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

I n 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. Turning the game into four quarters – it felt inevitable it was going to head in that direction, and I hope it doesn’t carry on going in that direction. I don’t like it, but let me also be clear – when it’s hot, you really need it, for health and safety. So put yourself in Fifa’s shoes. If you only have drinks breaks in the hot cities you could be accused of giving certain teams an advantage with a chance for a tactical discussion over, say, a team playing in Seattle, where it’s cooler. Imagine turning around and saying: “We’ll only have VAR in some of the stadiums, not all.” You’re either going to have it or you’re not going to have it. So I get why they have brought this in at every venue. It’s got to be fair across the board. And trust me, this helps coaches. The Netherlands coach, Ronald Koeman, said: “You can use it in different ways to your advantage and this is what we will be doing”. All the coaches will be utilising it. …