Incoming USWNT manager Emma Hayes has sparked major discourse in the women's soccer community. The current Chelsea head coach has said in a recent interview that she finds relationships between teammates to be "inappropriate". "Player-coach relationships, they're inappropriate, player-to-player relationships are inappropriate. But we have to look at it in the context of where the game has come from and say, 'Look, we're in a professional era now' where the expectations in place for players and coaches is such that all of our focus and attention has got to be on having the top standards," Hayes said ahead a rivalry match against Arsenal.
However, Hayes elaborated that her stance was purely rooted in the difficulties such relationships pose for a coach. "One player's in the team, one's not in the team. One might be in the last year of their contract, one might not be. We all know, those of us that have been in the women's game for a long period of time, those things have been happening in dressing rooms. Longer term, it would be ideal [to get to a place] where you don't have to deal with that. We're dealing with human beings. We do talk about it internally," Hayes continued.
USWNT Drops To Lowest-Ever World Ranking
Meanwhile, Hayes - who will take over the National Team in June - will inherit a USWNT squad that just fell to its lowest-ever world ranking. Despite winning the inaugural Women's Gold Cup. The US won the tournament with a 1-0 victory over Brazil. However, the team's 2-0 loss to Mexico in the group stage is believed to be what caused their drop in the rankings. The USWNT is now fourth behind Spain, England, and France.
Prior to the loss to Mexico, the USWNT were 40-1 against their southern neighbor. The previous sole loss came in 2010. Furthermore, the two goals they conceded to Mexico were the first goals the US had conceded to a CONCACAF opponent in 33 matches. "I think it just shows how far the game is coming and there's no easy games anymore. And if we don't take care of business and we don't execute, this is to be expected," interim head coach Twila Kilgore said after the loss.
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