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Hayes has led Chelsea to four WSL titles in a row <\/p>\n
Given Hayes\u2019s record in women\u2019s football, such an offer from US Soccer should only be considered the minimum. The English manager is the outstanding club coach in the women\u2019s game and the only area that Chelsea have fallen short in has been in their pursuit of a first Champions League title, after reaching the final in 2021 and the semi-finals last season.<\/p>\n
It would be fair to include this as a criticism, given how Hayes has been backed by Chelsea and the resources available to the club. After all, it was that support that led to Chelsea signing Sam Kerr, the striker who took Hayes\u2019s side to another level and whose taste for the big moments came to mirror their own sense of inevitability.<\/p>\n
But in dominating the domestic scene, Hayes created a culture where the values of graft and grind were placed on a pedestal. Over the years, much of their trophy procession felt self-fulfilling.<\/p>\n
It came from the top, where Hayes reinforced the message and stamped out complacency at the start of every season, sustaining Chelsea\u2019s superiority in a league that was so often decided by fine margins. If the history of team sports shows there are often natural, unavoidable drop-offs in performance and motivation following periods of success, there has been little hint of that at Chelsea in recent years.<\/p>\n
Which is what makes Hayes\u2019s potential move to the USA so fascinating. \u201cArrogance\u201d and \u201ccomplacency\u201d were the very words used to describe how the USA ceded their position as the dominant force in international women\u2019s football, as illustrated by their disastrous defence of their World Cup title in Australia and New Zealand. Their performances up to and including that last-16 defeat to Sweden highlighted a squad that was long past its best, and a system where players had the power and were picked based on their reputations.<\/p>\n
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Hayes greets young fans before last month\u2019s WSL game against Tottenham Hotspur <\/p>\n
Naturally, many of the issues that Hayes may inherit will lie below the surface and could take years to resolve, primarily in how the US has fallen behind Europe in the production of young talent. Hayes\u2019s previous experience before arriving at Chelsea is set to be beneficial, given she started her coaching career in the US college system in the early 2000s and landed her first professional managerial position with the Chicago Red Stars in the National Women\u2019s Soccer League.<\/p>\n
As Hayes will remain with Chelsea until the end of the season, which would surely be too late to be considered available to lead the US at the Paris Olympics next summer, there will be time to assess what is required ahead of what would be her primary goal of recapturing the World Cup in 2027. But it is in the dressing room where Hayes\u2019s immediate targets and her strictest standards will be made clear \u2013 just like she told Carter all those years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cGet better or I\u2019ll get someone else.\u201d Perhaps the USA have not heard enough of that in recent years. Now a team in need of a reset will be charged with the ultimate cultural makeover. Before then, though, there are more trophies with Chelsea to win.<\/p>\n