Chelsea’s champion coach Emma Hayes caused a storm in England.
English women’s football has been in turmoil in recent days.
Jutta Rantala’s story represented by Leicester temporarily suspended its head coach last week by Willie Kirk, who was suspected of having an affair with a player on his team. The announcement came just over a month after Sheffield, who plays in the country’s second highest league level, fired its head coach by Jonathan Morgan – who was also allegedly having an affair with his player while he was coaching at Leicester.
The head coaches of the English Super League judged in a crowd relationships between player and coach – among them also the respected Chelsea pilot Emma Hayes.
Hayes took the discussion even further by also calling relationships between players inappropriate.
– Relationships between players and coaches are inappropriate, as are relationships between players. Women’s soccer has been an amateur sport for a long time. Now we have entered a professional era where there must be top standards, Hayes pointed out.
When asked why the relationships between the players are inappropriate, Hayes pointed to the challenges that arise from them.
– One can be in the team and the other not. One can play his last season under contract and the other can’t. One can compete for a playing spot with someone else. All of us who have been involved in women’s football for a long time have come across these in the dressing room. I think that in an ideal situation there would be no need to struggle with these things. It is quite challenging to coach teams (with players in relation to each other).
He regretted what he said
Hayes’ exit raised a storm, not least because the team he coached also has and has had couples. Chelsea defender Jess Carter is together the team’s goalkeeper by Ann-Katrin Berger with.
Pernille Harder and Magdalena Eriksson starred for the team for years before moving together to Bayern Munich this season.
The star striker sidelined for the rest of the season due to injury Sam Kerr is engaged to play for West Ham by Kristie Mewis with.
On Friday, Hayes regretted his remarks.
– I disappointed myself. I think it was not right to use the word inappropriate for the players, Hayes commented.
– I talked with Jess and the other players. I don’t take my words back, but I don’t criticize the players in the dressing room for anything. They are professionals regardless of who they are in a relationship with.
Started a conversation in Britain
In England, there has been concern especially about the relationships between coaches and players because of the dominant position. Guardian wrote that he had heard of at least 18 cases in English women’s footballwhere a person who was part of the coaching team has been in a relationship with the player in the last ten years.
With Hayes’ comments, relationships between teammates also came up in the conversation.
as a BBC expert working former England national team player Anita Asante did not agree with Hayes.
– Relationships between players can be challenging, but not inappropriate, Asante commented.
Emma Koiviston representing Liverpool and coaching Matt Beard also defended the players.
– I personally don’t see a problem (in the relations between the players). One in five meets their partner at work. It is important that if colleagues are in a relationship, it does not affect the work, Beard comments.