It wasn’t easy. But USWNT picked a difficult win under Emma Hayes‘ coaching against the Netherlands, 2-1. Hayes went ahead with an experimental setup, but sloppiness and a lack of physicality were evident from the start. They had a poor first half as the Netherlands had almost 60% possession, outshooting the USWNT 14-1. Regardless, the Americans continued their unbeaten streak, which was also quite important for them. After all, they were fresh off a stalemate against England. 

But their most recent win hasn’t really made Hayes happy. If anything, she feels her team needs to buck up. Hear it from Emma Hayes herself:

“Of course, I was disappointed with the way we played in the first half because listen if we’re not going to be at our best with the ball, we’d better be our best without it and I thought we got bullied and harassed and that frustrated me a little bit. And so when I got the opportunity to regroup, I just adapted. So we could build in a three just to buy us a little bit more time and space.”

“They were player for player everywhere and the dots should have been up 2-0 in the first half. Like we were fortunate to come in at halftime, made a couple of changes because I wanted to bring Sonnett’s leadership back into the back line,” she shared in a press conference after the win.

Hayes believes that things could have been different for the Stars and Stripes during the game if they had better control. Sadly, that wasn’t the case, as it was the Dutch who dominated the visitors, albeit the loss. Andries Jonker’s side had taken an overall 22 shots, with 7 being on target compared to the USWNT’s 5 shots, with just 4 being on target.

Speaking of the goal show, Veerle Tooske Janna Roos Buurman opened the scoring for the Netherlands within 15 minutes into the game. However, just before halftime, the highly rated 18-year-old defender sadly equalized the score after she headed the ball into her own net. Later, around 70 minutes, substitute Lynn Williams scored the winner for Hayes to avoid another draw for the USWNT.

“I wouldn’t say that this was our prettiest game of soccer ever,” Williams said later. “And sometimes that’s how games go. But the biggest thing — you can talk about tactics, you can talk about formation and everything, but the biggest thing was matching their intensity, getting to the second ball, getting to the first ball, and that was the shift that needed to happen. And I think that that was the intensity I was trying to bring onto the pitch.”

Of course, the lack of an attacking route for the American ladies is justified by Hayes’ unique lineup selection. Jaedyn Shaw took the sole No. 9 role with the US going with a 5-midfield setup of Rose Lavelle, Lindsey Horan, Yazmeen Ryan, Sam Coffey, and Korbin Albert. It was during the later stages of the game that Emma introduced the likes of Williams, Alyssa Thompson, Ally Sentnor, and Lily Yohannes.

Whether it was a decision that may have hindered the USA’s chances of scoring is something for Hayes to know. But it is to be noted that though the manager didn’t have her full first-choice squad to put together a stunning performance, she used the resources she had.

Regardless, team USA extended its lead in the all-time series against the Netherlands to 9W-1L-2D. The former Blues boss gladly accepts how today’s game provided them with a key lesson.

Emma Hayes had predicted Netherlands vs USWNT will be a ‘tricky’ game

The former WSL manager insisted that today’s match provided the team with a lot of valuable insights, courtesy of a challenge they faced from a competitive team like the Netherlands. “I can assure you I will learn a lot more today against top-class opposition away from home midweek than I will say home game in the sun against someone maybe not at the same level. … I knew this would be the tricky game of the two,” Hayes said.

“I felt like second half we got our foot stuck in, which for me is quite basic, so I’m pleased we got that part right. But we also rode it a lot. I’m not sitting here saying we were the better team, but you can still win football matches and not be your best. And I thought today we demonstrated by not being at our best, both in and out of possession, that finding a way to win is a sign of a great team.”

What also Hayes tried to implicate is that she subtly wanted US Soccer to organize fixtures against the teams that are on their level. That way, the ladies will be able to challenge themselves, consequently helping the ladies in their preparation for bigger challenges like the next World Cup.

The first half was surely one of the worst performances from the team in the Hayes era. While they effectively turned it around, it was still outshot 23-5, and they lost the expected goals battle 1.82 to 0.91. But a poor display can teach one as much as a positive outcome and the manager understands this. While there is a lot of time for the 2027 World Cup, the team can certainly learn from this match.

The team is back on top of FIFA’s Women’s World Ranking. They are building great momentum as their coach is now 13W-0L-2D. What are your thoughts on the Netherlands vs USWNT game? Let us know in the comments.