PARIS — Emma Hayes arrived with aura and a multi-million-dollar mandate. She came to the U.S. women's national team at a nadir, hailed as a visionary who'd fix a flawed program. She arrived as a "serial winner" in a position of power, as the highest-paid women's soccer coach ever. She came with a foul mouth and commanding persona. When she was hired, one source close to the USWNT suggested to Yahoo Sports that once-comfortable players would be "scared s***less."
And yet, what they got when Hayes took charge in May, in addition to a new head coach, was a comedian.
Hayes transformed them from a wobbling team into Olympic gold medalists as much with tactics as with humanity and humor.
“It makes the biggest difference,” forward Trinity Rodman said here in Paris. On Saturday night, with a gold medal tugging at her neck, Rodman said that two words defined this reborn USWNT: “joy and belief.”
Both, and especially the joy, were absent last summer in New Zealand. During and after the 2023 World Cup, multiple players said that they'd lost sight of the happiness that soccer once brought them. "We want this so badly that sometimes, I think, we lose track of why we started to play, and why we're here," forward Lynn Williams said last August in Auckland.
And it showed. The players suffered under pressure. They prepared obsessively for World Cup games, and, it seemed, hardly found time for pleasure. So they played tight, robotic, inexpressive soccer. And when they struggled, "it's really easy to kind of dig yourself in a hole," Rodman explained, "and feed into the doubts that people are having with you."
Some USWNT players say it's difficult to pinpoint the exact moment when doubt gave way to belief and sadness to joy. "That kind of stuff happens organically, and naturally," forward Mallory Swanson said.
“Going through things, you learn how to adapt,” Rodman added, “and figure out how to maneuver through hard times.”
But she also credited Hayes. Lindsey Horan, when asked how and when the joy returned, said: “To be perfectly honest, the past two months.”
Two-plus months ago is when Hayes arrived from English club Chelsea. She scheduled individual meetings with every single player, less to talk ball and more to get to know them as human beings. She brought her gregarious British charm to every team meal or meeting. "Emma has a sense of humor that I don't think I've ever seen before," forward Sophia Smith said.
It helped, surely, when the Olympics neared and pressure once again threatened. “That goes such a long way for us,” Smith said, “because it reminds us to enjoy it. We can get so caught up in the stress and the pressure … that you forget to smile.” That’s what happened last summer. The stress and doubt became a vicious cycle that Hayes and players had to break.
So she set out to create a “psychologically safe space,” to facilitate friendships and fun.
She also cracked jokes when you’d least expect it. “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 might’ve needed something else. But this one, a young, 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's encouraged everybody to bring their special, unique abilities,” goalkeeper 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've been having so much fun,” Rodman said.
“We're having so much fun,” Swanson said.
And Hayes herself? “I'm telling you,” she said Saturday, “I had a f***in’ blast the past month.”
And it is not just that they were winning. Winning leads to joy, of course, but it’s a two-way street. Hayes spoke about “build[ing] a lightness, and hopefully that shows in our play.” She facilitated this, intentionally, by allowing players “to breathe and relax, and not have everything be so formal all the time,” she said Friday.
So, in their non-soccer time, they shared laughs on a karaoke machine. They unwound at small coffee shops in Nice or Marseille. The three forwards, who've dubbed themselves "Triple Espresso," convinced Naeher, a 36-year-old crossword puzzle-loving goalkeeper, to appear in TikToks.
Hayes even treated players to a manicure (or so she said).
Eventually, she'd join them on a dance floor with her 6-year-old son in her arms.
And she’d drop F-bombs wherever she went.
All of these minor moments contributed to what Horan called “ease” and “calmness.”
“And,” Swanson said, “most importantly — you keep probably hearing it: We're all playing with joy.”
That was the message entering Saturday’s Olympic final. Yes, there were tactics, but, “like, we're playing for a gold medal,” Horan said. “Let's frickin’ enjoy it.”
A few hours later, Horan recalled, when she returned to the U.S. locker room following a 1-0 win over Brazil, "the first thing Lynn [Williams] said was, 'I can't believe I just enjoyed this tournament.'"
That, above all else, was the masterstroke of Emma Hayes’ first two-and-a-half months at the helm of the USWNT. It was the biggest flaw she fixed. Joy prevented mistakes from spiraling. Performances improved and snowballed into confidence — even when Brazil blitzed in Saturday’s first half.
“Forget the principles, and the tactical adjustments, and the way we played,” Horan said postgame. “It's the belief that someone's gonna get a goal, and we're gonna go out and win that game. We talk about the U.S. mentality. ... I felt it today.”
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