They say change is the only constant, but sometimes it can be more of a gamble than a guarantee. Ahead of the October international window, Emma Hayes recently announced her 26-player roster. While 18 of them are the same players who traveled to France and won Olympic gold, 6 will be earning their first cap, with the remaining two getting called since the last World Cup. Though this is a moment of pride for the first-timers, for Emma Hayes, it’s not as she rather admits that the ‘more changes you make, the more broken up the play becomes.’

“When we play a team, we put together a team on the field that have been playing together over a period of time,” began Emma while addressing the media at a Zoom press conference in Austin on Wednesday. Of course, the players who are familiar with Hayes’ tactical ways wouldn’t be required to go through pre-requisite activity. This way, the old team could evolve tactically, which according to the 47-year-old, is the group’s objective.

However, making sudden and significant changes in the starting XI will hinder such tactical developments in this camp. “That, I think, will make the games choppy in many ways, because being able to apply everything I’m asking them to do in their first camps, I think [it’s] really, really challenging. So I’m not expecting everything to be perfect in this camp,” admitted the former Chelsea boss.

However, what she does expect from her current group, who competed in the Summer Games and have already been exposed to a tactical system, is that when they play together, they demonstrate the tactical improvements they’ve been working on throughout the week.

“I think one of the really hardest things to do at international level is we always want to see more players, but the more changes you make, the more broken up the play becomes,” Hayes said, underling the harsh reality of the beautiful game, which relies on building connections and fostering relationships on the field.

Hayes explained that it’s difficult to build connections if the relationships between players change from game to game, even for the fact that if fans would love to see the change. “I think it is difficult at the international level to have maybe some of the volume of changes that sometimes the fans really want to see,” concluded Hayes.

Believe it or not, she does have a point. For fans, it’s easy to criticize or question the manager for not calling up a certain player. But sadly, there’s always a reason behind such call-ups. Then again, it’s not like Hayes won’t be completely relying on the new faces!

Emma Hayes might have to play new faces after all!

After the American team’s doubleheader against Iceland on October 24 and 27, their October 30 match against Argentina falls just two days before two pivotal NWSL games on Friday, November 1. Utah Royals will face NJ/NY Gotham FC and Portland Thorns will go up against Angel City—both matches featuring nine players from Emma Hayes’ 26-player roster.

This situation compels the English coach to implement player rotation due to their travel demands. She has also reassured the NWSL clubs that no player will be expected to play more than two full games unless injuries force her to adjust her strategy. “I’ve assured the NWSL clubs that we’ll work towards that. So, there will be debuts over this block,” she said.

Hence, it’s mostly likely we’ll get to see more of the fresh faces in action. Regardless, let us know in the comments whether Emma Hayes would be open to taking this risk.