At last, we’ve reached the end of the interim era of the U.S. women’s national team. Emma Hayes’ reign is in sight.
Interim head coach Twila Kilgore had the unenviable task of stewarding the team from the aftermath of their heartbreakingly early World Cup exit to a place of rebuilding, wielding the authority of a head coach while understanding it was her role to gracefully step aside at the scheduled time, once again to take up the role of an assistant when Hayes arrives at the end of May.
But with the end of an era comes the reality that there are no more chances to get it wrong now, not really. Hayes will need to hit the ground running with the U.S. in the two training camps she gets before the Olympics, one at the start of June and one in July that will also act as a farewell tour ahead of the tournament. Hearing from players, her arrival sounds as though it’ll come as a relief to a team that wants some stability after a period of post-World Cup upheaval.
“I think now we see just a lot of uncertainty,” defender Tierna Davidson said in Columbus before the SheBelieves Cup final victory against Canada. “We have a lot of new fantastic players coming in and making their mark. I think, as I said before, having a new coach, you never know exactly what they’re going…
