'It's just love' - How the irrepressible Emma Hayes resurrected the USWNT, restored the faith and turned tarnish into gold

Just 10 games into her tenure, Emma Hayes has rebuilt the program - the expectations are back, and so is the USWNT

• Getty Images

  Rebuilding confidence

  Hayes wasn't the only one trying to fight back her tears.

  At the USWNT's post-Gold Medal game press conference, Lindsey Horan, the USWNT's captain, sat next to Hayes. The coach was asked about Horan, and off she went. She hailed Horan as a leader. She praised her for doing the hard things. She thanked her for putting winning first at all times, for being the example this young team needed. Hayes finished up by saying it was "an honor" to have a captain like Horan. The waterworks had begun long before that.

  "What the hell?" asked a tearful Horan, clearly unprepared for the emotions that hit her, as Hayes leaned in for a hug.

  It's just one moment of many, but it's fitting. That's the type of belief, confidence and connection Hayes has inspired in this team. She's been in charge of it for just a matter of weeks, officially joining the U.S. after departing Chelsea in late May, but she's provided a tangible lift to a group of players that very much needed it.

  Hayes inherited a USWNT program that had reached a low ebb. Their World Cup failures last summer had been repeatedly detailed and discussed and dissected and ... well that kind of talk messes with a team's psyche, especially one so used to winning.

  Though the most decorated women's soccer team of all time - the USWNT has now won nine major tournaments (five Olympics, four World Cups), which is more than all other teams combined (eight) - the U.S. hadn't played for Olympic gold since London 2012. Back-to-back early Olympic exits, coupled with the disappointing 2023 World Cup performance, had resulted in an unusual volume of criticism about the program. Hayes cut it off at the source.

  That was her biggest task this summer, and her biggest achievement: making this team, and the world, believe again. More than any specific game plan or tactics, that was her No. 1 priority.

  In order to resurrect the team, she had to restore the faith.

  And that moment with Horan gave the world a small glimpse into how she achieved it. Of course, that's not to say that tactics didn't play a major part, as well.

Friendlies

USA
USA
2024-10-24T23:30:00.000Z23:30

Iceland
Iceland
• Getty Images

  A tactical approach

  It wasn't the USWNT's only undoing during the Vlatko Andonovski era, but it certainly was revealing. At the World Cup last summer, Andonovski just couldn't quite make the puzzle pieces fit. He trudged on, hoping things would change, and, ultimately, lost his job when they didn't

  Hayes took many of the same pieces and built something entirely new, and she very much did it on the fly.

  Coming from Chelsea, Hayes was hailed as a tactical mastermind, but international soccer is very different than the club level. She wouldn't be given weeks or months to work with players. She'd have just days between matches to add wrinkles. Time is always against you, doubly so when you don't even get to work until a few weeks before a major tournament starts.

  Hayes, though, put her stamp on this team. They won games in different ways. They blitzed Zambia and Germany in the group stage, unleashing a barrage of goals that wasn't there last summer. They found a way to win against Japan, Australia and then Germany again. And then, in the final, they suffered but survived, taking down Brazil to claim gold.

  What makes it all so impressive is that there was no one play, no one way to win. When things worked, Hayes stuck with them. When they didn't, she adjusted. The U.S. needed a little of everything to claim Gold this summer. Hayes was able to make this team a possession team, but also a counter-attacking one. It all changed game by game, with Hayes making adjustments all the way through the final game.

  Of course, when it comes to executing your vision, it also helps to have world-class players.

• Getty Images

  Brewing a Triple Espresso

  It sounds easy, but it's worth repeating: sometimes, the best strategy is to empower good players and get the hell out of their way. That's what Hayes did with her attack. That's what led to the formation of what we now know as Triple Espresso.

  Prior to this summer, we'd never seen Trinity Rodman, Sophia Smith and Mallory Swanson on the field at the same time. That all changed at the Paris Games, as that terrific trio combined for 10 of the USWNT's 12 goals, starting each and every game at the Olympics.

  Hayes' biggest contribution to that attack came long before this tournament started. It was a tough decision, one of her toughest undoubtedly, but Hayes opted to leave legendary striker Alex Morgan at home. That was very much a show of faith in her new trio. It was an indication that she thought those three were good enough to lead this team to glory.

  She bet on her players to be great, and she won. Big. Triple Espresso became legendary. They emerged as the leaders of this new generation of U.S. players. Hayes empowered them to be exactly that, and it paid off in gold.

• Getty Images

  That trademark humor

  If you follow the USWNT, you definitely learned one thing about Hayes this summer: she's a quote machine. The USWNT's coach is just innately funny, which is pretty damn endearing, isn't it?

  When asked about the Paris opening ceremony, she said it was "Quirky, to say the least, but I like quirk." She had to be taught the meaning of a "trap game." When asked after the nervy extra-time semifinal victory over Germany which team she preferred to face in the Gold Medal game, she responded simply: "I don't care. I want a drink."

  That sense of humor connected her with her players. She wasn't seen exclusively as a leader barking orders, but as someone with whom her players could bond. Just look at the celebrations after the gold medal win, in which Hayes was dancing with players with her son in her arms. She's very much a part of this group, even if she is the coach.

  "We’re a different team since she’s come in," Smith said. "She’s so hilarious and chill and funny, and I feel like that’s exactly what we needed. We have the players, we have the talent, we just needed someone to come in and believe in us and put us in the best position to succeed. Emma’s doing exactly that."

  Added Jaedyn Shaw: "We all love Emma already! She's definitely got some personality. She has her standards and expectations and I think that she's going to be really, really good for us. It's been challenging and hard work, but we're up for it.

  "We're just continuing to trust her and learn from her and her experience. She meshes well with all of us. She's actually really funny! She can be serious at times, but she also cracks jokes here and there."

  Playing for the national team should be fun. It certainly is when you're winning. Hayes ensured that her team enjoyed the process, which sets this team up for sustainable success.

• Getty

  The weight of the shirt

  Sustaining success is the absolute expectation for the USWNT. There are generations of stars to live up to. Titles have been won, trophies have been lifted and legacies have been written - and every player that follows carries the weight of those legacies.

  Shortly before jetting off to Paris, the USWNT honored the 1999 World Cup team's 25th anniversary. That group is widely credited for kickstarting the USWNT's era of dominance. After that gathering, current U.S. players talked of the impact it had on them. Those 99ers were trailblazers and, without them, none of this current group would be here.

  That's both a luxury, and a burden. Playing for your national team always means that you represent something more than yourself. That counts double for the USWNT. The fortunes of this team and the personality of its players mean so much to so many people and, at times, that can be heavy.

  From the start, Hayes looked to balance those expectations. She wanted players to embrace the honor of it, but shun the pressure.

  "There's no point in talking about the past in isolation," she said on the Women's Game Podcast. "When talking about new heights, who wants to f**king do the same thing over and over again? Let’s start creating our own narrative!"

  That they did. Hayes and the USWNT wrote their own story this summer, and it's only just beginning.

• Getty Images

  The land of opportunity

  Hayes has always felt a special connection with the U.S. She began her coaching career in America, after all. She rose through the college game and coached in the NWSL before then becoming a legend in Chelsea. She felt, in some ways, that she owed America something.

  "America means more to me than people realize," she said after winning gold. "I was a 20-year-old and had come from a pretty stuffy society that didn't embrace the women's game or women in football. I went to America and they looked after me and they nurtured me and they opened doors for me. They gave me opportunities that England never ever gave me. I'm just so happy, so happy, to repay that faith in me."

  Hayes and America can probably call it even at this point. And the best part for U.S. soccer fans? This relationship is only just getting started. Hayes had managed exactly 10 games for the USWNT, going unbeaten in all 10, and clinching the fifth Olympic gold medal in USWNT history. There is more to come.

  And as overwhelmingly successful as she has been in her first foray leading this team, Hayes was hired for the long haul. The federation was essentially willing to compromise these Olympics to focus on the bigger picture, knowing that waiting for Hayes to finish her season at Chelsea would leave a very short runway for the U.S. before the Paris Games. Few would have imagined that it would come together this quickly. That wasn't the expectation when she arrived, even among the most optimistic of fans.

  But Hayes apparently didn't read the script. Just 10 games into her USWNT tenure, she has already raised the bar. And to be fair, it's exactly what she would have wanted.

  Pressure is privilege. The expectations are back. So too is the USWNT.

  Hayes has rebuilt this team. She conjured it up with a compelling concoction of love, humor, talent and belief. The foundation is firmly in place, the program resurrected, the results there for all to see. There's only one thing missing: a gold medal of her own. The IOC doesn't award medals to coaches, even in team sports, so the Olympic gold was reserved exclusively for the players, meaning Hayes had to travel back to America empty-handed.

  Well, not really. She doesn't see it that way.

  “I’ve got memories," Hayes told Sky when asked about the golden hardware. "At the end of the day, I coached an Olympic gold medal-winning team. I don’t need a medal for that. These people have really opened up and I’ve enjoyed being in their presence and their company.

  "For me, that’s even more valuable than a medal.”