWNT will start this tournament ranked 5th in the FIFA rankings— their lowest ranking since FIFA started ranking women’s teams in 2003. After being dramatically knocked out in the Round of 16 at the 2023 World Cup on the heels of a disappointing third place finish at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (held in 2021 due to COVID), this fall from FIFA grace shouldn’t be a surprise. Lore aside, it’s been years since the USWNT has truly been on top.
As the women’s game has grown across the globe, the rest of the world has caught up and, in many ways surpassed, the Title IX-advantaged US women. Where the US’s tenacity, athleticism, and resources have previously set them apart, that’s no longer the case. As the USWNT’s newly appointed manager, Emma Hayes, said in May, “The realities are that 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.”
But hold on, there’s hope! An overhaul in management along with drastically improved performances in recent tournaments against decent competition (beating Brazil 1-0 to win the Gold Cup in March and besting Canada 5-4 in a penalty kick shootout to win the SheBelieves Cup in April), could be signs that this team is once again moving in the right direction. Facing top-tier competition at this Olympics will give the team, the management, and anxious USWNT fans a chance to see just how far they’ve come— and, more importantly, how far they still have to go.
In Our Emma Hayes Era
Following the USWNT’s early exit from the 2023 World Cup, US Soccer parted ways with former manager Vlatko Andonovski, and launched the search for a new manager— a role that was widely considered the biggest coaching job in all of women’s soccer.
Who would be the right person to bring the USWNT back to the top, and make (relative) bank while doing so? Enter Emma Hayes, Chelsea FC’s women’s manager, heralded as one of the best coaches in the game. Hiring a certified winner like Hayes (and making her the highest paid coach in all of women’s soccer) shows the US Soccer Federation is taking the future of the USWNT as seriously as we are.
THANK GOD.
Here are 5 things to know about Emma Hayes:
When the Olympics begin, she will only have had 10 weeks on the job! Though she accepted the job in November 2023, Hayes didn’t start the position full-time until this June after her final season at Chelsea ended (with another league title, at that). Her limited in-person time with the team (just two short camps) is important context for how we evaluate her impact on their performance in this tournament.
She is a certified winner! When Hayes took over at Chelsea, they were sixth in the WSL and had never won a Women’s Super League title. In her 12th and final season, they won their seventh (their fifth back-to-back and her 13th trophy for the club).
She’s here to change everything! Hayes wasn’t just hired to get the current USWNT roster some big wins. She was brought on to completely overhaul the program from top to bottom (just as she did at Chelsea), establishing the 2.0 version of the US style of play, culture, and developmental approach for the next iteration of dynastic winning (fingers crossed!). As a coach, Hayes is known for her ability to connect with her players as people, identifying how to unlock the best in each of them to suit her team’s needs. She’s direct and honest, balanced with a keen emotional intelligence. Music to our ears!
Make no mistake, this is her team! Where in the past veteran leaders such as Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, and Abby Wambach have been the faces of the team—taking on the hardest media questions and bearing the brunt of public criticism—Hayes, with all of her charm and experience handling the English media, will now step into that role. We can expect to get direct, transparent, thoughtful communication from her in a way that previous managers couldn’t manage, and American media, historically, hasn’t demanded.
She is proud to be (an honorary) American! In many ways, the writing was on the wall for Hayes to one day take the helm of women’s soccer in America. Hayes launched her coaching career in the US in 2002. She cut her teeth coaching both professional and college women’s soccer in New York and Chicago, before returning to England to take the Chelsea job in 2012. She really gets the US as a country, US soccer culture, and has genuinely wanted this job for years! The job was such a lifelong dream that she promised her dad she’d take the position just before he passed away, two months before she got the official offer.