The Blues suffered more European heartache against Barcelona on Saturday, but that should not impact their manager's legacy when she goes to the U.S.
Saturday was always going to be emotional for Emma Hayes. After all, Chelsea’s Champions League semi-final second leg against Barcelona was her final game at Stamford Bridge as manager of the Blues, ahead of her becoming the new head coach of the United States women’s national team. That it was the first time the women’s team had sold out the iconic ground was fitting, an achievement representative of the growth under Hayes. But the tears that flowed at full-time were of sadness, not joy, after a result that confirmed that Chelsea and Hayes’ story together will not end with a European title.
During her 12 years in charge, Hayes has helped the club win the lot in the domestic game and they’ve done it multiple times over. Six Women’s Super League titles, five FA Cup triumphs and two Continental Cup victories are bolstered by a league title during the WSL’s ‘Spring Series’ and a Community Shield win. The missing piece is the Champions League and a place for it in Chelsea’s trophy cabinet will remain there to fill for whoever has the unenviable task of following Hayes.
The 2-0 defeat at the Bridge to Barca was a huge disappointment, especially after all the great work Chelsea had done to secure an historic 1-0 win in Catalunya only a week earlier, and it capped a really difficult four-week period for Hayes and her team. Less than a month prior, there was talk of a quadruple, however, via a Conti Cup final loss to Arsenal, defeat in the FA Cup semi-finals at the hands of Manchester United and Barcelona’s turnaround in Europe, there is now just one trophy left on the table – the WSL.
Yet, the latest disappointment in what has been an underwhelming end to Hayes’ illustrious tenure should not taint her legacy, as what she has done for this club is much bigger.
GettyStarted from the bottom
When Hayes was first welcomed into this club, there was no major success to talk of on the women’s side. Chelsea’s honours at that point were lower-league titles and County Cups. Though the Blues were a real power in the men’s game, and had just been crowned champions of Europe, there was a lot of work to do in the women’s department – and Hayes was one of the key figures in ensuring that work was done.
“Emma came in and said, 'We are Chelsea. When we take part, we win’. The directors and the owner got completely on board,” Chelsea Women chairman Adrian Jacob told GOAL. "It was at the same time the WSL became more professional. We brought in more players. Everything we asked for from the club, we got, but it was bit by bit. We became good.”
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Over time, it came together. It wasn’t just about building a good squad, it was about facilities, resources, staff – support in all departments, really. Hayes pushed for it, the club backed her and the results have been seen on the pitch.
For the last four years, Chelsea have been champions of England, all of the last three FA Cup titles have been won by the Blues and when they reached the Women’s Champions League final in 2021, they became the first English side to do so since Arsenal back in 2007. They’ve become the dominant force in the country – and that is not an easy status to maintain, especially when the WSL has become more and more professional, clubs have increased their investment and some have even sprouted up women’s sides that didn’t exist when Hayes first took this job.
Between 2019 and 2023, Chelsea won nine of the 12 major domestic trophies on offer and they reached the final in two of those three competitions that were won by others. To always be there or thereabouts when English women’s football is so competitive at the top deserves huge credit. Chelsea have raised the bar and that’s at least part of the reason why they’ve fallen short in recent weeks, as others have improved massively to chase them down.
GettySmall fish in a big pond
But while Chelsea’s long-term investment in women’s football has helped them to power ahead in England, their competitors on the continent have been doing the same for as long or even longer. They too have financial backing, all-encompassing support and world-class players who are part of a well-structured project.
To bridge that gap needs experience, and it has taken time for Chelsea to accumulate that. Their first two seasons in Europe saw them run into two-time champion Wolfsburg in the early rounds, which stopped them in the tracks, but then five of their Champions League campaigns since have ended in a semi-final defeat to a former winner, be it Wolfsburg, Lyon or Barcelona.
How different would things be if they could’ve found a way to win the 2021 final? It’s a difficult hypothetical as Barcelona had been Europe’s best team all season, they were much the better team on the day and they deserved to be crowned champions. But since then, they’ve built on that and become even better, especially in their mentality, and that is the next step that Chelsea need to take. They are so close – but have again fallen just short.
GettyGrowing with experience
There is more to it than just experience, of course. It’s about having the right game plan, executing it correctly and taking your chances when they come. But Chelsea’s second-leg defeat to Barca on Saturday did also feel like they were short in the experience column.
“The way we handled the first leg was excellent with the discipline and I think that's what let us down today, our lack of tactical awareness in terms of taking the fouls when we needed to,” Jess Carter, the Blues defender, explained. “We let them dictate the whole way through unfortunately. We've got to get better on the ball. We can't expect to win a Champions League when you give the ball back to Barcelona for 90 minutes, which is exactly what we did today.”
Barca, on the other hand, ground out the win. They weren’t at their best but they stuck to their task and their world-class players produced moments of quality when they were needed. That’s a very good team, but also an experienced one.