By Christian Radnedge
LONDON (Reuters) – Chelsea coach Emma Hayes says her relentless drive for success comes from her fear of losing after she watched her side clinch their fourth FA Cup on Sunday, the 11th major trophy under her management.
Hayes, appointed Chelsea manager in August 2012, has overseen a glittering period in the team’s history, completing another domestic double with a 3-2 extra time win over Manchester City at Wembley.
They won their third successive Super League title last weekend and now have another FA Cup in their burgeoning trophy cabinet.
While pundits have speculated that Hayes could move on in the near future, the Briton insisted she is happy at Chelsea and just wants to keep improving the team.
“I can’t bear losing. I can’t bear the thought of it, I don’t want to think about it. It fuels me, losing. And the minute I feel any of them (other teams) coming close, I just want to get better,” Hayes told a news conference.
“I don’t do well in comfort and I lead a team to live like that. Like, today, I couldn’t want to be in a better game, even when they scored… I think these two teams (are) top quality – and today was our day.”
Sunday’s match also set a record attendance for a Women’s FA Cup final, with 49,094 fans at Wembley, beating the previous mark of 45,423 set in 2018.
They saw Sam Kerr score the winner in extra time after City had twice come back to equalise before the end of each half in regular time.
Hayes said she knew Chelsea would suffer in the game, having lost to Gareth Taylor’s City in this season’s League Cup final in March.
“That was really amazing for the women’s game today. Two teams that respect the crap out of each other… I loved the game plan. You had to grind, had to work,” she said.
“I thought we stopped Man City’s momentum in the way we pressed but it meant we had to suffer. To dig it out doesn’t surprise me, I said that to them (the squad) at extra time. I know which team is going to be the winning team.”
Chelsea will head into next season looking to capture the only trophy that has eluded them so far – the Champions League. They reached the final in 2021 but lost to Barcelona.
For now, however, Hayes said she was looking forward to celebrating the double with a long, strong drink.
“The season’s over, I expect to be carried home,” she said.
(Reporting by Christian Radnedge; Editing by Pritha Sarkar)
