“I come from a place of wanting players to enjoy themselves,” Emma Hayes mentioned after she ended USWNT’s wait for an Olympic gold medal. Having joined the team in May, Hayes’ job with the national women’s team is commendable. Her coaching abilities were never in doubt, but it was her approach toward team chemistry, that allowed many players to shine and one of them was defender Tierna Davidson.

USWNT walks into every tournament with a target on its back. With five Olympic and four World Cup titles to their name, there is no escaping the pressure that comes with putting on the decorated white jersey. However, the former Chelsea head coach was able to take a bunch of players, still reeling from the shock World Cup exit in 2023, and turn them into Olympic Champions. This success was due to Hayes building a team that was out on the field enjoying their time, according to Davidson.

 “I think that she does a really great job in humanizing herself and recognizing the difficulties of her job, our job of what we have to do, and the pressure that comes with it, and just kind of getting that out in the open,” the defender said during a promotional event at Raising Cane’s in New York City.

Davidson started two of USA’s group stage games and was a rock at the back paired with San Diego Wave’s Naomi Girma. However, a knee-to-knee collision in the second game against Germany meant she missed the final group game as well as the quarterfinal against Japan due to injury. She would return for the all-important semifinal against Germany and started alongside Girma in the final as they beat Brazil. Both games saw USA keep a clean sheet.

With just four friendlies under her belt with the team, the success at the Olympics highlighted how good Hayes is when it comes to building team chemistry. Honesty and constructive criticism were the key principles that allowed the USWNT to maintain its composure throughout the tournament. But beyond that, Hayes asked the group to play with freedom.

“And I think that allows everybody to just take a deep breath and really realize that the game is just a game… that really released us and allowed us to play with joy and play with each other as teammates, but also as friends, and really build that chemistry also,” added Davidson.

Davidson also mentioned that the players were aware that they were getting a successful coach in Hayes when she arrived in May but were less sure about how they would adapt to her methods.

She said, “It was something we all recognized and acknowledged, herself included, and it was so helpful to acknowledge it’s weird to have a brand new coach coming in right before a major tournament. But we committed to each other and to the process, which worked out really well for us.” The sentiment from the Gotham FC player about playing with joy under Hayes is one shared by other members of the squad.

“I think she just came in and allowed us to be ourselves and play freely and express ourselves,” said, Davidson’s central defensive partner Girma. Mallory Swanson, who scored the winner in the final against Brazil narrated how Hayes gave them confidence to do what they know best.

“She [Emma] just kept saying ‘play with joy, have fun’, and that’s exactly what we did and you could see that. We’re just good friends and best friends off the field and that shows on the field,” Swanson said. Hayes bringing back the feel-good factor in the USWNT camp didn’t go unnoticed from the outside as well.

Earlier, USWNT legend Carli Lloyd praised Hayes for not highlighting any kind of expectations from the group on the Alexis Lalas-hosted State of the Union podcast on August 13 : “She took that pressure off the group and allowed [them] to really find out more about themselves by digging deep and she believed in them.”  Hayes herself stressed the need for a good team bond and freedom when talking about the success post-gold medal win.

Answering how she was able to turn around the team’s fortunes in such a short span of time, she said, “It’s just love. I come from a place of wanting players to enjoy themselves. I’ve been at a club [Chelsea] for 12 years, where I’ve had huge success. But I was desperate to do well for this country.”

A mixture of love, belief and freedom helped USWNT to a first Olympic gold medal since 2012, but Davidson believes the team can achieve a lot more.

Tierna Davidson echoes Emma Hayes’ 2027 World Cup dreams

Now that the USWNT has taken its first step toward its new era, the group already seems to have found its next objective; the 2027 World Cup. With three years still, Tierna Davidson believes the American ladies’ potential is ‘limitless‘ under the leadership of Emma Hayes. The Star and Stripes ft. ladies already savored the taste of winning something on such a big international stage, and Davidson feels everyone can’t seem to return already.  

The Gotham FC star acknowledged that USWNT has all the ‘tools‘ to work its way into the next prestigious competition. Meanwhile, the things that didn’t work in their favor, Hayes and Co. will “refine everything… in preparation for the next major tournament.” Interestingly, Hayes too has this similar feeling.

The 47-year-old spoke on behalf of the team that they are eager to do more things together. “We are so looking forward to the things we can do together. Of course, tonight we have a gold medal, but it doesn’t mean it ends there,” Hayes mentioned.

Seems like the USWNT is on the right track to more success. For Davidson and others this is just the beginning and with a coach coming off a similar mindset, we can expect great things from this team.