Emma Hayes exclusive: 'National anthems are going to be weird but I’m so proud to lead the US team'

Emma Hayes closed the publication connected 12 trophy-laden years astatine Chelsea with her 5th consecutive Women’s Super League rubric successful May.

She had taken the helm successful 2012 and turned the Blues into a winning machine, lifting 16 pieces of silverware on the way.

At the season’s extremity Hayes near for the biggest relation successful the women’s crippled - agreeing to go caput manager of the US nationalist team.

Since May, English shot has been deprived of a existent groundbreaker and 1 of its astir captivating figures.

This week, Hayes returns arsenic her US squad takes connected the Lionesses successful beforehand of 82,000 astatine Wembley connected Saturday.

It’s a clash of the teams ranked numbers 1 and 2 successful the satellite - the European champions against her Olympic champions - arsenic good arsenic a collision betwixt Hayes’s erstwhile beingness and her caller adventure.

Asked however her beingness has changed successful the six months since she swapped Cobham for Atlanta, Georgia - upping sticks with her six-year-old lad Harry - Hayes does not miss a beat: “The upwind is nicer! I’ve seen much prima successful the past six months than I person done successful a agelong time.”

The “sheer size” of the United States has taken immoderate getting utilized to, arsenic well.

“Travelling from Portland to New York to Florida, you consciousness similar you’re crossing continents,” she says. “It has conscionable felt refreshing and exciting.”

Back successful Camden, wherever she grew up “an inner-city London kid” and which she describes arsenic the “greatest spot connected earth”, Hayes spoke to journalists this week astatine the Underworld euphony venue underneath the World’s End pub, wherever she utilized to ticker indie bands play.

She said she had got her “mojo, grin and joyousness back” successful the United States and admitted that she “actually felt rather unwell astatine the extremity of my clip astatine Chelsea”.

Away from the regular grind of nine football, which meant being astatine the grooming crushed six oregon 7 days a week, she has been capable to onslaught a healthier work-life balance, successful which she tin instrumentality Harry to schoolhouse and get to the gym.

She says of Harry, “it’s been challenging for him, naturally. We instrumentality it time by day. He loves being astir the team. He comes with maine erstwhile we spell connected campy and truly enjoys gathering a narration with the team. He gets to spot his mummy work. It’s taken a spot of time, but he’s starting to truly recognize what it is I do. It’s been a whirlwind. Only arsenic it comes up to Christmas volition I truly bespeak connected however this full play has flown by.”

Hayes lives a half-hour’s thrust from the municipality of Trilith. It is present that the US Women’s 200-acre nationalist grooming centre volition be, erstwhile the £159 million task is completed successful 2026. But not each is new.

Part of what makes Hayes specified magnetic institution is her eclectic reserve of experiences. Not agelong aft speechmaking for a master’s grade successful quality and planetary affairs, with designs connected becoming a spy, her formative years arsenic a shot manager began connected Long Island successful 2002.

“It’s been truthful familiar,” she says. “I already had my societal information numbers; I knew however the banking strategy worked. I recognize the country.”

Never much than a condemnation oregon 2 distant from a homemade metaphor, erstwhile Hayes archetypal took connected her caller role, she described the task arsenic that of a “heart surgeon successful the mediate of exigency surgery”.

The US had crashed retired successful the circular of 16 of the World Cup - acold and distant their worst-ever showing. She sought to rewire everything.

“When you spell into an situation wherever [everyone] works successful a definite way, often you person clip to thatch everyone - unit and players - what it is you’re trying to do, i.e. get connected the wards and bash teaching hospital,” Hayes recalls. “I had nary clip for that. I had to present things without explaining.”

Hayes had conscionable 75 days to hole her broadside for the Paris Olympics, wherever they were among the favourites.

Her connection was simple: “Everything you’ve done up until this point, enactment it to 1 side.”

And it worked. The US won golden for the archetypal clip since London 2012. Hayes’s archetypal silverware with the Stars and Stripes was 1 of the astir coveted gongs successful the women’s game.

She presides implicit the US nationalist squad astatine a clip erstwhile its shot federation is undergoing what she calls “seismic change”, and her squad are successful the midst of a modulation period.

2019 Ballon d’Or victor Megan Rapinoe retired astatine 38 past year, and different giant, 35-year-old Alex Morgan, followed suit this September. A caller procreation is blooming.

“We’re gathering towards qualifying for the World Cup, truthful I person clip to experiment,” says Hayes. “I’m processing players with little experience, truthful it volition beryllium up and down, but it’s portion of the process. My occupation is to enactment america successful a presumption wherever we compete, travel the 2027 World Cup.”

So however does the bosom surgeon consciousness she is faring? “I’m decidedly connected the wards, processing enactment and delivering a bigger and amended knowing of what it is we bash and wherefore we bash it.”

Hayes’s Chelsea dynasty became synonymous with a never-say-die attitude; their civilization bred winners.

Since she left, it’s besides go wide that she had acceptable the infrastructure for a seamless modulation to her successor, Sonia Bompastor, the Champions League-winning ex-Lyon coach.

The foundations were solid. Chelsea beryllium 5 points wide atop the WSL table, having won each lucifer this play - 12 crossed each competitions.

It’s been a imagination commencement for the Frenchwoman, but arsenic a aureate goodbye for Hayes.

“I person thing but fond memories of my clip there,” she says. “I wouldn’t alteration a 2nd of it. It’s a nine I’ll ever look retired for, and a batch of those players I recruited, truthful I cognize however astonishing they are arsenic radical and arsenic players.

“I look guardant to galore much years of Chelsea success; 12 years is simply a agelong clip astatine immoderate level. To triumph what we won and beryllium capable to permission the programme successful a steadfast spot with an unthinkable squad and an unthinkable caller manager, it’s dreamland to me.”

Hayes says she texts Bompastor aft large games, adding: “I’m a fan. I’ll champion for Chelsea until I die. I anticipation they spell connected to bigger and amended things, due to the fact that that was ever my goal.”

She reveals her lad Harry misses the Chelsea players. “Maybe astatine Wembley helium tin get the accidental to spot Millie [Bright]. I cognize helium misses her.”

But not each familiarity is lost. Last season, Hayes led Chelsea Women portion Mauricio Pochettino managed Chelsea’s men. In September, the Argentine became the US men’s manager.

“We were successful Portland a mates of weeks ago,” says Hayes. “I’ll astir apt spot him aft my camp. We talk often.”

Hayes, who earned an OBE successful 2022 for services to football, says she does not miss the English game.

“When you are truly blessed doing what you’re doing, you don’t miss different things,” she says, and explains she prefers the media situation connected the different broadside of the Atlantic.

“I conscionable consciousness that present successful England everything is ever short-termism. It’s always, ‘Is idiosyncratic successful the team?’ oregon ‘Is idiosyncratic unhappy?’ In America, it’s much astir the insights down things. They mightiness say, ‘What are the keys to winning?’ Without question, I’m capable to speech astir much absorbing things without [reporters] trying to make a headline.”

There stay immoderate issues connected which England and the US are not truthful different, though.

Hayes says of the authorities of the crippled globally: “It volition instrumentality galore years for the women’s crippled to person the aforesaid equality of entree that the men’s crippled has.

It is surely successful a amended spot than it was 15 years ago, but determination has been underinvestment successful women’s athletics successful general. With clip and much investment, I’m definite the crippled volition instrumentality that adjacent step.”

And truthful to Wembley, and a day with England, erstwhile Hayes says she volition hum some nationalist anthems earlier kick-off.

She rocks backmost successful her seat and smiles. “I deliberation it volition astir apt beryllium a spot weird, particularly erstwhile the nationalist anthem is being played. I’m English! I can’t contradict that volition beryllium a weird feeling, but I’m truthful arrogant to beryllium the manager of America. This is the squad I coach, this is simply a stadium I emotion to beryllium at. I’ll beryllium arrogant to pb that team, and I’m besides a arrogant Englishwoman.

“I’m delighted determination volition be, I hope, a sellout stadium watching women’s sport, wherever tons of radical tin consciousness inspired by truthful galore large women connected show.”

A stern trial though England pose, the Lionesses person mislaid to the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany since reaching the 2023 World Cup Final. They, too, are regenerating.

“I’m not focused connected England, I’ve got capable enactment to bash with the US,” says Hayes.

Scalping her ain state astatine the nationalist stadium would beryllium rather the coup, but Hayes insists that “is not thing I deliberation about”.

What yet drives her, then? “Development. Evolution. Being creative. If you fixate connected results and silverware, you extremity up missing retired connected each the joyousness of gathering things. I bask putting things unneurotic much than anything.”