The U.S. women’s national team is finally getting a feel for what Emma Hayes’ tenure as head coach will look like, and the early reviews are good.
USWNT stars Lindsey Horan and Naomi Girma, speaking to reporters ahead of Saturday’s friendly against South Korea (5 p.m. ET, TNT, Universo, Max, Peacock), both reported good vibes in these first few training sessions under Hayes’ watch.
“I think having her in has been great,” said Girma. “It’s been exciting for us just to layer in a lot of new things tactically.
“There were some things that we started talking about six months ago with Twila [Kilgore] being our interim head coach and Emma working in the background, and I think now having her here has been great to layer more of those things in and just really evolve our game.”
The lessons passed along under Kilgore, and how much they connect to what Hayes wants out of the team in the coming weeks, will be tested quickly. The USWNT has two matches against South Korea this month, and will convene an Olympic roster of just 18 players (plus four alternates) before friendlies against Mexico and Costa Rica in July.
After that, it’s off to Paris.
“I think it’s awesome to have Emma here in person and in training,” said Horan. “You get some jokes here and there, but [she’s] just demanding a lot out of us and keeping the standard but also, you know, the positive encouragement and feedback as well and giving voices to us.”
USWNT ‘excited to get to work’ under Hayes
The USWNT captain didn’t want to give too much away about the team’s next steps tactically, but said that the idea has been building on the foundation laid since Hayes was hired back in November.
“I think you’ve seen in our past few games, maybe the way that we’re playing, the adjustments in our formation, maybe the rotation in certain positions, et cetera,” explained the Colorado native. “I think all those things that we were trying to do in the past few months, you get here now and you hear it from her, from Emma herself, and the things that she really wants, it kind of all starts clicking in your head.
“Obviously it’s things we’ve been working on, but now it’s really coming to life.”
For Girma, there has been a tangible sense within the group that the team is raring to go.
“You can feel the excitement within the group,” explained the San Diego Wave defender. “[Hayes] brings great energy, and I think for us, we’ve just been excited to have her. Now that she’s here, we’re excited to get to work. I think we can feel that as a collective.”
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