Emma Hayes claims Chelsea players’ WSL success is ‘taken for granted’

Emma Hayes has said she sometimes feels her Chelsea players “get taken for granted” with regard to success.

The team have seen trophy bids end in each of their last two matches, losing 1-0 after extra time to Arsenal in the League Cup final at the end of March and then 2-1 in Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final at Manchester United.

They remain in the hunt for the Women’s Super League, lying three points behind leaders Manchester City in second before hosting Aston Villa on Wednesday in a game in hand, and the Champions League, with a semi-final first leg at Barcelona to come on Saturday.

Hayes has overseen Chelsea winning a glut of silverware, including the WSL title in each of the last four seasons and FA Cup the last three, in a tenure that will conclude this summer when she takes charge of the US team.

And she said before the Villa contest: “My job is to just make sure I keep reminding the players of how well they’ve done over such a long period, and how proud I am of the way we keep pushing to be in the back end of everything.

“I just want the players to go out and enjoy themselves tomorrow. I want them to play in front of a fanbase that I truly hope appreciates this group of players. Because I believe this team over a number of years has delivered so much success for this club and to these fans, and sometimes I feel the players get taken for granted on that. So I want our fans to show appreciation.

“I care that they realise the level of success we’ve had is difficult all the time, to keep winning, to keep winning, and I’m proud we keep doing that, even if it doesn’t always go our way.”

When the Villa manager Carla Ward, whose side are seventh, was asked if it was a good time to play Chelsea given what they have recently suffered, she stressed: “A wounded animal is a dangerous animal.”

The reverse fixture in November came on the day it was announced Hayes would depart this summer, and saw Villa thrashed 6-0, leaving them bottom with no points from five games. They have subsequently bounced back to claim 20 from the 13 that have followed.

Last week the Villa forward Rachel Daly retired from England duty, and Ward said: “She’ll go down as an England legend – anyone that wins the Euros you could say the same for.

“You can call it a national treasure, call it what you want, but she’s certainly left a legacy and inspired a generation, and she’s not finished yet. She wants to continue to inspire on and off the pitch, and she’ll do that. We have a wonderful human being in this building, with a full focus on Aston Villa.”