‘Best coach in women’s game’ Emma Hayes reveals secrets to building a successful team

Hayes has been highly spoken of by many of her former players, including Fran Kirby and Karen Carney. Before she became a manager, Hayes also had the dream of becoming a professional footballer and even played for Arsenal’s academy from 1988 to 1996. When she was 17, she unfortunately suffered an ankle injury during a ski trip that ultimately ended her playing career. 

She then studied European Studies, Spanish, and sociology at Liverpool Hope University College and later finished a master’s degree in intelligence and international affairs. However, Hayes continued to love football and started her managerial career in the United States in 2002, where she was the youngest coach in the former USL W-League. Since then, she’s managed Iona Gaels (USA), Arsenal Ladies (assistant), Chicago Red Stars, Chelsea, and the United States women’s national team. She’s currently the highest-paid manager in women’s football and reportedly earns 1,6 million dollars a year. 

 

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Best version of themselves

Having won plenty of individual and team trophies during her managerial career, Hayes spoke to GQ about the basis for a successful team. ‘’I like to create teams everyone can see themselves in, and I’ll always encourage players to bring out the best version of themselves. This is a generation that sees themselves as unique individual brands so the last thing you should do is kill that. Teach them how to work as part of a team, but maintain their separate selves.’’ 

‘’I believe you can be a winning team and a likeable team all at once,’’ says Hayes. ‘’You have to know when to be ruthless but no one wants to go to work with assholes. We’ve got to take fans with us too. I want us to take pride in everything we do, and to know that when you put on a shirt, you’re representing something so much bigger.’’ 

She’s also taken inspiration outside of football on leadership and management. ‘’I’m always interested in people’s craft, and what it takes for them to get to where they need to be able to perform. Mixing with Vicky McClure, Usain Bolt, Damian Lewis [at SoccerAid] and I was going to say Liam Payne… I want to know how their routines can help develop players in football. I take best practice from everywhere, F1 to Google to acting, to what I’ve learned from the medical and legal worlds.’’ 

‘’I’ve always thought my outlook in coaching is closer to that of a CEO,’’ says Hayes. ‘’I’m interested in how things work, how they operate, how you improve them, it’s the sociologist in me. But I also know that you’re the one that gets sacked as the manager, so you’ve got to be so involved from top to bottom.’’