'I'm just surviving' - Emma Hayes on Chelsea's fourth successive WSL title
By Emily Keogh
Chelsea boss Emma Hayes praised her players and staff after winning the WSL for a fourth straight year.
A 3-0 win away at Reading clinched top spot for the Blues, just about outlasting Manchester United.
It was a bittersweet day for Hayes who waved goodbye to key duo Magdalena Eriksson and Pernille Harder ahead of their moves to Bayern Munich, while Kelly Chambers' Royals were relegated.
"I feel relieved it's over for lots of reasons," Hayes said of this season.
"I feel sad because winning the league and relegating a friend doesn't feel good in my soul, and I think it's a victory for the team because my backroom staff have carried me in so many different ways this year."
Hayes was full of praise for her staff and players who have helped Chelsea become the first WSL side to win four consecutive titles and complete the double two years in a row.
"They've been unbelievable, particularly the first part of the season when I was unwell, and I think the team has carried each other and senior players didn't play as much. I think other seniors picked them up, and I think the second half of the season, we saw so many of our newer players start to bear through, and we found different ways to win," she added.
Chelsea spent a lot of the year playing catch-up to Manchester United due to continually having games in hand on the Red Devils, but the Blues have managed to prevail again.
"I think when you are always chasing the whole year because you lose the first game and other games are cancelled, it almost felt like the pressure wasn't on us in so many ways because we were never in the front position for long," Hayes said, reflecting on the season as a whole.
"We've had different experiences of being first and being second and we've had different experiences of being first and being second and we like being in both of them, but I think this year we knew that we had to grind out, dig out results."
Hayes also reflected on how much of a toll this season has taken on her health having spent a period of time out following a hysterectomy.
"I just feel like I'm surviving, like I'm keeping my head above water while everybody is chasing," Hayes continued.
"I've got 1000 tasks, 1000 interactions in a week. I'm just surviving. And guess what? I survived this week."
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