Image source, Getty Images
Emma Hayes said the team has shown it is “desperate to improve” since she took over as USA head coach.
Hayes will end her 12-year spell as Chelsea manager at the end of the Women’s Super League season and will immediately move across the Atlantic to begin her new role.
She will be in charge of her first match when the USA play South Korea in a friendly at 10pm BST on Saturday.
The United States had won the past two Women’s World Cups but was eliminated in the quarterfinals of last year’s tournament, so Hayes was brought in to help the U.S. return to its former glory.
- author, Adam Millington
- role, BBC Sports Reporter
She said her first few weeks have been focused on “building trust” while taking it “one step at a time.”
“The way the players have learned this week has been incredible — their attention to detail, their hunger for knowledge and their approach has been incredible,” Hayes said in a press conference on Friday.
“We all know how competitive they are. They’ve been incredibly hard working all week and I’m really proud of the effort they’ve put in.”
Hayes’ appointment was announced six months ago, but she hasn’t had much time to get to know her new team.
She has been holding 15-minute meetings with players to build relationships with the team as she adjusts to life in her new role.
The 47-year-old is pleased with the way people have reacted to her arrival.
“The most important thing is the ability to grasp information really quickly and learn.
“They’re sponges. Unbelievable sponges. Whatever we throw at them this week, they’re taking it and absorbing it.”
Twyla Kilgore took over as interim manager of the U.S. national team after Vlatko Andonovski resigned following the team’s unexpected exit from the World Cup and led the team to victory in the 2024 SheBelieves Cup.
Hayes has said he wants to build on Kilgore’s work rather than lead a sweeping overhaul.
“Twila has been laying some groundwork over the past six months, and my job this week is to fill in the details.”
“Are we going to move away from this system? No, this system is built on this system. I think there will be different things, but they’re not big structural changes, they’re small details that are different.”
Hayes’ short-term focus is on this summer’s Olympics and he says selecting the squad will be “tough”, but for now he is focused on leading the team in their first friendly matches.
