ST. PAUL, Minn. — New U.S. women’s coach Emma Hayes continues to emphasize the need for outward patience in her first weeks on the job, but Monday at Allianz Field she was definitive on one milestone reached in this process: the failure of the 2023 World Cup is a thing of the past.
“I think the band is ready to move on,” Hayes said. “That’s what I feel.”
Hayes watched from afar last summer as the USWNT exited the World Cup in the round of 16, marking the worst result in a major tournament in program history. In her role as an analyst, she criticized a team “massively lacking in creative talent.”
Now, after accepting the USWNT head coaching job in November and coaching his first camp starting last week, Hayes is overseeing the righting of the ship.
“There has been a lot of learning since (the) last World Cup,” she said. “We always like to look at it from the outside, like these really fateful moments. From my point of view, I don’t believe they can grow without that. You need those setbacks. Sometimes on the biggest stages, that n It’s not ideal, but the team wasn’t ready.
“But the expectation in this country is to win every game, every week, every tournament, every trophy. It’s just not going to work like that, I’m afraid. We have to adapt to that a little bit. For them, their learning was profound.
The Americans won 4-0 against South Korea on Saturday in Hayes’ first match in charge of the team. She said after the game and reiterated Monday that the performance was better than she expected given the transition period the team is in, but that there is work to do.
The learning process, she added, is ongoing for players and staff. Hayes will complete her final individual meetings with the camp’s 23 players Monday evening.
“We’re all really hungry for knowledge,” USWNT midfielder Rose Lavelle said Monday. “I think we covered a lot last week, but it’s been exciting. I think we’re all very excited about this new era and what this team can do. I think we’ve all been very open to learning and We’ve collected a lot of information, but it’s great and we’re excited.”
Lavelle, long one of the team’s most creative players, came off the bench Saturday to contribute to the USWNT’s final goal. And Hayes said he would “expect a lot of changes” to Tuesday’s lineup, including in net.
Goalie Jane Campbell started Saturday in the absence of regular starter Alyssa Naeher, who missed this training camp with a hamstring injury. Every player on the roster has dealt with an “overload” of information, as she described it Friday, and more of them deserve the opportunity to translate it into a gaming context.
“I think it’s important to manage expectations because as we build up to our first game as a group, some people are going to be there for the first time (Tuesday),” Hayes said. “The connections may be different, so these reference points may start again before we can move on to the next place.
“But I think it’s essential because we need a team to select for the Olympics first, so I need to know where everyone is and then their application.”
Tuesday’s match is the last opportunity for players to play in that jersey before Hayes must select her 18-player Olympic roster, and she said “most of her work” this week has been teaching how to the team as much as possible and getting to know the players personally.
Her next goal, she said, is to make sure everyone involved in and around the team understands the goals on a deeper level.
“I feel like a heart surgeon in the middle of an emergency surgery,” Hayes said. “Not because anything is wrong, but the reality is that it’s really very difficult for me to be on the wards or in the clinics and teaching everyone and doing surgery at the same time. time in such a limited time frame.
“Between now and the next camp, it’s about getting everyone to that level where everyone can get surgery, if you know what I mean.”
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