Emma Hayes: Former Chelsea Women boss says she will always love the club but the time was right to leave | Football News

Emma Hayes admits she wasn’t prepared for how tough leaving Chelsea would be but is enjoying a “new lease of life” since becoming USA head coach.

Hayes announced in January she’d end more than a decade in charge of the Women’s Super League champions during one of the tightest title races in the professional era.

Touchline arguments, press conference poetry and a back-and-forth battle with Manchester City encapsulated Hayes’ final few months in England, culminating on the final day of the season with Chelsea winning their fifth consecutive title.

“I didn’t realise how difficult it would be when I made the decision to move to the U.S at the end of the season,” Hayes told Sky Sports at her old local pub in Camden, north London.

“It was challenging to manage everything. The expectations, the press… it took a toll on me. To get over the line with the backdrop of all those things, I felt I could leave with my head held high.”

Hayes’ final game in charge was a 6-0 rout of Manchester United at Old Trafford, in front of her coaching hero Sir Alex Ferguson, to secure her seventh league title with Chelsea, this time in front of thousands of fans in the away end that came to bid her an emotional farewell.

“Mixed is the right emotion,” Hayes admits when thinking about that day.

“To do it in front of the fans, my heart was so full. To be with them, to do it at Old Trafford, at Sir Alex’s old stomping ground, it’s etched into my heart.

More than half a year has passed since Hayes boxed up her life to move over the Atlantic. Despite being 4,000 miles from the club where she spent 12 years, the distance has allowed her to finally look back on what she achieved.

“I have moments when I reflect on my time there. Every time I come back to the same thing; I’m grateful for the opportunity, grateful to be in the job for so long. It was the right time for everyone to move on.

“Now I’m on the other side of it I’ve created a situation I can enjoy it as a fan. I know I’m a national team coach for USA but I’ll always love Chelsea.”

Any doubts about how Chelsea would cope in a post-Hayes era have been completely diminished after their stunning start to the season.

Already six points clear at the top of WSL, it appears the blue domination of the English top-flight is entering a new cycle under new coach Sonia Bompastor.

Six wins from six in the Champions League has Chelsea also being talked about as the club to potentially end Barcelona and Lyon’s reign as the queens of Europe, which is something Hayes would adore.

“I’m so happy with their start to the season, so happy with Sonia’s start with a group of players and people I know are tremendous. That to me, that’s what it’s all about.

“Because I’m happy with where I’m at and I know I couldn’t have given any more, it’s only right for the players to have a different direction. I’m the middle child of three, jealousy and envy don’t enter my mind, I’m not that person.

“I know the changing room Sonia’s got and I’m happy for her, that she gets to enjoy the fruits of many people’s labour of a long period of time and put her own stamp on it.

“If Chelsea go onto bigger and better things… oh, that’s my perfect story. All those players in the locker room know that about me. They have a growth mindset, Chelsea look fantastic this season and I’m delighted for them.”

In typical Hayes style, three days after that famous and final title win at Old Trafford, she was on a flight to New York to begin her new coaching adventure.

Hayes was on as many national breakfast and primetime shows as possible to get across not just her plan for US soccer but also her superstar personality.

“I felt a new lease of life, I felt relief. Not having that pressure anymore… I had a new pressure but one that just felt exciting. New cities, new people, new players. Yes, it’s been a whirlwind but I’ve enjoyed every minute.

“I wanted to put everything into my new job and 75 days later I’m standing in the Parc des Princes watching my team put gold medals around their neck. It was unbelievable.”

Hayes wasted little time adding to her medal cabinet, coaching the U.S. to Olympic glory two-and-a-half months in the job.

A team of stars, led by the attacking trident of Trinity Rodman, Sophia Smith and Mallory Swanson, the USA entertained and swaggered their way to gold with millions back home watching their exploits in Paris.

“I have amazing players. We had a backroom staff that came together… it’s never one single thing.

“I had the best players available, we had good form, we were good defensively, scored the most goals. We came together in the right moment, the players followed the plan and together we achieved the most remarkable thing in a short space of time.

“We produced a magical summer, one that will live with us forever.”

Hayes, as so many successful coaches do, is quick to put the attention and praise back on the players.

But the 48-year-old is open enough to admit the rocky journey to the top makes the view from the summit sweeter.

“My assistant Denise Reddy, I’ve worked with her for 20 years, after we won gold I asked her ‘Can you believe what we’ve done?’. She said ‘Yeah, I can. We worked our whole life for this’.

“I thought about that a lot, thought about all the trials, tribulations, the setbacks… sometimes you just see high points for someone but I know all of the disappointments I’ve been around. I think that’s what prepared me to be in this position.

“But I just see them [the players]! I see them on the podium, smiles on their faces putting medals around their necks.

“For Americans to win an Olympic gold medal in football is the biggest honour. To see their faces, see how happy they are, that’s what makes me happy. I have a lot of joy in the new job… and I love winning.”

It’s a feeling football fans in the U.S. have got used to over the last three decades. With Hayes in charge and in such a positive place, the rest of the world faces the challenge of keeping up.