Eva Olid Faces Early Challenges at Manchester United
Eva Olid is barely through the door at Manchester United and already standing in the eye of the storm. Two games, two defeats, one goal scored, seven conceded. Criticism has arrived quickly – and loudly.
The new head coach, who replaced Marc Skinner in the summer, has watched her side lose 2-1 at London City Lionesses on the opening weekend and then suffer a bruising 5-0 home defeat to Chelsea. For a club that reached the Champions League quarter-finals last season, the contrast is stark.
Olid, 41, is trying to drag United into a different era: an aggressive, possession-based, attacking team. The numbers so far tell a very different story. Across those first two Women’s Super League matches, United have managed only two shots on target and had under 40% of the ball in both games. For a coach preaching control, her team have been chasing shadows.
She knows exactly what that looks like from the outside.
“[Criticism] is part of the job. I don’t think it affects me,” she said when asked how she was dealing with the reaction. “It is constructive criticism and that is normal. I understand that. The first two performances have not been good.
“We are the first to say we are not happy. The other part is the part I don’t understand – people wanting to hurt [us], but they are not going to.”
There is no attempt to sugar-coat the table. United sit bottom, with zero points and a single goal to their name. This is not the launch anyone at the club imagined. Yet Olid leans heavily into the long view.
“People that understand football know that the beginning and how you start does not define how you end the season,” she said. “We know the direction and what we are doing will give us success in the long term.
“So yeah, I’m good. The only thing that is important for me is the players. I’m worried always that they need to feel good and strong, nothing else.”
A brutal start – and Arsenal next
If United were hoping for a gentle fixture to reset, the calendar has not obliged. On Saturday they travel to Emirates Stadium to face Arsenal (17:30 BST), a side unbeaten in 19 WSL games. United have not won there since November 2022.
It is the kind of game that can either deepen a crisis or spark a shift in mood.
“Yeah, football is like life. You have good moments and difficult moments. I think all the teams in the season have a difficult moment. Ours is the start,” Olid reflected.
“We are learning as a team to grow because the difficult moments make you grow. Once we’ve passed this difficult moment and start [to build] momentum, I think we will be so much better.”
Her message to the dressing room has been simple: remember who you are.
“My main message [to the players] has been about them being themselves. They are not showing in the first two matches who they are and what they can do.”
Between old strengths and new ideas
United under Skinner built a reputation for defensive solidity and resilience, foundations that helped carry them into Europe. Olid does not want that ripped up in the rush to play her way.
“They cannot forget what they were good at before. At the same time, little by little, we need to implement the new style,” she said.
That “little by little” is where the tension lies. Change too slowly and it feels like drift. Change too quickly and players freeze.
“But it’s impossible to be doing everything,” she admitted. “The players have been so focused and thinking a lot – overthinking maybe – trying to do everything and in the end, they don’t do anything because they are not expressing themselves like I know they can.”
It is a familiar trap for teams caught between identities: stuck halfway, losing the old habits without yet trusting the new ones.
An opponent who understands the challenge
Across the technical area on Saturday will stand someone who recognises that dilemma. Arsenal manager Renee Slegers has watched from afar as Olid tries to reshape United at speed.
“[Olid has] had so little time,” Slegers said. “As a coach it’s a decision you make – are you going to change things straight away or are you going to have another approach where, over time, you look to try to change things progressively?
“That’s probably the balance for her. I don’t know what her philosophy is but I imagine it’s a challenge. I understand the disappointment from a fan perspective – but there has been so little time.”
Time, though, is a luxury that rarely exists in the WSL when results turn. United travel to Emirates Stadium bottom of the league, facing an unbeaten Arsenal and the weight of expectation from a fanbase used to competing at the top.
Olid insists the start will not define their season. The question now is whether her players can prove that on one of the toughest stages in the country.
