Emma Hayes MBE has been in charge of Chelsea since 2012, following a stint at American club Chicago Red Stars. She was previously assistant manager at Arsenal. With Chelsea, Hayes has won three Women’s Super League titles – including the club’s first in 2015 – as well as two FA Cups and a Spring Series. She is widely regarded as one of the country’s best managers.
It is so easy to be emotional but when you zoom out, the defeat against Brighton – which brought our 33-game unbeaten run to an end – was just a set-back.
I knew the players would recover because we have been trained to recover. It’s important to be calm in defeat and not angry. Of course we were disappointed and upset about it, but what did we do? We went and beat Arsenal and Bristol City.
‘What got us here will not get us there.’ That is the motto inside our building. I don’t stand still. If you think what you did last year bears any relevance on this year, you are fooled. Any player in there that is stuck in the past… goodbye!
There is a famous saying in football – ‘you are only as good as your last game’ – but not in my world. You are only as good as your next game.
If I spend time thinking about last year’s success, we are already beaten. I think about the threats, the new challenges, what we have to do to get to the next step and I will work hard on myself in the off-season.
I bring in the next level of support, the new ideas – just whatever is needed. You have to be motivated and professional. That is what I have learned over my career – you have to perform daily and you can’t switch off because then you are already beaten.
If I see tension or the threat from outside, my intuition and wisdom helps me feel it. I can smell it and the staff know it! I demand even more then. Working for me is not an easy task…