“The greatest goalkeeper this country’s ever had” is how Emma Hayes described Alyssa Naeher. The English tactician may not have had much time with the internationally retired goalie, having had a chance to collaborate with her just for the 2024 Paris Olympic gold medal win and a few friendly matches, yet, this is how she gave the Portland Thorns star her flowers. It also created a bigger picture for Hayes to focus on: “Who will be the next replacement?”

Since Naeher’s retirement, Hayes has been calling up some names for guarding the sticks. Be it the fan-backed Manchester United’s natural Mary Earps replacement, Phallon Tullis-Joyce, or others like Jane Campbell and Casey Murphy, the former Chelsea boss has tried everything. Still, there exist so many arguments, with one being that there’s possibly not a single name one can confidently admit saying, “We have found our No. 1!”

Fortunately, in Hayes’ mind, she has everything figured out. “As I’ve stated before, I think it would be naive of me to work towards preparing for a major tournament when you’ve got goalkeepers that have less than five caps—not establishing more experiences for some of them—so that we’re in a position that, whoever is the number one goalkeeper, the number two or three, that they’re as prepared as they possibly can be. And, as I said, I think that’s becoming clearer every day,” said the 48-year-old during her latest interview on ESPN FC Futbol W show.

Simply put, Hayes knows that the current USWNT goalie position is going through a transitional phase. Considering the names she has called up for the doubleheader clash against the Republic of Ireland on June 26 in greater Denver, Colorado, and June 29 in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the Allstate Continental Clasico against Canada on July 2 at the Audi Field in Washington, D.C, they are simply inexperienced.

Utah Royals’ Mandy McGlynn, Angel City’s Angelina Anderson, and Seattle Reign’s Claudia Dickey have all earned first call-ups this year or at the end of last. However, it’s only McGlynn who has managed to make three call-ups before with Dickey and Anderson yet to earn game time while donning the red, blue, and white colors.

But despite not having enough experience, Hayes aims to develop the depth of her goalie pool as well. That way, she would be able to call up multiple goalkeepers for some real international game time. Not to mention, this is exactly the time Emma can take such calls as there’s still time for the 2027 World Cup and 2028 Olympics.

That way, when a tournament arrives, neither of the goalies is caught unprepared — regardless of who ends up as No. 1. Pretty neat, right? Well, we think so. In fact, Hayes ended up clarifying that she didn’t want to create a toxic competition in her goalie pool. And fortunately, this was something that one of her disciples was able to elucidate as well!

Emma Hayes instilled the right values from the start!

It’s true that Emma Hayes is more than just fond of Alyssa Naeher, offering her special commendation like no other. And it’s not just the veteran who has received praise—even rising sensation Phallon Tullis-Joyce has earned back-to-back starts in recent games against China and Jamaica.

Now, one might argue that such decisions could end up creating negative competition, rather than the much-needed positive one, among the various contenders for the No. 1 spot. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case—at least according to Casey Murphy. Earlier, the North Carolina Courage star welcomed the competition with open arms.

“When you’re in a high-level, intense environment during goalkeeper training, it makes everyone better. The goalkeepers at the Olympics—me, Alyssa, Jane—we all just wanted the team to be successful. We trained hard every single day, pushed each other every day, and also encouraged each other,” addressed Casey Murphy, in an exclusive interview with EssentiallySports.

Hence, even though only one name is eligible to become the true heir of Alyssa Naeher’s throne, the good thing is that neither of the goalies is thinking of a negative or a toxic competition. Rest, the final call is in the hands of Emma Hayes, who looks for the next replacement.