The SheBelieves Cup is in the books, and the next time the U.S. women’s national team steps on the field, head coach Emma Hayes will finally be on the sidelines after a six-month wait for her arrival.
Hayes will have only four games in charge of the team before the Olympics. That’s four games to integrate with the team, implement her style and, ultimately, decide which players she thinks can lead the team to a gold medal. Her absence from the U.S. sidelines as she finishes her duties at Chelsea make for the most extensive period of formal transition in U.S. women’s program history.
It also exacerbates the uncertainty around the U.S. player pool.
Which players are going to make the USWNT’s Olympic roster? For now, Hayes is thinking about that from afar in collaboration with interim coach Twila Kilgore, who has been pulling the strings in training camps since late August. But as Kilgore wraps up her final game as the interim coach, it’s a good time for ESPN to take a crack at forecasting this summer’s roster with our 2024…
