Sports

Hayes is closest English football has come to another Sir Alex Ferguson

Published

1 month ago

May 18, 2024

Hayes is closest English football has come to another Sir Alex Ferguson

Midway through a chat with her men’s counterpart at Chelsea, Emma Hayes awkwardly had to explain to Mauricio Pochettino that someone more important was ringing her.

It was Sir Alex Ferguson, who had heard about her decision to leave Chelsea and become the new U.S. women’s national team manager. Pochettino understood his place in the hierarchy, and Hayes picked up.

“He calls me from time to time, so I wasn’t surprised,” explained Hayes, whose first games in charge of USWNT will come in friendlies against South Korea on June 1 and June 4. “Anything he says to me I always take with such pride. He is a legend of the game and someone whose opinion I value and he has a love of America. We talked a little bit about that, a little bit about legacy, a little bit about leaving at the top. So there were wise words from him. I’m sure it won’t be the last phone call I get from him this season.”

Hayes’ managerial influences are widespread. Given the lack of investment in sports science focused on women’s football, she’s often had to look to other sports for inspiration to understand how to evolve and improve the women’s game. But perhaps her chief influence is Ferguson. This, in itself, shouldn’t come as a great surprise, considering Ferguson is the most successful manager in the history of English football and dominated from the period when Hayes’ teenage hopes of a playing career were ruined by injury, in the early 1990s, to the point where she became Chelsea manager in 2012.

But the curious thing is that, as a Ferguson disciple — and, more to the point, a very successful one — Hayes is pretty much unique. Ferguson’s former players who have gone into management have been only mildly successful. The next generation of young British managers tend to cite foreign coaches as their role models. It’s difficult to look at men’s English football and see many direct Ferguson influences.

In the women’s game, though, Hayes has continued his legacy, and when she became the first woman to receive the Football Writers’ Association tribute award earlier this year, Ferguson gladly appeared on screen to offer a glowing tribute.

The last half-decade in the English women’s can easily be likened to mid-1990s Premier League football: a European Championship on home soil, big improvements in television coverage, the move to modern stadiums and that golden period when suddenly the best players from across the world arrive. Amid those developments, Hayes has effectively been the Ferguson figure — adjusting better than others, staying one step ahead, and enjoying unparalleled success.

Football management essentially has two very different components. There is, to put it bluntly, the football and the management. There are those who understand the game on a deep level, but struggle to assert their authority and build a winning culture. On the other hand, there are also popular figures who get players onside but struggle with the technical side of the game.

To enjoy careers as successful as Ferguson and Hayes, you must tick both boxes, but they’re probably similar in that they’re naturally outstanding managers of individuals, knowing when to use the carrot and when to use the stick, but have often been questioned in terms of the footballing side of things.

Ferguson, for example, was often considered naive tactically when United initially struggled to make progress in Europe, and his habit of making strange selection decisions led to some supporters calling him ‘Tinkerbell’ for his constant tinkering, which was considered to do more harm than good. But gradually Ferguson became more comfortable tactically; in big games, he increasingly set up to stop opponents rather than to play an open game, with great success.

Similarly, Hayes generally gets glowing reports for her ability to lead individuals and cultivate a winning mentality, but was sometimes considered a bit of a back-to-basics, old-school manager, and was criticised for her tendency to leave out key players with little explanation. But that has always been a little unfair, and at times her tactical approach has worked excellently.

Take the way her sides have shuffled between a back three and a back four smoothly at times — specifically the 2021 FA Cup final, when it felt like her defenders were all playing in ‘false’ positions, prompting her opposition number Jonas Eidevall to hold up red and blue cards to his players at certain times, which referred to Chelsea’s shape. (Incidentally, it’s arguable that her stock has raised as much because of her spells as an ITV co-commentator as her managerial success. In an era when co-commentators are so rarely ex-managers, as was once the default, her ability to explain tactical concepts and coaching decisions has been a refreshing change.)

A more accurate observation is that neither Ferguson nor Hayes have been particularly concerned with a footballing philosophy, or on playing entertaining football for the sake of it. They are simply focused on winning, on doing what it takes from game to game.

There has been an extraordinary rewriting of Ferguson’s legacy; his United were rarely famed for their attractive football compared to their title rivals, and the entertainment came from the dramatic manner of their victories, which were often barely believable, rather than the finesse of their play. Part of United’s problem in replacing him has been the idea there was a grand stylistic tradition to replicate. But Ferguson changed his approach so often that he must have contradicted his own philosophy, if one ever existed, very regularly.

Similarly, while a specific style of play is easy to identify at other WSL clubs — Arsenal have always been more technical, Manchester City unashamedly want to play like their men’s side, Tottenham are focused on playing out from the back — Chelsea are more flexible. Often they’re more dangerous on the break than with patient possession play; City and Arsenal have the best pass-completion rates in the league, whereas Chelsea play the most long passes.

Hayes’ approach is less of a philosophy, and more based around getting the best from her side’s in-form attacker and using functional players to stop opponents. In the last five seasons, at various times it’s felt like her Chelsea style has been based around the driving runs of Fran Kirby, then the goals of Bethany England, briefly the guile of Pernille Harder, then the runs in behind of Sam Kerr, then the wing play of Guro Reiten, and more recently it’s often been the flair of Lauren James.

It’s more difficult to nail down what Hayes’ classic XI would be or a default style of play.

Hayes’ set-up has often focused on getting the best from her forwards, such as Kirby (Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)

Equally, in big matches, Hayes has been able to count upon reliable, versatile, hard-working players with several years of experience at the club. In major title showdowns involving Ferguson’s Manchester United, it was striking how often his key player would be Darren Fletcher, or John O’Shea, or Phil Neville. Not the most glamorous players, but always effective.

Similarly, at times it would have been difficult to say (until recently, perhaps) that any of Jess Carter, Niamh Charles, or Erin Cuthbert were undroppable, or had a clearly defined role in the side. They were ‘do-a-job’ players. But Hayes has improved them as individuals, year on year, and knows how to use them, game to game.

Both Ferguson and Hayes understood the need for clubs to dramatically expand their backroom staff, and not be solely based around the manager. Ferguson relied heavily on his assistants and did little coaching himself, while Hayes is regularly seen consulting with her coaching staff. Her emphasis upon ‘the team behind the team’ is clear, to the extent that her audiobook, Kill The Unicorn, is based on the need to move away from the concept of one person having all the answers.

The slight contradiction, though, is that because Ferguson and Hayes were the ones to build these wider teams from positions as old-school manager rather than first-team coach, replacing them becomes difficult.

In terms of legacy, both have encountered one frustrating final boss: Barcelona. Ferguson won two European Cups and desperately wanted to add a third, but was foiled in both the 2009 and 2011 finals by Pep Guardiola’s side. Hayes has never won the European Cup, reaching the final in 2021, when her side were thrashed by Barca, who also eliminated her side in the past two seasons. Barca are the ultimate example of a club with an obvious philosophy, which has been transferred from the men’s to the women’s side.

Hayes was left fuming after the second leg of Chelsea’s semi-final defeat this season, calling the sending-off of Kadeisha Buchanan the “worst decision in Women’s Champions League history”, which was probably unwise. This week, it was announced UEFA would not charge her for those comments. It rather brought to mind Ferguson’s final Champions League game as manager, when United lost at home to Real Madrid after Nani had been controversially dismissed. Ferguson didn’t fulfil his post-match media commitments, with his assistant Mike Phelan explaining that he was “too distraught”. UEFA fined him £8,500. In that sense, Hayes probably took the right decision to attend the press conference.

Snatching victories from the jaws of defeat was the main theme of Ferguson’s time at Manchester United. But it’s arguable his side never won a title in circumstances as unusual as Hayes’ Chelsea might this weekend.

After a 4-3 defeat at Liverpool earlier this month, Hayes had essentially given up on the title — or at least, that’s what she told the media. But the following weekend, Stina Blackstenius’ two late goals for Arsenal defeated Manchester City and let Chelsea back in, and led to the remarkable spectacle of Chelsea demolishing Bristol City 8-0 to give themselves a goal-difference advantage over City, having started the day with a seven-goal deficit. Hayes sent a paper message onto the pitch, reminding her players of the task.

So this weekend is a goal-difference shootout. City travel to Aston Villa, knowing they probably not only need to win but make up a two-goal disadvantage on Chelsea, who travel to FA Cup winners Manchester United.

If Hayes clinches yet another league title, it will be a fitting place to bow out, for the closest thing English football has seen to another Ferguson.

(Top photos: Ian Kington/AFP via Getty Images; Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Related Topics:Featured soccer UK Women's Football us womens national team

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Sports

Kenny Smith says Charles Barkley 'never' told him he was retiring, questions why he didn't thank cohosts

Published

3 hours ago

June 26, 2024

Press Room

Kenny Smith says Charles Barkley 'never' told him he was retiring, questions why he didn't thank cohosts

Charles Barkley’s retirement announcement came as a surprise to everybody, apparently, including his own cohosts on TNT.

The Hall of Famer made the revelation on NBA TV following Game 4 of the NBA Finals, saying that the 2024-25 season would be his last.

However, the announcement was unprovoked, Kenny Smith said.

Charles Barkley, right, and Kenny Smith look on before the game between the New Orleans Pelicans and Los Angeles Lakers as part of the 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament on Dec. 7, 2023 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. (Mike Kirschbaum/NBAE via Getty Images)

“He never called me. He never told me,’” Smith told the New York Post. “He still hasn’t called me and told me, ‘Kenny, I’m retiring.’”

Barkley said that regardless of whether TNT is able to continue broadcasting games beyond next season, he intends to “pass on the baton.”

“There’s been a lot of noise around our network the last few months. And I just want to say, I’ve talked to all the other networks, but I ain’t going nowhere other than TNT. But I have made the decision myself, no matter what happens, next year is going to be my last year on television,” Barkley said.

Charles Barkley looks on during Capital One’s The Match IX at The Park West Palm on Feb. 26, 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images for The Match)

SEATTLE SUPERSONICS LEGEND SAYS DENNIS RODMAN, NOT MICHAEL JORDAN, ‘BEAT’ THEM IN FINALS WITH STRANGE ANTICS

“And I just want to say thank you to my NBA family, you guys have been great to me,” he continued. “My heart is full with joy and gratitude, but I’m going to pass the baton at the end of next year. I hope the NBA stays with TNT, but for me personally, I wanted you guys to hear it from me personally, because I’m not doing anymore interviews.”

Throughout the announcement, Barkley did not thank his partners in Smith, Ernie Johnson or Shquille O’Neal, which Smith seems to have taken issue with.

“I was just surprised he didn’t thank me, Ernie [Johnson] and Shaq. You’re going to retire and not thank us?” he said.

TNT is on the verge of losing out on the NBA after nearly four decades of coverage, and Barkley’s criticism of TNT’s big wigs has been loud.

NBA Hall of Fame Charles Barkley, left, speaks with “Entertainment Tonight” host Kevin Frazier on the practice green before the start of the second practice round at the ACC Golf Championship presented by American Century Investments on July 7, 2022 at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course in Stateline, Nevada. (David Calvert/Getty Images for American Century Investments)

The current deals with ABC-ESPN and Turner Sports expire after next season, and the NBA has been talking with NBC, ESPN and Amazon, among other networks and platforms, about what will come next.

Fox News’ Paulina Dedaj and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Sports

Rob Dillingham: From Ye's Donda Academy debacle to a probable NBA lottery pick

Published

4 hours ago

June 26, 2024

Press Room

Rob Dillingham: From Ye's Donda Academy debacle to a probable NBA lottery pick

The names leap from the hardwood: Willie Naulls, Gail Goodrich, Marques Johnson, Paul Pierce, Baron Davis, Tyson Chandler, James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, Paul Pierce, DeMar DeRozan, Jrue Holiday.

That’s a fair sample of the greatest basketball players to come from Southland high schools.

Rob Dillingham could join them, with a prominent asterisk. The exceptionally quick guard from Kentucky is expected to be a lottery pick in the NBA draft Wednesday.

Yet even the most rabid followers of high school hoops could be excused for not recognizing Dillingham’s connection to the greater Los Angeles area. He’s not a local in the traditional sense, such as Jared McCain — the Times Player of the Year in 2023 with Corona Centennial High. McCain, who spent one year at Duke, is expected to be taken in the middle of the first round.

But Dillingham?

He was the marquee player at the Donda Academy, the short-lived basketball mill and K-12 private Christian school owned and operated by rapper Ye — formerly Kanye West. Donda, named after Ye’s mother, opened in the fall of 2021 in Simi Valley, then moved to an industrial park in Chatsworth before closing early in 2023.

Donda parents, faculty and staff were required to sign a nondisclosure agreement and refrain from publicly discussing the school’s practices and any other details that were not public.

“People choose to bring their kids to Donda Academy for a sense of privacy,” Malik Yusef, a producer and longtime collaborator of Ye’s, told Rolling Stone in September 2022. “A sense of care, a sense of concern, a sense of love, an environment of health, and an environment of wealth, an environment of learning, and putting God as a focus.”

Ye torpedoed the star-studded Donda Doves basketball team, however, and then the entire academy by making repeated antisemitic rants, the final straw a podcast interview with MIT research scientist Lex Fridman in which he made reckless and ridiculously false statements about the Holocaust, abortion and Jewish people.

His hate speech already had cost him deals with talent agency CAA, fashion label Balenciaga and sportswear giant Adidas. The podcast interview prompted several prominent national basketball showcases and tournaments to drop the Doves, who in short order had their entire season schedule gutted.

The team disbanded and Dillingham, who already had committed to enroll at Kentucky in the fall of 2023, never played in front of an L.A. crowd in a traditional high school gym and never studied in a traditional high school classroom.

Rather than transfer to another high school, he opted to relocate to Atlanta and play for Overtime Elite, a quasi-professional operation for 16- to 20-year-olds that, according to the New York Times, “provides health and disability insurance and sets aside $100,000 in college scholarship money for each player if they decide not to pursue professional basketball afterwards.”

The decision proved worthwhile for Dillingham’s development. Overtime Elite held as many as three practices a day in a facility that included practice courts, a weight room, training room and space for classes. When he left, he was prepared for the rigors of Division I basketball.

Dillingham maintained the silence he learned at Donda and did not consent to interviews at Overtime Elite. However, teammate Kanaan Carlyle, now a star at Stanford who has known Dillingham since fifth grade, told the Lexington Herald-Leader in 2022, “I’ve seen Rob grow, from little Rob with a big afro to now he’s getting ready to go to Kentucky. It’s been amazing to see him grow over time.”

At Kentucky, Dillingham began talking to reporters and established that he is upbeat and confident without coming off as brash. During one postgame interview, he and coach John Calipari traded opinions about each other.

The season had gotten off to a rocky start, with Dillingham not playing much in exhibitions held in Canada. By midseason he was showing improvement and by season’s end he was selected Southeastern Conference sixth man of the year while averaging 15.6 points.

“Since Canada until now, our relationship grew so much,” Dillingham said of Calipari. “He shows me he has confidence in me. He still lets me rock, but at the same time he wants me to probe and make smarter decisions.

“I’m just thankful for him. He helps me while he lets me be me.”

Calipari, sitting next to Dillingham, spoke next: “You are coaching a kid who can create space and get a basket when he wants to. Do you clip his wings? You can’t. You got to let him go.

“But, I give him two [mistakes] in a half. The third one,” Calipari said, turning to Dillingham, “you are coming out.”

Dillingham always was considered a one-and-done player, destined for the NBA as soon as possible. He is one of four Kentucky players expected to be drafted, joining Reed Sheppard, Justin Edwards and Antonio Reeves.

Times basketball writer Dan Woike’s mock draft has Dillingham going to the Utah Jazz with the 10th pick, saying, “The Jazz have time, ammunition with future draft picks and needs in their backcourt. Dillingham is an explosive offensive player with quick hands on defense. He’s small, but lightning fast.”

Other mock drafts have him going as high as No. 8 to the San Antonio Spurs. He is undersized, measuring 6-foot-1 without shoes, and weighing 164 pounds at the NBA combine. Dillingham didn’t allow the disaster at Donda to derail his dreams, and soon he can prove he belongs alongside the best.

Sports

Knicks reunite Mikal Bridges with Villanova teammates in blockbuster trade with Nets: reports

Published

11 hours ago

June 25, 2024

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Knicks reunite Mikal Bridges with Villanova teammates in blockbuster trade with Nets: reports

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There’s just something the New York Knicks love about those Villanova products in the NBA.

The Knicks have reportedly struck a trade with the Brooklyn Nets to bring Mikal Bridges, a former teammate of Knicks stars, Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo during their time at Villanova, to Madison Square Garden in a blockbuster deal.

In this first trade between both teams since 1983, the Knicks will send veteran forward Bogdan Bogdanovic, four unprotected first-round picks, one protected first-round pick via the Milwaukee Bucks, an unprotected pick swap and a second-round pick in exchange for Bridges, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Jalen Brunson #11 and Josh Hart #3 of the New York Knicks talk to Mikal Bridges #1 of the Brooklyn Nets after the game on March 23, 2024 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. (Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Knicks saw exactly what former college teammates could do on the floor together in the NBA last season, as Brunson, DiVincenzo and Hart all had stellar campaigns during the team’s playoff run.

Now, Bridges reunites with teammates he won multiple NCAA national titles with during his college days.

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Bridges’ reaction was likely that of all Knicks fans, as he posted on social media.

“This is crazy lol,” Bridges simply posted on X.

Bridges, the 10th overall pick of the 2018 NBA Draft who was traded by the Philadelphia 76ers to the Phoenix Suns on draft night, has developed into a star with the Nets since he was dealt before the deadline in the 2022-23 campaign.

He jumped from 17.2 points per game to 26.1 over 27 contests that season as a Net, and last year’s production was solid as well.

Mikal Bridges #25 of the Villanova Wildcats grabs a rebound in front of teammates Donte DiVincenzo #10 and Jalen Brunson #1 against the Providence Friars at the Wells Fargo Center on January 23, 2018, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

Bridges averaged 19.6 points per game with 4.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.0 steals, while shooting 43.6% from the field over all 82 regular-season games.

The Philly native, who was a 2021-22 All-Defensive team honoree, figures to slot right into the starting lineup alongside his Villanova brothers, including the All-Star Brunson who exploded for an All-NBA nod after averaging a career-high 28.7 points per contest.

The news of Bridges’ addition comes as OG Anunoby, the Knicks’ traded-for wing last season, reportedly opted out of his contract and decided to test free agency.

Bridges, at 6-foot-6, has the ability to guard just about any player on the floor, and head coach Tom Thibodeau loves players with that extra hustle, which he provides every night.

New York is clearly a win-now team after going 50-32 last season to earn the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. But they’ve lost in the conference semifinals in back-to-back seasons, so adding another playmaker who can thrive on both ends of the floor was paramount for their squad this offseason.

Mikal Bridges #1 of the Brooklyn Nets celebrates after making a shot in the third quarter against the Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on April 01, 2024, in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Dylan Buell/Getty Images)

That box is checked with the addition of Bridges, who shouldn’t have any trouble getting acclimated with his new team.

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