The higher you rise, the harder you fall—a saying that perfectly echoes the sentiment of the USWNT. Naturally, when you are the team with the most Women’s World Cup titles and record Olympic gold medals, then expect people to have over expectations. And when you fail, then prepare to hear the end of it. Such judgment, however, isn’t acceptable in the eyes of Tim Howard, who describes Emma Hayes and Co. as ‘awesome‘ for continuously pushing to meet the high standard they have set for themselves.

This stand came up in the latest episode of the Unfiltered Soccer podcast that the iconic USMNT goalie co-hosts alongside another former national teammate Landon Donovan. In one of the show’s segments called the ‘The 2024 Unfiltie Awards’, both former American stars discussed which domestic or international team across the globe impressed the most and deserves the ‘Best Team of the Year’ recognition.

Though Howard had a chance to select Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen for winning the 2023-24 Bundesliga and Spain lifting the 2024 Euros, he chose the USWNT winning the 2024 Paris Olympic gold with a concrete explanation, stating; “It’s so difficult because of the standard that they set. If they don’t win a gold medal or a World Cup it’s a catastrophe; literally, the team gets ripped up, questions are asked and the manager gets changed. It’s ‘incredible’ that’s the standard right now.”

The former Manchester United goalie mentioned that he always notices their winning mentality whenever he gets a chance to speak with a few WNT stars. On top of that, even if they do win, the American ladies get to hear taunts like ‘Yeah that’s kind of what you were supposed to do,’ something that agitates Howard. Recall the 2023 World Cup?

Coming as 2015 and 2019 winners, the Stars and Stripes ft. ladies were backed to win their third consecutive golden trophy. But when they came back from the New Zealand and Australia-hosted tournament quite early after getting knocked out from the round of 16, questions and slandering were all that surrounded the team, with even Vlatko Andonovski getting sacked!

However, the arrival of Emma Hayes, who picked up the American ladies from a bottomless pit and restored their glory days, is indeed an achievement that cannot go unnoticed by Howard. “It’s almost such a thankless position when you set such a high standard. But for them to do it again and again, kind of rebound to get back to the footballing summit, I thought it was awesome. Always exciting to watch them,” concluded the former U.S. keeper. Well, Howard is in luck as fellow co-host Donovan had also something similar to say regarding his choice.

Landon Donovan also praises ‘phenomenal’ Emma Hayes-led USWNT

The four-time World Champions got another pat on their backs, as the former American forward also gave Hayes and Co. the Best Team of the Year distinction. Donovan reminded everyone how the past few years saw his nation’s ladies face slandering, with other countries having not only caught up but, in some cases, surpassed them in recent years.

However, the arrival of the former Chelsea boss changed everything. In a world where managers take time to build the team, Hayes did the job in less than 2 months, while also making hard decisions like leaving Alex Morgan off the team or playing the same team for the whole tournament with minimal substitutions, which was indeed impressive in the eyes of Donovan.

“She just went in. It was her way and now all of a sudden she’s just grabbed that team. They will do anything for her and now the future looks much brighter,” admitted the former LA Galaxy striker. While also praising that Hayes did everything not by using veterans but with young players who are the future of the team makes it even more exceptional. “I thought they were phenomenal,” concluded Donovan.

Do you feel the same? Let us know in the comments.