Eva Olid's Bold Vision for Manchester United
Eva Olid wants Manchester United to attack – and to ignore the noise.
The new head coach steps into the Women's Super League for the first time on Friday night, taking United to London City Lionesses in the season opener (19:00 BST), and her message to the squad has been stripped back and bold: be brave, go forward, take risks.
The Spaniard arrives from Hearts, where she built her reputation by dragging the Edinburgh club into territory few thought possible. That track record is now her answer to those already questioning whether United can keep pace at the top end of the WSL after a summer of change and a quieter transfer window than many fans expected.
Some doubt they can even stay in the top-three conversation. Olid has heard all of it.
"It's normal, no? It's normal to have people doubting," she said. "I have felt the support a lot too. People that followed me in the last years with Hearts know I made something impossible possible, so I believe in what we are going to do.
"It's not something you get in weeks but I believe with a little time you get impossible things."
That belief underpins everything she is trying to install at Carrington. Pre-season has been patchy, performances short of the standard she wants, yet she has refused to compromise on the core idea.
"My ambition is attacking football. I focus the gameplans on how we can hurt the teams. All teams have weaknesses we can exploit," Olid explained.
This is not a minor tweak from what came before under Marc Skinner, who stepped down in the summer. Olid talks about a different style, a different way of thinking, and the first competitive outing will already carry traces of that shift.
"This team will play the first match in the league and I want it to be as close [as possible] to what I want. The style of play is different to what we had last year," she said.
The overhaul, though, has to be managed. With limited time on the training pitch before the WSL curtain-raiser, Olid has chosen her battles carefully.
"You can imagine it's not an easy task. What I did was put aside the principles of play that I thought was easier to change for the first match so we can compete."
So the grand vision will come in stages. The non-negotiables will not.
United’s hierarchy knew exactly what they were buying into when they turned to Olid. They wanted front-foot football, a team that goes after opponents rather than waits for them. She has no intention of rowing back from that.
"The club wanted to play attractive football and be brave. We know that can have risks but the club support me in that. They signed me for that."
The first real judgment arrives under the lights on Friday, with a new manager, a new approach and a familiar question hanging over United: can this version of the team really turn the “impossible” into a WSL challenge?
