Hayes praises players after Chelsea beat Everton

Chelsea manager Emma Hayes was pleased with her side’s performance as they won 3-0 at Everton on Sunday, although she admitted that standards would never have dropped.

It was The Blues’ first match since last weekend’s shock announcement that Hayes will be leaving the club at the end of the season.

There were no signs of any effect on the Chelsea squad as they ran out comfortable winners at Walton Hall Park, although manager Hayes told the media that there was no way that she would have let her side lose focus.

“It is just another day in the life of being at Chelsea; everyone knows who I am and knows I’ll give as much as I can,” Hayes said when speaking after the match. “I’m just thankful that this week is over and we don’t have to talk about me anymore.

“Not on my watch (will standards slip), it doesn’t happen. I’ll pull the rug, I’ll find a way if you sit still or you drop off. It won’t happen while I’m here.”

Discussing Chelsea’s performance, Hayes said that she was happy with how her side played, other than a short spell at the end of the first half.

She said “I thought the first 30 minutes, we were solid and created a good goal with Jessie Fleming. I thought we took our foot off the pedal and Everton grew into the game. I thought they started to dominate the duels but we were much more controlled second half, scored a really good goal, really well taken by Sam Kerr, and then a brilliant goal from Aggie Beever-Jones at the end.

“I think Everton are a really fun team to play against because they play really good football and I enjoyed the football match.”

Chelsea play Real Madrid in the UEFA Women’s Champions League group stage on Wednesday before hosting Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. Hayes believes that her side will be up to the challenge of a hectic week whilst giving a humorous response.

“The morale is always high in my dressing room,” she said. “I’ve got brilliant people, so hopefully the chef’s done a nice Pad Thai for them all on the way home and they are all well fed and nourished and having a good time before we go to Madrid.”

Chelsea’s upcoming UEFA Women’s Champions League group stage fixture against Real Madrid in Spain kicks-off at 8pm on Wednesday evening.

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