Emma Hayes mentioned she “sees a lot of herself” in legendary Manchester United supervisor Sir Alex Ferguson.
Hayes, who left her position at Chelsea on the finish of final season, took cost of the US ladies’s nationwide staff in Could, together with her first take a look at being the Paris Olympics.
She guided the USWNT to their fifth gold medal within the French capital, defeating Brazil 1-0 within the last because of Mallory Swanson’s 57th minute purpose.
After the triumph, Hayes revealed that Ferguson was the primary particular person to congratulate her on the win, occurring to say she sees similarities between herself and the Scot.
“I see a lot of myself in him. His was the primary textual content I obtained after we received gold,” Hayes mentioned in an interview with The Telegraph.
Hayes spent the early a part of her teaching profession in the US, managing the Lengthy Island Woman Riders, Iona Gaels and Chicago Purple Stars earlier than her transfer again to England in 2012.
However her success with the USWNT in Paris is one thing she had dreamed about rising up in London, a triumph that also strikes an emotional chord a month later.
“I nonetheless get a lump in my throat fascinated by it,” Hayes says of successful on the Olympics.
“I replenish each time. I’ve dreamt about it. I’ve performed that out on the pitches by the flats in Camden.”
Born in Camden. Made in America. pic.twitter.com/QGiPmlhDif
— U.S. Girls’s Nationwide Soccer Workforce (@USWNT) August 11, 2024
Throughout her time with Chelsea, Hayes received 16 main honours, together with the Girls’s Tremendous League title for the final 5 consecutive seasons.
The 47-year-old oversaw 367 matches for the Blues, successful 261 (D42 L64), ending her 12-year stint on the membership with a win proportion of 71.12%.
She additionally got here near successful the Girls’s Champions League within the 2020-21 season, with Chelsea nicely overwhelmed within the showpiece match by Barcelona.
Regardless of her success in SW3, Hayes welcomed the change in surroundings however understood her success with the Blues put her in a pressurised place.
“I used to be pleased for my time at Chelsea to return to an finish,” Hayes mentioned.
“Stress comes with the place I’m in and definitely comes with the successful historical past I’ve. I settle for that.
“However I’ve loved feeling joyful once more.
“I didn’t realise how debilitating grief is and the way a lot each grief and my very own private struggles of the previous couple of years have actually sapped me of all the pieces.
“I’m so pleased to show a web page. Happy with all the pieces I’ve finished at Chelsea however pleased to be on this new house.”
