PARIS – Emma Hayes arrived with aura and a multimillion-dollar mandate. She arrived on the U.S. women’s national team at a low point, hailed as a visionary who would fix a flawed program. She arrived as a “serial winner” in a position of power, as the highest-paid women’s soccer coach of all time. She came with a foul mouth and a commanding personality. When she was signed, a source close to the USWNT suggested to Yahoo Sports that previously comfortable players would be “less scared.”
And yet, what they got when Hayes took over in May, besides a new coach, was a comedian.
Hayes transformed them from an unstable team into Olympic gold medalists, as much with tactics as with humanity and humor.
“That makes the biggest difference,” said forward Trinity Rodman here in Paris. On Saturday night, with a gold medal around his neck, Rodman said two words defined this reborn USWNT: “joy and belief.”
Both, and especially joy, were absent last summer in New Zealand. During and after the 2023 World Cup, several players said they lost sight of the happiness that football once brought them. “We want this so much that sometimes, I think, we lose track of why we started playing and why we are here,” forward Lynn Williams said last August in Auckland.
And it showed. The players struggled under pressure. They prepared obsessively for the World Cup games and, it seemed, hardly found time for pleasure. Then they played compact, robotic, unimpressive football. And when they struggled, “it’s really easy to dig yourself into a hole,” Rodman explained, “and feed into the doubts that people have about you.”
Some USWNT players say it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact moment when doubt gave way to belief and sadness for joy. “This kind of thing happens organically and naturally,” forward Mallory Swanson said.
“As you go through things, you learn how to adapt,” Rodman added, “and you figure out how to maneuver through difficult times.”
But she also gave credit to Hayes. Lindsey Horan, when asked how and when the joy returned, said, “To be perfectly honest, the last two months.”
More than two months ago, Hayes arrived from English club Chelsea. She scheduled individual meetings with each player, less to talk and more to get to know them as human beings. She brought her gregarious British charm to every meal or team meeting. “Emma has a sense of humor that I don’t think I’ve ever seen before,” forward Sophia Smith said.
It certainly helped as the Olympics approached and the pressure once again threatened. “That’s really important to us,” Smith said, “because it reminds us to enjoy it. We can get so caught up in stress and pressure… that you forget to smile.” That’s what happened last summer. The stress and doubt became a vicious cycle that Hayes and the players had to break.
So she decided to create a “psychologically safe space” to facilitate friendships and fun.
She also cracked jokes when you least expected them. “She’s so hilarious and chill and funny,” Rodman said. “And I feel like that’s exactly what we needed.”
Other iterations of the USWNT may have needed something more. But this, a young and vibrant group, perhaps overwhelmed by the size of last summer’s stage, needed lightness and freedom of expression, on and off the field, a year later.
“She encouraged everyone to bring their special and unique skills,” goalie Alyssa Naeher said of Hayes. “Obviously, we have a team identity, but [she’s] also allowing people to be individuals.” She’s allowing Rodman to be Trin and Smith to be Soph and Swanson to be Mal, and the result?
“We’re having a lot of fun,” Rodman said.
“We’re having a lot of fun,” Swanson said.
And Hayes herself? “I’m telling you,” she said Saturday, “I had a lot of fun last month.”
And it’s not just because they were winning. Winning leads to joy, of course, but it’s a two-way street. Hayes talked about “building[ing] a lightness, and I hope that comes across in our piece.” She intentionally facilitated that by allowing players to “breathe and relax, and not make it so formal all the time,” she said Friday.
Then, outside of football, they laughed at a karaoke machine. They took place in small cafes in Nice or Marseille. The three attackers, who called themselves “Triple Espresso”, convinced Naeher, a 36-year-old goalie who loves crossword puzzles, to appear on TikToks.
Hayes even treated the players to manicures (or then she said).
Eventually, she join them on a dance floor with your 6 year old in your arms.
And she dropped F-bombs wherever she went.
All of these little moments contributed to what Horan called “ease” and “calm.”
“And,” Swanson said, “the most important thing is that you probably keep hearing: We are all playing with joy.”
That was the message going into Saturday’s Olympic final. Yes, there were tactics, but “like, we’re playing for a gold medal,” Horan said. “Let’s enjoy it.”
A few hours later, Horan recalled, upon returning to the U.S. locker room after the 1-0 victory over Brazil, “the first thing Lynn [Williams] What I said was, ‘I can’t believe I just enjoyed this tournament.'”
That, above all, was the masterstroke of Emma Hayes’ first two and a half months in charge of the USWNT. It was the biggest flaw she fixed. Joy prevented errors from increasing. The performance improved and snowballed in terms of confidence – even when Brazil soared in the first half on Saturday.
“Forget the principles, the tactical adjustments and the way we play,” Horan said after the game. “It’s the belief that someone is going to score a goal and that we are going to go out and win the game. We talk about the US mentality. … I felt that today.”
