Emma Hayes has been backed to do an “incredible” job as United States women’s team boss by old rival Nick Cushing, who is making his own mark across the pond with New York City FC.
It is four months since it was announced that the 47-year-old would be calling time on her medal-laden time as Chelsea at the end of the season to become a national team manager.
Hayes will be returning to the country where she began her coaching career at the start of the millennium and will likely bump into one of the few managers to have dented her domestic dominance.
Cushing currently coaches Major League Soccer side NYCFC having previous led Manchester City for six years, including beating Chelsea to the 2016 Women’s Super League crown.
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“She’s incredible about what she does,” he said. “I loved fighting with her – we fought every weekend and every season for those trophies.
“I think she’ll do an incredible job. I think if I was going to hire, I would’ve hired her because she’s the best in the women’s game by far.
“Her record speaks for itself but also her ability to manage, her knowledge of the game.
“I do believe you’ll see her in the men’s game at some point. That’s my opinion. I think she’s capable and I think in time people will see her capability.
“I think she’ll be successful in the US women’s national team and then she will have almost conquered the women’s game.”
Cushing is full of admiration and praise for Hayes, whose outstanding work at Chelsea restricted him to a still impressive haul of six trophies in as many years with City.
They were tussling for the WSL title again before the 39-year-old left during the 2019-20 season to become assistant manager of fellow City Football Group side NYCFC.
They won the MLS Cup the following year and Cushing was promoted to head coach in 2022 following an initial spell as Ronny Deila’s interim replacement.
“If you give me my time again and give me a crystal ball, I would be a football player every time,” the NYCFC boss said. “10 times out of 10.
“But when you don’t get the ability to be a football player and then you invest your time at 19 to becoming a coach, you get to the point where you’re at 39 where you probably should be in the first two years of your coaching.
“But you’ve got nearly 20 years of working at academy level through all ages, then the women’s game.
“I didn’t pick my journey but if I could change anything I probably wouldn’t change much of what I’ve done.”
Cushing wants to kick on in his second full season in charge at NYCFC, who continue the new MLS season at St Louis City having narrowly lost their opener at Charlotte FC.
The 39-year-old says he is driven by a desire to keep up with successful CFG stablemates and clearly wants to take his career as far as he can, having risen through the ranks since joining City as a schools coach in 2007.
“My ambition is to work at the highest level of the game,” Cushing said when asked about the potential of one day managing boyhood club Everton.
“Every time I have gone up, I’ve never felt out of my depth and felt like it was a challenge greater than what I have capable in my character.”
Bristol City Women 0-4 Man City Women: Hosts relegated as Fowler double inspires WSL leaders
Mary Fowler scored twice to set WSL leaders Manchester City on their way to a 4-0 rout of Bristol City, who suffered relegation as a result, on Sunday.
With Arsenal having drawn with Everton earlier in the day, Man City knew a victory would be enough to take the title race down to two teams.
That victory duly arrived in emphatic fashion, with all four of Man City's goals arriving in the second half.
Fowler's fantastic strike opened the scoring in the 62nd minute, with the Australia international doubling her tally soon after, paving the way for an Amy Rodgers own goal and Alex Greenwood's late header to seal a huge victory.
Arsenal are now out of the title race, with Chelsea - who have two games in hand on Gareth Taylor's team - the only side capable of catching Man City.
The Robins, meanwhile, will be playing in the second tier again next term.
Data Debrief: Bristol heading down with a whimper
Bristol City have failed to score in their last five games in the WSL, a run of 544 minutes without a goal.
They mustered just 0.09 expected goals (xG) to Man City's 3.4, with the visitors having now kept a clean sheet in nine of their 20 league games this season.
De Rossi demands more from 'tired' Roma ahead of crunch run
Daniele De Rossi acknowledged his Roma team may be tired, but he insisted they must not allow themselves to be embarrassed.
Roma fought back to draw 2-2 with last season's Serie A champions Napoli in a pulsating fixture on Sunday.
Tammy Abraham's late header secured a point for De Rossi's team, who took the lead through Paulo Dybala's penalty before going behind to goals from Matias Olivera and Victor Osimhen.
With Serie A set to have five teams in the Champions League next season, Roma occupy fifth spot with four matches remaining, but sixth-placed Atalanta are just two points behind with a game in hand.
There is also the small matter of a Europa League semi-final against Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen on the cards over the coming weeks, and De Rossi set the stall out.
"We drew, it is not a result to throw away, but it is not the result or the performance that we wanted," Roma coach Daniele De Rossi told Sky Sports Italia.
"At times you can steal the ball off Napoli, but we then gave it back again too many times. Napoli had a lot of chances in the first half, we did better in the second, but we have to do better.
"Look, we are tired, but we cannot start thinking that we’re tired and that means we can be embarrassed in the final few weeks of the season."
Roma host Leverkusen on Thursday before taking on Juventus on May 5, with a crunch clash against Atalanta – who are also into the Europa League semi-finals – set to follow after the away leg against Xabi Alonso's team.
Key to a successful end to the campaign for Roma will be keeping Dybala fit. The Argentine has been involved in the joint-most goals (12) in Serie A since the turn of the year, scoring nine and setting up three, level with Juve's Dusan Vlahovic.
PSG's latest Ligue 1 title arrives as Monaco lose to Lyon
Paris Saint-Germain have been crowned as Ligue 1 champions after Lyon overcame Monaco 3-2 on Sunday.
A 4-1 midweek win over Lorient ensured that one more victory would be enough for Luis Enrique's team to get over the line, but PSG failed to get the job done themselves when they faced relegation-threatened Le Havre on Saturday.
That game was the 700th match of the QSI era at PSG, and the club's 1,900th in France's top flight.
However, PSG's wait to win their third straight title did not last long, as less than 24 hours later, Lyon – who will face the Parisians in the final of the Coupe de France at the end of May – came out on top in a topsy turvy encounter with second-placed Monaco.
Substitute Malick Fofana was the matchwinner for Lyon, and ultimately the player who handed the title to PSG.
Wissam Ben Yedder had put Monaco ahead in the opening minute, but quickfire goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Said Benrahma turned the match on its head before half-time.
Ben Yedder netted his second to restore parity on the hour mark, and thought he had sealed his hat-trick when he volleyed in from a free-kick, only to have strayed offside.
With only a win good enough for Monaco to stay in the fight, the visitors were then caught out in the 84th minute, with Fofana racing onto Lacazette's throughball and finishing calmly.
After a dismal start to the season, relegation looked a real possibility for Lyon, but they are now, with three games remaining, still in with a shout of qualifying for Europe.
PSG on the other hand now have 12 Ligue 1 titles to their name, with 10 of those coming under QSI's ownership. Aside from the COVID-impacted 2019-20 season, five of their last six league titles have been secured before the start of May.
It also means Luis Enrique remains in the running for a treble in his first season at the club, with PSG taking on Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semi-finals next week.
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