Emma Hayes: I felt unwell at the end of my time at Chelsea
Former Chelsea women’s boss Emma Hayes has said she felt “unwell” towards the end of her tenure with the WSL champions.
Hayes left Chelsea after 12 years to take charge of the USA women’s team and led them to a gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The Lionesses of England face the USA this weekend in a friendly match at Wembley.
Asked about the benefits of coaching in international football over club football, Hayes said: “I don’t have to sacrifice the things that made me healthy.
“I didn’t feel healthy at the end, I actually felt unwell at the end of my time at Chelsea.
“It wasn’t pressure, it was the stress and toll it took on me and doing that during menopause was even harder.
“To get on top of all of those things, I’ve got my mojo back and my smile and enjoyment back which I didn’t realise I had lost.”
The match will be England and Sarina Wiegman’s first at the national stadium since they were beaten 4-3 by Germany in a match which piled pressure on the coach ahead of the Lionesses’ Euros defence next year in Switzerland.
“I’m looking forward to seeing Sarina,” Hayes added. “Of course I need to go through a weird moment when the national anthems are being played. I’ll hum along to it [God Save the King] being the English person I am, but also the same for the US one because I love it, I love both anthems.
“Beyond that weird moment and coming up against players I’ve gone to war with, it’s business come kick-off. I hope it’s an entertaining game and a sell-out.”
With Chelsea Hayes won the Women’s Super League seven times, including a spell of five titles on the trot, in a total haul that reached 16 trophies. She never won the Champions League with the London club.