Eva Olid's Ambitious Vision for Manchester United in WSL

Eva Olid wants Manchester United to go on the front foot from the very first whistle of the new Women’s Super League season – and she is not shying away from the doubts swirling around her team.

The Spaniard, appointed from Hearts over the summer to replace Marc Skinner, takes charge of her first WSL game on Friday night when United travel to London City Lionesses for the season opener (19:00 BST). It is a fresh start, but it comes with a backdrop of scepticism.

A quieter transfer window than many United supporters expected has raised questions over whether this squad can realistically push into the top three. Olid has heard all of it. She is not running from it.

“It’s normal, no? It’s normal to have people doubting,” she said, before quickly pointing to the other side of the mood music. She has felt plenty of backing as well. Followers of her work in Scotland, she believes, know what she brings.

“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 sense of conviction feeds straight into the message she has been hammering home to her players.

Olid wants bravery. She wants risk. Above all, she wants United to attack.

“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.

Pre-season has not exactly crackled with promise, and she knows it. Performances have been patchy, the adaptation period bumpy. Yet she is demanding that the level rises when the real thing starts on Friday.

“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.

The overhaul is significant enough that Olid has had to be pragmatic in how quickly she imposes her ideas. Not every principle can land at once. Not if United are to stay competitive from day one.

“You can imagine it’s not an easy task,” she said. “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 hierarchy knew exactly what they were signing up for. They wanted a coach who would lean into the risk, not retreat from it.

“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 real test. Under the lights in London, with questions about top-three credentials already circling, Olid’s United will either shrink from that demand for bravery – or step straight into it.