This week media looks at the new USWNT boss, the ‘beauty’ of mixed martial arts, and India’s Cricket World Cup final disaster.
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The United States women’s national team (USWNT) went into this year’s World Cup looking like almost unstoppable favourites to do an unprecedented “three-peat” and claim their third consecutive title.
Instead, a team of ageing stars and raw rookies failed to click and crashed out in the last 16 with a defeat to Sweden on penalties. Their coach subsequently resigned.
US Soccer has tasked Chelsea boss Emma Hayes with the rebuild, and this week, media spoke to several experts to find out what makes the 47-year-old coach so special, the challenges she faces and how the move continues her trailblazing path in the women’s game.
Since becoming Chelsea’s manager in 2012, Hayes has made the London side the dominant force in English women’s football, winning the last four Women’s Super League titles in a row.
Before she went to Chelsea, she had some experience of working in US women’s football.
Sportswriter Jeff Kassouf said Hayes is well positioned as someone familiar with US football but something of an “outsider” at a time when the team needs fresh thinking.
“Hayes has proven herself to be one of the best managers in the world. She is unafraid of failure in the short term if it means finding the right long-term answers, as she has shown with her tactical flexibility at Chelsea,” Kassouf told media.
“The USWNT needs that more than ever. The Americans have recently looked rigid and almost afraid of improvisation, which is needed in big games.”
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