'Get it right you’re unbelievable, don’t and you’re a pile of sh*te!' - Hayes plays down changes as Chelsea beat Arsenal

Chelsea boss Emma Hayes played down her match-winning substitutions in Sunday’s win over Arsenal, saying should the changes have backfired, they’d have been called ‘a pile of sh*te’.

The Gunners took an early lead in the Women’s Super League clash through Danielle van de Donk, but a superb second half display by the Blues saw them turn it around in a 2-1 win.

And it was two substitutes who combined for the winner, with Ramona Bachmann teeing up Maria Thorisdottir to drill home a late winner from 20 yards.

“I’ve learned a lot this weekend about the value of the whole,” Hayes said after the game.

“When you’ve got a top group of players picking 11 is really challenging because there’s world class talent sat on the bench.

“Managing that is even more difficult and I’m someone who thinks I manage it quite well. The realities are that to get into this Chelsea team means everybody has got to go up a notch.

“The second half we were totally dominant and I am so over the moon for Maria Thorisdottir and Ramona Bachmann because those two deserve to be in the team.

“But, so does everybody else. I know I can only pick 11, so when they trudged off from training extremely disappointed yesterday, I said to Paul Green [assistant manager], ‘No matter what, they’re coming in the game’ because their training performances were outstanding.”

Thorisdottir came into holding midfield to change the game, despite naturally being a centre-back.

It was similar to when she played left wing-back for Hayes in the Women’s Champions League back in 2017, to great impact again as Leonie Maier, now of Arsenal, and Simeone Laudehr were completely silenced in a 1-0 win.

“If you get it right you’re an unbelievable manager, if you don’t you’re a pile of sh*te,” Hayes said, frankly.

“I got it right today. That for me is what wisdom is about, you’ve got to get more right than not.

“I’ve got [Magdalena] Eriksson and Millie Bright at the back, how unlucky is Maria Thorisdottir? She’s an unbelievable player being kept out by unbelievable players.

“So you know what she’s going to have to adapt if she wants to get in the team.

“Is [her] goal unusual? No, if you’ve been in our training then you’ll see she does that all the time.

“She is a winner, like Ramona she is desperately unlucky not to be in the team. I can only pick 11.”

Hayes continued: “It’s not about not deserving [to play]. Sometimes you just select a team that you think is going to win a game.

“It’s not about proving managers wrong either, I don’t believe in that.

“What I think it actually is, is proving your team-mates right, your manager right, that you add great value.

“And in return, I have to make sure that I keep reminding them of their importance and their value.”