In a significant move for women's soccer in the United States, U.S. Soccer Sporting Director Matt Crocker announced that the USWNT is poised for a bold transformation under the leadership of newly-appointed manager Emma Hayes.

Hayes, currently managing Chelsea, will continue her role there until the end of the current club season, before taking the helm of the USWNT in May. Meanwhile, Twila Kilgore will maintain her position as interim manager, collaborating closely with Hayes. Crocker expressed optimism about Hayes' involvement in an observational capacity during the team's upcoming training camp, which includes friendlies against China on Dec. 2 and Dec. 6.

Crocker, during a Zoom call with reporters last week, articulated his vision for a team that is courageous and possession-savvy under Hayes' guidance.

“We want the team to be bold and brave going forward and dynamic, but we also want to become a very possession based team,” Crocker said, as reported by Jeff Carlisle of ESPN.

Crocker acknowledged the challenges of Hayes not being able to start immediately but emphasized the priority of securing the best long-term candidate for the team. He expressed confidence in Kilgore's ability to manage the team's day-to-day activities and emphasized their combined efforts to develop a plan for the Olympics and the team's future evolution.

“It's not ideal, as we know that Emma can't start with us straight away, but from my perspective, what was important is that we got the best candidate for the long term rather than the wrong candidate for the short term,” Crocker said. ” “I'm really, really confident that working with Twila, we can pull together an outstanding plan to prepare this team for the Olympics in the short term. But also for this team to start to evolve and develop and under Twila's leadership to be ready and strong for the long term.”

This evolution is crucial, especially in light of Hayes' previous remarks about the deficiencies in the USWNT's development pipeline, which she believes has left the team lacking in creative talent. While national team managers typically have limited influence over the player pool and youth club styles, Crocker is confident in Hayes' ability to make a positive impact on these areas.

Crocker stressed the importance of good coaching and the right tactics to evolve the team, particularly focusing on a possession-based style. He noted that both Emma Hayes and Twila Kilgore possess the necessary coaching skills to encourage players to be creative and authentic in their play.

“I think with good coaching, with the right tactics to evolve this team in particularly with an in-possession style and also making sure that the players that come in feel like they've got the freedom to create and be themselves is going to be critically important,” Crocker said. “