Emma Hayes admitted that she shouldn’t have pushed Jonas Eidevall following her side's 1-0 defeat to Arsenal in the Conti Cup final.

After the game at Molineux, The Chelsea boss accused Eidevall of showing “male aggression” as she explained the incident. However, today almost two weeks on from the event Eidevall hit back labelling Hayes’ behaviour as “irresponsible.”

The incident emerged as Chelsea and Arsenal had decided to use one ball during the cup final, at Chelsea’s request. This eventually proved to be the catalyst of a spat between the two bosses as Arsenal took a 116th-minute lead through Stina Blackstenius. 

In stoppage time, the West London club were obviously in a rush for the game to be continued promptly. Therefore, on one occasion when the ball went out of play, Erin Cuthbert obtained a second ball to ensure the Blues could maximise their chances of rescuing the game in stoppage time. 

Eidevall, who wanted to play with a multi-ball system from the offset, was outraged and made his way towards Cuthbert where there seemed to be verbals exchanged. 

The whole situation massively boiled over after Hayes’ decision to shove Eidevall after the final whistle coupled with her combative words in the post-match press conference. 

Ahead of this weekend’s FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United, Hayes sat down with the media for the first time since the Conti Cup final. After having an extended break to reflect, she shared a conversation with her son after the event to display how she regretted her actions. 

“My son said to me after the game, 'Mummy, when you push someone at school, you’re asked to go and take time out.' 

“I said to him, ‘Do you know what, darling? You can’t meet aggression with aggression; all you can do is tell the teacher; all you can do is explain to the teacher why you think something is unfair. Even if the parents go to the teacher, that's all you can do; you cannot meet aggression with aggression.' I thought it was a really good conversation to have with my son after the final.”

“Next time, I need to listen to my son's advice. I need to go to the teacher if I’ve got anything to say.”

In a rather bizarre  Eric Cantona-esque "When seagulls follow the trawler” moment, Hayes recited a section of Robert Frost’s 1943 poem Choose Something Like a Star.

“So when at times the mob is swayed, To carry praise or blame too far, We may choose something like a star, To stay our minds on and be staid.”

When pushed to divulge further as to what she was getting at, Hayes refused instead looking ahead to the future which includes this weekend's FA Cup final, a Champions League semi-final, and of course, remaining in the hunt for the WSL title.

“I’ve had a fantastic break, I’ve already explained an important analogy that I shared with my son and the lessons learned and my focus is on moving forward and I’ve had time to look at my star. 

“We need to focus on the game at the weekend, that’s the talking point.”

Jonas Eidevall, who was “very happy” with the way he conducted himself during the final said that he would be willing to have a conversation with Hayes once the dust had settled. However, the Blues boss did not feel that there was a need for such conversations. 

“We don’t play Arsenal. We don’t have each other's telephone numbers. We’d have no reason to do that [have a conversation after the dust settles]. But, I’m sure when I become the boss of the USA we will have conversations. But, until the end of the season, my focus is on Chelsea.”