I don’t like the World Cup hydration breaks but trust me – they help the coaches | Emma Hayes

Nobody wants more stoppages in the game but it allows us, whether on TV or the touchline, to analyse what we see

In the NFL or NBA, a head coach can sometimes affect momentum in the game during a timeout. Even as a head coach in American football you get three timeouts per half. In most cases in soccer, players have to problem-solve and think on their feet.

I’m not a fan of the hydration breaks that have been introduced at this World Cup, but they’re here for now and it is fascinating from a coaching perspective because the momentum has swung straight after several hydration breaks. That could suggest coach involvement has helped teams to tweak things.