Happy, healthy Hayes ready for Wembley return with USWNT

LONDON, England – US Women’s National Team head coach Emma Hayes is back in London for her first match on English soil since her departure from Chelsea this summer. After 12 glittering years at the club, during which she cemented her reputation as one of the best female managers of all time, she took on a new challenge this summer and now appears rejuvenated and revitalized – a stark contrast to the tired figure that bid farewell to The Blues after securing their fifth consecutive Women’s Super League (WSL) title.

“I certainly didn’t feel healthy at the end; I felt pretty bad at the end of my time at Chelsea,” she said on Monday during a press conference held at the iconic Camden music venue, The Underworld. “(Now) I feel like I’ve got my mojo back and my smile back and joy back that I didn’t realize how much I’d lost from it. And doing that means I love football more than ever before, and I am aware of all the things that I want to do.”

Hayes, who now leads the four-time world champions, has already added an Olympic gold medal to his resume with the United States in just three months. And while her roots remain firmly planted in London – where she continues to live – a return to Wembley on Saturday to face England’s Lionesses in a friendly will feel strange. Everything feels different now.

A humble beginning

Hayes has enjoyed remarkable success in her career – including seven WSL titles, five FA Cups, two League Cups – but attributes much of that to her Camden roots and the unwavering support of her parents, Sid and Miriam. In fact, her late father played a crucial role in shaping her coaching journey and encouraged her to take on the American role before he passed away in September 2023. His absence during her final season at Chelsea was deeply felt as Sid had been her and the team’s most. devoted follower, and his relentless work ethic in managing the family currency business became a cornerstone of Hayes’ quest for greatness.

As a young girl, Hayes was once left star-struck by a wealthier friend who lived in a “lovely five-story” house. Still, when she returned home and adopted a mockingly elegant accent, her mother quickly brought her back to reality: “Your s— still stinks,” Miriam reminded her, an anecdote Hayes treasures as a defining moment in her growing up.

The grounded perspective became the basis for the ambition and resilience we would later see as a football manager. “I don’t come from a privileged background; I come from a home where you had to keep your feet on the ground and be humble and hardworking,” she said. “I don’t take anything for granted. I earned everything; it wasn’t gifted.”

The big smile that spread across Hayes’ face throughout Monday’s event came from a sense of joy and belonging that came from being back in her beloved Camden, and she exuded an energy that was unmistakably authentic. The laughter, the casual banter and her ease in the familiar environment reflected her contentment at being in the midst of her people – surrounded by a handful of friends and family as well as the media.

“I’m such a Camden girl and I’m so happy to be back in Camden,” she said. “You can tell by the smile on my face. This is my home and I’m really looking forward to a great week with my team.

“I’m very grateful for everything my country and my city have given me. I’ve learned the older I get that you just have to go for it in life and you have to enjoy life, not worry all the time So (it was amazing) driving past my school, Parliament Hill, to come here and see a ‘Welcome back Emma’ sign outside the underworld … My community is what I am and what I love so happy to be here with people it has been massive in me life.”

Hayes’ community has always been her anchor, a constant source of grounding and faith through every high and low of her journey. Even in moments of self-doubt, when she questioned whether she would ever become the streak winner she is today, her family never wavered in their belief in her potential.

At one point, Hayes asked those in the room to raise their hands if they thought she would be a series winner. Her friends and family all raised their arms emphatically. It was a powerful, symbolic moment – a testament to the unwavering faith of those who had stood by her side, from her humble beginnings to the pinnacle of international football.

“So many people say they saw it for me; I didn’t necessarily think it would happen,” she said. “I knew it was what I wanted and I knew the sacrifices I’ve made in my life to get to where I am. I know how many weddings I’ve missed; how many birthday parties I’ve had missed; how many holidays have I missed, how many evenings I missed.

“My friends will tell you that. My family will tell you that ‘Emma always puts football first’ and sometimes I’m not always proud of that. It was lonely, a lot of times, it was really lonely because I had a dream for the game, not for myself. I had a dream about women’s football that I’ve been able to live out and I’m just so grateful that I was pushed by my parents and my family to be able to do it for me, to help with (her son) Harry and all that I certainly wouldn’t have done.”

A different type of game and familiar faces

Hayes is no stranger to the big stage at Wembley Stadium, having stood on its hallowed touchline during several FA Cup finals, and it’s a place she fondly refers to as her “second home”. But as she prepares for Saturday’s clash against England, everything feels different. This time she is not English football’s celebrated hero, but the pantomime villain leading the USWNT into battle against the Lionesses on their home turf.

With 80,000 tickets already sold for the much-anticipated meeting, Hayes knows the night will be hostile. But instead of dreading it, she welcomes the challenge and isn’t weighed down by pressure.

“There’s no doubt it’s a different type of game playing at Wembley,” she said. “I had to think through how I’m going to stand there as an away team coach because it will be full of English people supporting the home team.

“I don’t think too much about the feel and atmosphere of a place that honestly feels like a second home to me. I know going back to Wembley, yes, I’ll have to go in the away dressing room , but I will experience another opportunity between the Olympic champions and the current European champions in a game where there is top quality on display for both sides.”

Still, for Hayes, the matchup carries an emotional weight beyond the football. England has always been the country she has called home, the place where her success has been celebrated. Now she finds herself navigating a complex mix of pride and conflict, standing on the other side of the anthem she once sang and facing players she helped mold into world-class athletes.

“I’m going to go through a weird moment where the national anthem is played, something I’ll be humming along to as I’ve always done as the English person that I am,” she said. “I want to do the same for the American national anthem. I love both anthems and beyond the odd moment and seeing some of the competitors that I’ve come across or players that I’ve gone to war with, its business comes in time.”

Although England will be without Chelsea duo Niamh Charles and Lauren James through injury, Hayes will still face some familiar faces. Among them are Chelsea players Hannah Hampton, Aggie Beever-Jones and, perhaps most poignantly, Millie Bright – her former captain and a player she described as “like a little sister” and “a special person”.

While Wembley may feel like home, it will certainly remind her of the fine line between nostalgia and new beginnings, between being loved and being the villain. Still, her motivation to win is the same.

“I’m a competitor and I want to win football games and I represent a locker room that also likes to win,” she said. “So of course we’re coming to win this weekend, but that’s not like my overall goal. I want to qualify for the World Cup. I want to win the World Cup.”

Hayes will use the game to experiment with new strategies and combinations within his American team, especially in the absence of the “Triple Espresso” front line of Trinity Rodman, Sophia Smith and Mallory Swanson, who did not make the squad. It’s a delicate balancing act that aims to give players with just one or two caps the opportunity to experience the scale of an iconic game like this, while ensuring the team makes meaningful connections on the pitch.

“There have to be connections and relationships there, but I also want to provide opportunities,” Hayes said. “So it’s important to get that balance in these two games because there comes a moment when I want a player who has one or two caps to experience what it’s like to play in front of 80,000 people.

“It feels a little bit hostile and a little bit cold and you’re not really sure because you get a little bit tough in the game. I want to see who some of our players are in that moment. But sometimes you do it at the cost of (using) somebody that you know what they can do in that arena, over and over again, so I’ll stick to my long-term goals that dominate my thinking and go to the bench when I need to.

This battle isn’t just about the competition, it’s part of a bigger mission. The unmistakable air of optimism that surrounds Hayes now has helped her focus and block out the noise. And no matter what happens, she knows it will be a “night to remember.”

“I work every day so that I can build women’s sports and women’s football,” she said. “80,000+ (fans), I’m sure a lot of people around the world will be watching the game… I know exactly where I am and what I want to do with my life and that’s in the women’s game and that is helping to develop everything in and around it. That clarity has really helped me shed light, even within our own association, on things I just enjoy and thrive on in a different way.