Hayes hits out at England games ahead of new season

Emma Hayes, the Chelsea Women manager, has criticised the decision to have England play two friendlies just days before the opening weekend of the Women’s Super League.

In a wider dig at Fifa, for scheduling an international break so soon after the World Cup, Hayes said she could have done without losing players to England for two matches.

As hosts of the Euros in 2021 and already having qualified for the Olympics next year, England had no competitive commitments for the break but still played two away friendlies, a 3-3 draw against Belgium last Thursday and 2-1 defeat by Norway on Tuesday. Chelsea begin the season against Tottenham at Stamford Bridge on Sunday but their squad was depleted until yesterday as a clutch of players were on international duty.

“In the long-term, someone has to think about the players,” Hayes said. “They’ve finished the World Cup, they shouldn’t really be going on international camps until the start of a league programme. I think that’s something for Fifa to address.

“Do I think England necessarily needed two games? No. The international calendar needs revisiting from a club perspective. For those [players] returning, it’s about recovering quickly for the weekend.”

Chelsea’s slow start last season – losing one and drawing four of their opening six league matches – proved their downfall as they trailed Arsenal and Manchester City to finish third, losing their Champions League spot.

Hayes is confident lessons have been learnt, but scheduling woes have been compounded with news that Fran Kirby cannot feature on Sunday due to a knee injury that forced her to pull out of the England squad last week.

Meanwhile, Hayes can be thankful that Erin Cuthbert has recovered in time for a Stamford Bridge fixture, to be played in front of a capacity crowd, that the manager describes as a “dreamland”.

It is part of a series of matches being held at Premier League stadiums, as tomorrow the Etihad will host the first WSL Manchester derby, with over 23,000 tickets said to have been sold by yesterday.

Hayes believes the booming interest is a result of clubs’ investment, as well as the Football Association’s savvy promotion of the fixtures, which were announced on the eve of the World Cup final. But she thinks more can always be done, including improving the newly launched FA Player, which will stream all WSL fixtures for free.