Emma Hayes is not having to work hard to keep emotions in check as she prepares for her final game as Chelsea manager – Saturday’s mouthwatering match-up with Manchester United at Old Trafford – because she is used to doing it.
The last drive into work, the last coaching session, the final away trip with the team, watching her family mourn the end of her working relationship with Chelsea as much as she does – there is time to take in the poignancy of these moments properly later.
“Staying on top of the emotion is something I’m really good at,” said Hayes. “Sometimes I really hate that. You have to do that a lot as a manager, take a lot of emotion out of things. Which is probably one of the reasons why I’m leaving this job.”
She may be talking on the eve of one of the biggest matches of her career, with Chelsea one win and a goal difference gap away from pipping Manchester City to the title, but Hayes is craving not being in the spotlight numerous times each week.
“I miss ‘Emma’, and feeling like I don’t have to watch every word I say or worry about what my body language looks like in every situation because I’ve got cameras on me,” she said. “But I wouldn’t change a single thing.”
The title race could not be concluding in more dramatic fashion. Chelsea are level on 52 points with Manchester City. With City having a goal difference inferior by two and a goals tally inferior by six, they realistically require a victory by three more goals than Chelsea or a better result than Hayes’s team if they are to finish top.
City arguably have the easier game, at an Aston Villa side who have disappointed this season. However, Villa have been a thorn in City’s side before and will want to put on a show in Carla Ward’s final game as manager. Chelsea face a United team fresh from making the FA Cup the club’s first major trophy.
Gareth Taylor is confident his City side can overturn the goal difference deficit without changing the way they play. “We prepare exactly the same way,” he said. “We never play for a specific scenario. We try to score as many goals as possible and concede as little as possible. We’ve scored more than four goals on 10 occasions this season in 21 games. We know there are capabilities there.”
Hayes insisted she would not be “asking what the score is elsewhere”. She said: “Win the game, do our best, whatever’s going to be is going to be. Sorry to be so casual about it.” Winning is easier said than done. United will parade the FA Cup after the game and the last thing they want is a Chelsea trophy presentation on their turf beforehand.
Hayes spoke protectively of Marc Skinner, who on Friday signed a one-year contract extension as United’s manager with the option for a further 12 months but has been on the sharp end of criticism from his own fanbase. “I think they are really tough on him, if I’m being honest,” Hayes said. “He’s brought the first [major] piece of silverware to that football club, and he got booed. Managers deserve a little bit more than that. I’m proud of Marc for the way he’s dug in to keep driving Man United to where they are.
“He knows how passionate that fanbase is. They won’t want to watch someone lift a title on their patch. They will want to demonstrate why the FA Cup is just the beginning for them.”
Hayes shows what is possible for every manager and WSL club, all of whom are starting from a much higher base than she did.
“Going from nothing, going from an unranked team that was close to relegation, that had no resources, had no facilities, no players that were professional, I think the journey is probably the most satisfying piece,” she said. “People always like to pick holes in the things you don’t do. What we’ve achieved here is remarkable, considering our starting point. We didn’t have a history in women’s football, we’re now considered one of the top sides in the world.”
Never one to miss an opportunity to push the agenda that most matters to her, despite a hatred of the pressure to be a spokesperson for the game, Hayes used her final pre-match press conference to speak frankly about where Chelsea need to go next.
“When I see Arsenal announce that they’ve got 11 home games at the Emirates next season, this should be happening here,” she said. “That’s what I want to see for Chelsea: I want to see us play at Stamford Bridge every week, sold out, that’s the first thing.
“I want the girls to have a new facility, I want that to continue to be upgraded, I want them to continue to have a voice and I know they will. I know the technical directors will work with the players’ leadership group and they will continue to build on that. I want them to put the legacy into the walls, but through the eyes of the players, not mine.
“I want them to be heard around what legacy is to them and what the cultures are that they want to remain. And I want them to never ever stop asking: ‘What can we do better?’ As I always say, do it again, but do it with class, and keep giving to the Chelsea fanbase in the way that I have.”
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chelsea Women | 21 | 47 | 52 |
| 2 | Man City Women | 21 | 45 | 52 |
| 3 | Arsenal Women | 21 | 28 | 47 |
| 4 | Liverpool FC Women | 21 | 4 | 38 |
| 5 | Man Utd Women | 21 | 16 | 35 |
• This article was amended on 18 May 2024. The second image shows Alex Greenwood on the left, not Chloe Kelly as an earlier version said.
