Playing for Emma Hayes’ Chelsea pushed me to be stronger for life after football

Karen Carney (centre left) celebrates with Emma Hayes (centre right) after victory over their former club Arsenal in the 2018 FA Cup final – one of five FA Cups Hayes won at Chelsea in 12 years. Photograph: Adam Davy/PA

Many will look at Emma Hayes’s 12 years as Chelsea manager and think her lasting legacy is six – potentially seven – Women’s Super League titles, five FA Cups and two League Cups but for me her impact has been felt far beyond west London. By turning Chelsea into the benchmark for others to follow, she has forced up standards throughout the women’s game.

People forget that the early years were difficult for Hayes, with Chelsea narrowly avoiding relegation in her first full season, but there was always a clear plan of how to improve. Her spell managing in America at Chicago Red Stars, where I was in the squad, I think was pivotal in her career and shaped what she wanted to do at Chelsea. At the Red Stars we arguably had the most talented group of individuals but we were not the best team and I think she realised it was imperative she recruited the right characters, not just the best players. I think this resulted in a big shift in Hayes’s outlook.

What you find out working closely with Hayes is that she is incredibly competitive and she drives that into the squad in training, making sure the right levels are reached every day. Training was really fierce, with tackles flying in which Hayes would let go. If it was in a normal game, they would have been given as fouls but Hayes wanted to maintain an intensity. The environment was aimed at being better each day and that required players to push one another. I think this was something she perhaps learned under Vik Akers at Arsenal, where we first worked together and won a plethora of trophies, including the quadruple in 2006-07.

Hayes’s personality sold Chelsea to many players and pushed the club forward. She wanted players with an elite mentality that would bring an extra edge and it made a huge difference when fighting for titles and made Chelsea stand out. You can see it in the current squad in Millie Bright, Sam Kerr and Jess Carter: they are fierce competitors in addition to being great players.

There was always an array of characters in the dressing room, and although we might not all have got on with one another, it made for the best team. Hayes treated everyone differently for what she saw as their specific needs – there was never a one-size-fits-all approach to her management. The message was very clear with regards to the standards everyone had to adhere to but there was a different approach off the pitch to each individual. She always had her preferred players, that is for sure. Ji So-yun was her all-time favourite and best signing in my opinion.

It has never been about playing the most attractive football for Hayes but about taking a pragmatic approach to winning trophies. Manchester City have been the more aesthetically pleasing team, particularly in the WSL title race this season, but in previous years Chelsea have earned the advantage late on because Hayes has maintained an environment where they are able to get things done in their own manner. It will be interesting to see the outcome this season.

I did not have a single favourite moment under Hayes; instead it was a journey of being constantly pushed and challenged. The key memory from that education was her telling me I could never settle for what I had. A lot of people will say it was winning this or that but for me it was learning and getting stronger as a character, which has set me up for life after football.

At Arsenal, she spent much of her time with the younger players. She has always been eager to give youth a chance. At Chelsea, for example, she has brought in Erin Cuthbert, Niamh Charles and Aggie Beever-Jones. Hayes knows she is leaving behind a lot of quality young players with their best years ahead of them for someone else to reap the rewards.

Rarely have female managers been linked to jobs in the men’s game but Hayes was often mentioned when vacancies arose because of her achievements. I was never surprised because she has worked at an elite level over a very long period. She has worked with the same boards that dealt with Thomas Tuchel and Mauricio Pochettino – to her it is just football. She is a pro-licence-qualified coach and would have seen it all as a coaching job regardless but those links to a men’s job signal a culture shift.

Hayes has stated that although she was born in England she was “definitely made in America” thanks to her stint coaching there. She will, however, need to use what she has learned in both countries to help get the US women’s national team back to their best. They are in transition and there is work to be done to get them back to the heights they are used to.

I am sure Hayes would have wanted to leave Chelsea with a fairytale ending of winning the Champions League but football is not like that. The WSL title, however, is within their grasp and would be a fitting way for her to go out.

As players the aim is always to leave the shirt in a better place than we found it. For Hayes, she has succeeded not just in raising the bar for her own club but for everyone. There will be a new team – Tottenham or Manchester United – on the FA Cup trophy this Sunday, Arsenal won the League Cup, and either Chelsea or Manchester City will win the league. Women’s football is a far more competitive place thanks to its departing figurehead.