Chelsea Women boss Emma Hayes sparks civil war by telling stars relationships with team-mates are inappropriate… as centre back, who’s dating their keeper, likes tweets calling her ‘beyond bonkers’

Chelsea Women’s star Jess Carter has liked a series of social media posts calling her manager Emma Hayes ‘extremely crazy’ after the 47-year-old coach criticized player relationships within women’s football teams.

On Thursday, Hayes, who will leave the club at the end of the season, said she believes both player-player and player-coach relationships are “inappropriate,” despite multiple relationships within her own team.

Carter, 26, is dating her teammate Ann-Katrin Berger, 33, with the pair initially meeting while playing for Birmingham City in 2016 before reuniting three years later at Chelsea where they built their relationship.

Player-player relationships are relatively common in women’s football, with high-profile couples including Vivianne Miedema and Arsenal’s Beth Mead, as well as Chelsea star Sam Kerr dating West Ham star Kristie Mewis. Mail Sport understands that there is at least one other player-to-player relationship within the Chelsea squad.

Hayes’ comments came on the eve of their crucial Women’s Super League match against Arsenal on Friday, which saw the Gunners leapfrog the Blues and move top of the table with a win. Carter is currently her only fit centre-back.

Chelsea women’s team manager declared ‘relationships between players were inappropriate’ despite having several in her own team

The Chelsea centre-back appeared to like several posts on X (formerly Twitter) calling her manager ‘beyond crazy’ for her claims

But her views sparked a backlash among some online, with Carter liking several posts on X (formerly Twitter) criticizing her manager’s views.

Journalist Beth Fisher wrote, “It’s beyond crazy in my opinion to bring relationships between players into this conversation.”

She also liked a Tweet that said: ‘By the way, you don’t have to justify what Emma says, it’s a flawed answer no matter how you spin it. There is a fundamental difference between player-player and player-coach relationships, and that is the balance of power. She could have said anything but that.”

“Anyone who aligns coach-player relationships with player-player relationships fundamentally understands the power imbalances at play,” wrote reporter Jessy Parker Humprhreys. She added: ‘Anyway, if I seriously thought the player-player relationship was inappropriate, I probably wouldn’t have signed my club captain’s celebrity girlfriend for a world record fee.’

Although Carter and Berger’s relationship was initially platonic, they shared an undeniable chemistry and went on dates before their relationship blossomed. The German goalkeeper has also had to overcome two bouts with thyroid cancer since the pair got together. Remarkably, she returned to Chelsea just a month after announcing her cancer had returned in 2022.

Hayes also added that romantic relationships between teammates “pose challenges for the management group”

Carter and Berger first met in 2016 while playing for Birmingham City, before reuniting at Chelsea where they built their relationship.

The pair, seen here posing for a photo in New York City, wouldn’t be the only relationship between Emma Hayes’ Chelsea team

Hayes is one of several managers to speak out against the player-coach relationship this weekend, with Aston Villa manager Carla Ward stating they ‘cross the line’ and are ‘unacceptable’, per BBC Sports.

Leicester manager Willie Kirk was suspended last week over an alleged relationship with a player from his squad. In February, Sheffield United sacked their women’s team manager Jonathan Morgan after it emerged he had a relationship with a player while at a previous club.

When asked about the topic of player-to-player relationships during her press conference on Thursday, Hayes said they came with “some challenges.”

“I think relationships between players and coaches are inappropriate, and relationships between players are inappropriate,” the 47-year-old said.

‘But we have to look at it in the context of where the game has come from and say that we are now in a professional era where the expectations for players and coaches are such that all our focus and attention should be on having the highest standards.

‘And that’s why I’ve always been in favor of ensuring that clubs have minimum standards, whether it’s code of conduct, player protection or player welfare.’

When asked specifically about player relationships, she added: “I think it’s just about the challenges it brings.

‘One player is on the team, one is not on the team. One may be in the final year of his contract, the other may not. You may be competing with someone else in a position, I don’t need to explain that, it brings challenges.

Hayes’ comments came on the eve of their crucial Women’s Super League match against Arsenal on Friday, which could see the Gunners leapfrog Chelsea at the top of the table.

Carter is currently Hayes’ only fit centre-back for their crucial meeting with Arsenal

Berger has won three Women’s Super League titles, two FA Cups and two League Cups with Chelsea since joining in 2019

Berger (left) has had to overcome two bouts of thyroid cancer since the couple got together, but they are stronger than ever.

“I think we all know those of us who have been playing women’s football for a long time; those things happen in the locker rooms. I think it would be ideal in the longer term, in an ideal world, where you don’t have to deal with that.

‘It is quite a challenge for coaching teams to deal with this. You talk about it from a hierarchical perspective, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t pose challenges. That is true. I think you have to work a lot on dealing with those challenges in the locker room because they are far from ideal.

‘Listen, we’re dealing with people, and every office space has different challenges to deal with, that’s one of the challenges I face in my job, it’s the same things you face at work, I guess, I just have to manage it and like I said, it comes with challenges.

“We talk about it internally, I think in the long run, in an ideal world, it’s something we didn’t have to do.”