“I Don’t Believe We’d Have Gone Through”- Emma Hayes Hits Back at Criticisms Over Unused Substitutions Vs Japan at Paris Olympic Quarterfinals

Team USA fought its hardest battle yet in the Olympics during the quarter-final against Japan. It took the USWNT 107 minutes to find a breakthrough via Trinity Rodman’s strike and secure a semi-final spot. With this win USA made history, but the players cut an exhausted figure and coach Emma Hayes took some flak for not using substitutions. Now, the former Chelsea manager has come in defense of her tactics.

Rodman, Lindsey Horan, and Korbin Albert took the physio’s help in the extra time to overcome their tiredness. Many say Hayes could have avoided this by using substitutes during the QF with Japan. The British coach has fired back at those critics, stating she knows how to do her job.

Emma Hayes has time and again detailed why she is not a big fan of making too many changes to her playing XI at the Olympic tournament. This time, while reiterating it, she not-so-subtly asked her critics to check her resume. “I’m paid to do this job. What I’m interested in is what we do in-house. I’ve been coaching football matches a long time,” said Hayes, as compiled by The Athletic.

During the games against Japan, USA played the full 90 minutes without making any substitutions. It was not until the start of extra time that Hayes made the first change bringing on Lynn Williams in place of Mallory Swanson. This was followed by two more changes in the second half of extra time with Jenna Nighswonger and Casey Krueger coming on at 106 and 120+1 minutes respectively.

Many watching the game felt that some earlier changes in normal time would have helped the team to find the back of the net sooner and avoid a taxing extra time. But Hayes said those changes could’ve proven detrimental. “I’ve said it from the beginning: connections help. I don’t believe we’d have gone through if we’d have made too many changes,” Coach Hayes added.

The former Chelsea boss has been a big fan of building team chemistry by making her best players play together. Team USA has won all four games at the Olympics. So Hayes’ strategy is not going to waste, after all. There was another reason for many of the players feeling fatigued as the game reached extra time.

10 out of 11 USWNT players playing against Japan had also started the last group game against Australia on 31 July. Given that the USA had already secured a quarterfinal spot before the game, it would have made sense to rest a few key players before a big knockout match. But Hayes has a different way of dealing with things.

Before the game against Japan, Hayes addressed questions over her lack of rotation and carrying essentially the same playing XI from the previous group game. Defending her decision she said, “Minimal changes gives you the better chance to build the creativity, so I will not change anything I’m doing, even if Trin’s on a yellow card. We can’t play football like that. We just have to be prepared and deal with whatever comes with it.”

Interestingly, she chose to start Trinity Rodman, despite her being on a yellow card. The decision was vindicated as Rodman came up with a stunning strike to settle the encounter.

That goal meant the USA made it five wins out of five against Japan at the Olympics, making it the most wins ever against one opponent at the Olympic Games. The win over Japan wasn’t achieved by playing an attacking open game, but rather it was down to the team’s grit, a reflection of their coach’s mindset.

There will be questions about the team’s style of play, but right now getting the results and restoring the team’s reputation on the global stage is all that matters for Hayes and players. After the embarrassing round of 16 exit in the 2023 World Cup, that led to the former coach Vlatko Andonovski stepping down, a medal in Paris will be seen as a big step forward under the new coach. Results are all that matter at this stage and Hayes is delivering.

In yet another testament to Emma Hayes’ rigid, yet fruitful coaching methods, she summoned the entire squad for one final scrimmage before the semi-final against Germany.

Emma Hayes gives out injury update ahead of Germany

In a recent interview, coach Hayes said, “It is a great sign” to have all 18 USWNT squad members train at the facility in Lyon before facing Germany. These include the injured players: Jaedyn Shaw, Tierna Davidson, and Emily Fox. Fox, notably, injured her knee in the last game against Japan and had to be substituted in the final minute of extra time. Still, she has shown up at the training camp.

This serves as good news for USWNT fans as Hayes will have a fully available squad to choose from against Germany, a luxury she didn’t have against Japan.

Notably, the USA faces Germany after beating them 4-1 in the group stage. Even with that advantage in hand, Hayes expects a testing battle against Germany. Now, it remains to be seen will Hayes deploy more of the same tactics in the semi-finals and whether it will lead to USWNT surpassing one last hurdle before they reach the gold medal game in Paris.