Eva Olid's Brave New Era at Manchester United
Eva Olid wants no fear at Manchester United. She wants risk. She wants goals.
The new Manchester United manager steps into the Women’s Super League for the first time on Friday night, away at London City Lionesses, and her message to the squad has been stripped back to two simple demands: be brave, and think attack first.
The Spaniard arrives from Hearts, replacing Marc Skinner after his summer departure, and walks into a club wrestling with doubts. A quieter transfer window than many fans expected has fuelled questions over whether United can realistically fight for a top-three place this season.
Olid has heard the noise. She is not running from it.
“It’s normal, no? It’s normal to have people doubting,” she said, pointing instead to the backing she has already felt. Supporters who watched her transform Hearts in Scotland have not forgotten. “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 now has to travel with United into London on Friday, after a pre-season that did little to ignite excitement. Performances have been patchy, rhythm hard to find. Olid knows the first competitive outing will come before her ideas are fully embedded, but she has no intention of retreating into caution.
“My ambition is attacking football. I focus the gameplans on how we can hurt the teams. All teams have weaknesses we can exploit,” she said.
This is not tinkering at the edges. Olid is asking United to play in a different way to last season, with a new emphasis on front-foot aggression. The shift is significant enough that she has had to prioritise which principles to introduce first just to make the opener against London City Lionesses competitive.
“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 explained. “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.”
The club, she insists, knew exactly what they were signing up for. United wanted a side that plays on the front foot, takes risks and entertains. That kind of football can leave you exposed. Olid is not pretending otherwise.
“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.”
Now comes the test: a new manager, a reworked style, a sceptical backdrop. On Friday night in London, United will discover how ready they are to live with the risks they demanded.
