This week, expect Emma Hayes to have one good ride on an emotional rollercoaster. After all, it’s a homecoming for the English tactician as she returns to England as the USWNT manager for a highly anticipated friendly at Wembley Stadium. Even though she hasn’t been back in her home country for long, Hayes has already established some boundaries.

Precisely, it’s about her nation’s obsession with not discussing the women’s side of the game. The English media has often confronted Hayes with queries mostly related to the men’s side of the game that have always left the 48-year-old baffled. However, starting from now, she won’t be answering any of those questions.

“I’m clear about all the things that I want to do,” admitted Hayes to Sports Illustrated. “I’m not going to answer questions about men’s football, not because I don’t expect you to ask me, but because I know exactly where I am and what I want to do with my life—and that’s in the women’s game,” she added, clearly stating her priority beforehand.

To remind you, shortly after she guided the American ladies to the 2024 Paris Olympic gold medal, the London-born manager vocally shed light on the biases that existed for the women’s side in her country. Of course, it’s something Hayes would know better, who had spent over 12 years in the English domestic scene, enjoying all types of success with Chelsea women. 

“I was a 20-year-old and had come from a pretty stuffy society that didn’t embrace the women’s game, or women in football, and I went to America, and they looked after me, nurtured me, opened doors for me, and they gave me opportunities that England never ever gave me,“ she admitted, having repaid the faith to the States by leading them to the recent Olympic triumph.

Lionesses fans were already baffled by losing a coach like Hayes to a rival nation like the USA, and the former WSL manager’s brutal take is like salt in their wounds. Even more so, Emma has set a clear boundary after she understood the English media’s ‘clickbait‘ game.

Emma Hayes takes a dig at English media’s biased agenda over the USWNT success

“Equality,” said Emma Hayes earlier when she was asked about the differentiating factor during her time in England compared to the US. “We win the Olympics, and in America, they want to talk about the greatness of winning an Olympics. I come to England and have a week with the press and they want to ask me when I’m going into the men’s game! The morbid fascination with asking me that question…”

Notably, after the success in Paris, Hayes called herself a ‘proud Englishwoman to win an Olympic medal with USA.’ Little did the USWNT boss offer her regards to the very country where she was born, but they seemed to have disappointed the English tactician, forcing her to finally make a blunt response. “Going forward, I’m just going to refuse to answer it. Because I realize it’s just clickbait,” she added.

Looks like England will only get to hear from Emma Hayes if it revolves around the women’s game. Either way, the focus remains mostly on the moment her USWNT faces England!