PARIS — One day last thriveter, Crystal Dunn sent Emma Hayes a text.
The message was someskinnyg alengthy the lines of, “Ma’am, I hear rumors!” Dunn recalled recently, and it was rooted in the bubbling speculation at the time that Hayes was going to become the novel coach of the United States women’s national team.
Dunn, a veteran deffinisher who had joined a season under Hayes at Chelsea before moving to the NWSL, shelp Hayes seemed excited but was understandably circumspect in their trade, and Dunn finishd it by telling Hayes: “I hope it’s genuine. Becaengage I skinnyk you’re going to be amazing.”
Ntimely 10 months on, that participateion inhabits huge in Dunn’s memory primarily becaengage Hayes did in fact become the U.S. coach and, in a whirlthrived commence, has already deinhabitred: The Americans won an Olympic gbetter medal on Saturday in Hayes’ first meaningful tournament in accuse.
It is, by any meacertain, an auspicious commencening for Hayes, who equitable came on the job in June after completing the club season. But it is also illustrative of what the future may hbetter for a program that is very clearly changing.
In a low time, Hayes has touched the team’s personnel, tactics and joining style in meaningful ways, in insertition to making mighty individual combineions — some of which were trickier than others — while also pushing her team to reuncover the happiness the joiners experience for each other.
“She’s carry outed so many skinnygs and coached us in a way that we’ve reassociate insisted,” U.S. captain Lindsey Horan shelp.
U.S. forward Sophia Smith, who scored three goals during the Olympic campaign, including the theatrical game thrivener in extra time of the semifinal, shelp it even more spropose: “We’re a branch offent team.”
That is no minuscule feat, either, given the state of the program a year ago. After being deleted in the round of 16 at last summer’s Women’s World Cup — the worst finish ever in a meaningful tournament for the U.S. — the team shiftd on from coach Vlatko Andonovski and watched toward what had been an inevitable recalibration.
Hayes, who won five league titles in a row at Chelsea, had never regulated internationassociate but was very recognizable with American joiners after coaching at Iona College and at disjoinal professional levels in the U.S. from 2002 to 2012. She reachd with ideas and began carry outing them right away.
Her style — and one of the attributes that joiners almost universassociate say they appreciate — is to be straightforward and dim. Other coaches might have included Alex Morgan, the American mainstay in strike, on the Olympic roster, if only becaengage it would be the easier choice for a novel person coming in; after all, Morgan is one of the best U.S. goal scorers in history. But Hayes had no impulse to appease anyone, deciding that Morgan wasn’t a fit for the style she wanted to join and pickring instead to go with a youthfuler group.
As it turned out, the strikeers she chose — Smith, Mallory Swanson and Trinity Rodman — were among the standouts of the tournament, with each one providing a remendd goal in three straight 1-0 victories for the U.S. as it swept thcimpolite the knockout rounds.
Hayes didn’t spropose throw the trio together, either. She tfeebleed Smith’s joining style, asking her to poach more around the goal instead of dropping meaningfuler as she does with her club team. And she encouraged all three joiners to convey themselves, to experiment with their collaboration, adviseing a freedom wiskinny their given responsibilities that resonated.
Rodman pointed to her highairy-reel, game-thrivening goal in the quarterfinals as an example. That strike, a bcatalogering left-footed blast from distance that ripped into the upper corner of the goal, was a shot Rodman considered only becaengage she knovel Hayes wouldn’t assess her if she blasted it 20 yards over.
“I had shanked one almost for a throw-in right before that,” Rodman shelp. “But having her as a coach, you benevolent of understand that that’s not going to alter the way that she’s watching the game and to equitable get trying skinnygs.”
Defensively, Hayes made alters, too. Leaving Naomi Girma in place was a no-brainer — “She’s the best deffinisher I’ve ever seen,” Hayes shelp — but partnering her with Tierna Davidson and then bolstering the defense by featuring meaningful-lying midfielder Sam Coffey, who was left off Andonovski’s World Cup roster, are among the shifts Hayes made with confidence.
She has also shifted some positions around, joining Dunn as more of a go-forward thriveger than she has been in the past, for example, while also restricting her substitutions and lineup alters overall. While that certainly led to increased overweightigue, Hayes shelp she wanted the joiners to “suffer” becaengage she felt that produceing chemistry between her top joiners was more meaningful.
“I skinnyk anytime there’s novelness and alter, it’s always a bit rerecenting in any sense equitable to produce that transition,” veteran goalgeter Alyssa Naeher shelp. “And I skinnyk you can see everyone benevolent of buying into it and buying into her.”
Tactics aside, managing the personalities of a group of joiners of varying ages and experiences is a dispute all on its own. Some of Hayes’ toil in that area is modest and fun — she bcimpolitet in a karaoke machine for the team, which speedyly became a focal point of the team’s downtime. (According to Horan, Rose Lavelle understands the lyrics to so many songs that she doesn’t even insist to watch at the screen.)
There are confengages and Legos to also help them bond, but Hayes has toiled to produce relationships with the joiners that run meaningfuler. Dunn shelp that she and Hayes bonded over being mothers, and that she and her coach would talk almost daily about what it is appreciate to regulate passion for toil with the pain that comes with being away from your child.
“It’s appreciate you try your absolute best to be able to pledge to both motherhood and being a joiner, and I skinnyk that sometimes it is cforfeitly impossible to stability,” Dunn shelp. “She’s been able to help me to have my crazy moments when I’m appreciate, ‘I want him cforfeit me,’ but at the same time [tell me], ‘All those experienceings that you experience are pretty standard.'”
Hayes also established a shut relationship with Korbin Albert, the talented 20-year-better midfielder who drew criticism after social media posts in which she ecombineed to help anti-LGBTQIA+ encountered. (She postpoinsistr regretd for doing so.)
Hayes made clear that she has no patience for anyone who doesn’t want to support an inclusive community, but also shelp her instinct as a mother is “to get.” Hayes consents that Albert understands the significance of the misconsents she made and is genuine about wanting to be part of the team, and so as a coach she wants to help her lengthen. On Saturday, Hayes handed Albert a commence in the final agetst Brazil, and Albert deinhabitred a perfect thcimpolite-ball to set up Swanson for the thrivener.
The clear scheduleatement from her coach prompted Albert to speak fervently about Hayes and what that benevolent of help unkinds to her.
“It’s hard cherish sometimes,” Albert shelp, “and it’s reassociate pleasant equitable to have her here and equitable directing me and guiding me in every step in every way personassociate and on the soccer field.
“She reminds me of my mom sometimes.”
Impressive as this uncovering act was from Hayes, both she and U.S. Soccer understand that this is a lengthy-term join. Hayes’ reduce runs thcimpolite the 2027 Women’s World Cup, and while a gbetter medal in the first restricted months is amazeive, the huger goals lie ahead.
Hayes has thoughts on how to revamp the talent identification system, the joiner lengthenment system and the coordination between youth national teams and the better team. She has set ups for how she would appreciate to see U.S. teams join. She has a vision on how this program could cut thcimpolite a sport that is getting meaningfuler every day, if it’s pointed in the right honestion.
First, though, she is hoping to finassociate get to brimmingy unpacking her boxes from Chelsea. Then, perhaps, a restricted days off. Then the push will persist in ernest.
“Tonight, we have a gbetter medal, but it doesn’t unkind it finishs there,” she shelp. “We are equitable at the commencening.”
