Lindsey Horan’s nails are painted gold and she gives an embarrassed laugh when asked whether they are a celebration of the US women’s national team’s Olympic gold in Paris, a statement to Saturday’s opposition of their status. “No, it was supposed to be brown chrome,” she says, going a little red. “It was a translation problem.”
Her manager, Emma Hayes, sitting beside her at Tottenham’s training ground before Saturday’s game against England at Wembley, chips in: “She has got the most incredible necklace though.” The five Olympic rings hang round Horan’s neck in gold and the captain promises she will get Hayes one.
Olympic gold was secured 72 days after Hayes’s first training session, the team exorcising themselves of their 2023 World Cup struggles under Vlatko Andonovski. Now, they have had six months of Hayes. “Has it been six months? That’s weird,” says Horan. “It’s been incredible. I’m not just blowing smoke right now. For us, going into the Olympics, the poise, the calmness, the confidence that we have had and still have, is directly related to how our manager is and how she is on the sideline and how she is in meetings.
“I have a lot of respect for that because it gives me calmness. That’s really, really special with a leader.”
The maximisation of the time spent in international camps has been significant too. “We had just a little bit of time to prepare for the Olympics,” the Lyon midfielder says. “In these camps the teachable moments are so crucial.”
Is it easy to pick up again after a big tournament win or do they need a lot of motivation for a fixture such as Saturday’s? “We shouldn’t,” says Horan. “It is really hard though; we’re all in different scenarios. We have NWSL players coming off the end of their season. You have me who’s mid-season right now, and a few European players that are like that. After the tournament itself, it’s hard to get back into your environment and come back up, but I think all the players did a really good job of that.
“Then coming into a game like this my message to the players was: this is a chance of a lifetime. Obviously, in women’s football we’re getting more and more of these opportunities but we’re going to play at Wembley against England. You shouldn’t have to get yourself motivated for that.”
For Hayes, it’s not quite a chance in a lifetime – she has had plenty of big moments at Wembley as manager of Chelsea. “This is another moment to be there,” she says. “I wouldn’t say it’s the chance of a lifetime. Coaching this team in every game is that for me – it just happens to be at Wembley tomorrow.”
after newsletter promotion
In terms of what to expect from the Olympic champions, Hayes has a chance to experiment, with the potent front trio Sophia Smith, Trinity Rodman and Mallory Swanson left at home to rest with “nagging injuries” after a long season. What they hope to learn, still very much at the start of their journey under Hayes, is broad.
“I like to layer on from camp to camp the tactical developments, to help us keep improving both sides of the ball,” Hayes says. “So I always want to see that first and foremost. When you don’t get a lot of time you have to maximise that with the right type of things in training. Ideally, we see some of that progression first. Secondly, just the development of our talent pool. This is not an easy environment to come into and for some players this might be their first, second or third camp. I want to see how the more settled they become and more familiar with the way that we’re playing shows, whether that’s from a starting position or they’re coming from the bench.”
The goal is the 2027 World Cup. They have to qualify but everything is about building towards that tournament. Hayes, pointing to the “very limited” opportunities she has to be with her squad, says: “It’s always going to be hard getting the balance right between playing a team that knows how to play together and how to deliver at the highest level versus developing players that don’t know that yet. I think 2025 will be about doing those things while always aiming to win. That doesn’t have to be spoken about. That’s what we do every day.”