Emma Hayes says Lauren James is “not in a great place” after facing a torrent of online abuse after a peevish challenge on Lia Walti during Chelsea’s 4-1 loss to Arsenal over the weekend.
Chelsea faced their biggest loss in five years at the hands of their biggest rival. The Gunners secured an emphatic victory over the Blues to move level on points at the top of the WSL table.
But in a frustrated moment of petulance, James made a late stamp on Arsenal midfielder Walti as she collected the ball after the whsitle had gone for a foul. The challenge warranted a red card, but referee Rebecca Welch only presented a yellow.
Speaking after the fixture, Hayes admitted Chelsea were bullied by Arsenal and that the better team won yet claimed she did not see the incident. James was subbed off moments after it happened.
The incident sparked outrage online and a cascade of social media abuse directed at James ensued.
“I think it’s disgusting the amount of abuse she has received from the public, from the media, from the press. We’re talking about a young player here that no question is always working to learn in the background and bits and bobs, but some of the language I’ve seen used to vilify her externally, I think is unacceptable,” Hayes said of the backlash.
“I don’t see the same level of abuse attributed to other players in the league, who might have had their own challenging moments. And I think it’s fair to say that if I’m in her position, I’d be thinking that there is racial profiling going on.
“And I think it’s important for the country to recognise she’s an important talent and she is learning all the time and she makes mistakes. I think some of the derogatory and very misleading conversations that are happening during commentary, during the games, on social media is something that everybody should reflect upon.”
James was the target of online abuse during the 2023 World Cup after a similar incident occurred. During England’s last16 clash with Nigeria, a frustrated James trampled on her opponent’s back in a moment of petulance, resulting in a red card and two-game suspension.
Whilst the punishment was warranted for her actions, the torrent of online hate the player was then subjected to was intense, forcing the starlet to turn off comments and temporarily deactivate her ‘X’ account.
James first spoke out about the racial abuse she had received whilst at former club Manchester United. She was only 19 at the time.
Chelsea previously released a statement after the WSL fixture condemning the abuse directed towards James with the Lionesses and other high profile women’s football accounts coming out in support of the 20-cap international.
“She’s not in a great place, if I am honest,” Hayes said of the Chelsea star. The boss likened the backlash to that of David Beckham’s red card during the 1998 World Cup.
“I think the treatment of Lauren sometimes is very similar and I think we have to realise for a young person, in a day and age where social media is unbelievably vitriolic, some of the nasty language and labelling and name calling, I think is goes over the edge to be honest with you, and then you add racism to that, for her, you can understand why mental health is not the very best place this week.”
Hayes’ advice to players to curtial abuse after facing controversies during a game is to delete their social media as a form of self preservation. Speaking on consistency, she admitted that James has good and bad moments in her play, but the way in which she has been profiled since the summer is something that contributes to the harsher discourse around her compared to other players.
“She was a young player, she made an error in the summer. Of course, she has to keep learning those things, but they aren’t done in like single segments, it’s always ongoing work,” Hayes continued.
“My job as a coach is to keep teaching her to find those levels of consistency and keep challenging her on the important things when, of course, every opponent tries everything possible to get Lauren red carded, that’s been clear in every game we’ve played. And she has to learn to handle that, she has to learn to do that because when she gets antagonised in a certain way, managing emotions comes with maturity, and that isn’t there yet with her.”
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