COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — New U.S. women's national team head coach Emma Hayes must quickly revamp a team coming off its worst World Cup finish in history last year. First, she joked, she needed to learn everyone's names.
Hayes took the microphone at Dick's Sporting Goods Park on Friday for her first formal news conference as head coach, and said there is a part of the team that wants to keep it the same.
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“We all know the core ingredients of American DNA and that will not change under my leadership,” Hayes said.
Speaking to reporters last week, Hayes partly defined that DNA as “the attitude toward performance and the expectation to give everything you've got…managing the pressure on the biggest stage, managing the badge on this jersey.” .
Hayes said Friday that he has been holding 15-minute one-on-one meetings with each player in camp, a process that will continue next week as the team's first training camp continues under its new coach. Getting to know the players on and off the field “is where the overload has been,” he said.
“I don't make fast friends,” Hayes said, underscoring the pragmatic approach he goes on to describe. “I want us to build the right things at the right times.”
Saturday's game against South Korea will be Hayes' first in charge of the USWNT since accepting the job in November. Hayes finished the European season with Chelsea, winning a fifth consecutive English league title earlier this month.
Hayes will have Saturday's game and a rematch Tuesday in St. Paul, Minnesota, before selecting her 18-player Olympic roster sometime next month. The team and a new staff have less than two months to get in sync before the Olympics in France.
Hayes spoke last week about the need to strike a balance between talented young players and experienced voices in the locker room. Forward Alex Morgan, who is fully available after a recent ankle injury, is the most capped player in camp and is now assimilating to her fourth transition as a full-time coach with the USWNT.
“I think it means we're both learning from each other quickly as needed,” Morgan said of Hayes' desire to preserve the “DNA” of a team that has won four of the nine Women's World Cups. “Everything is going in the right direction. I think she came into this environment and it's obviously something she's been waiting for for many months; it's something we've been waiting for to have her there for many months.
“I think it just means we're in a really good place and a place of mutual respect and understanding where we have to build trust. It has to start somewhere, but we're in a good place.”
Hayes said Friday that there are many things he won't discuss publicly about team matters, but he frequently praised his players' ability to digest information in his 13-minute news conference.
“I think there has been a better tactical understanding than I expected, but for me the most important thing is the ability to grasp information very, very quickly. [They’re] Sponges, incredible sponges.
“No matter what we've thrown at them this week, they've taken it on, they're absorbing it. This team is desperate to improve and is focused on the performances and the processes to get there.”
A few minutes later, the team took the field under the sunny Colorado sky and began passing drills that ended with scoring opportunities. Hayes stood in the middle of the field and communicated orders, eventually telling the players that they would have to choose the correct passing sequence.
A passing sequence drill from the open side of the #USWNT's MD-1 practice before Emma Hayes' first game in charge. That's when the staff added the layer of defenders to the mix and gave players the option to switch and choose the sequence of play. pic.twitter.com/2E1MXIjQbe
– Jeff Kassouf (@JeffKassouf) May 31, 2024
“Emma surprises us every day,” said USWNT forward Sophia Smith. “She's a ball of energy, but we all knew that. She's an amazing person, first and foremost. She's a fun coach to play with; she's a coach you want to play for.”
As 19-year-old attacking prodigy Jaedyn Shaw said: “It's time to go.”
