Eva Olid's Bold Vision for Manchester United's New Season

Eva Olid wants Manchester United to walk into the new season with the handbrake off.

The new head coach has made her message unmistakable before a ball is kicked in the Women’s Super League: be brave, think forward, attack.

The Spaniard, hired from Hearts after Marc Skinner’s summer exit, 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 scepticism attached.

A quieter transfer window than many United fans expected has fuelled doubts over whether this squad can realistically fight for a top-three finish. Olid has heard the noise. She is not running from it.

"It's normal, no? It's normal to have people doubting," she said, before quickly pointing to the backing she has also felt. Supporters who watched her transform Hearts have given her belief that she can bend expectations again.

"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," she said. "It's not something you get in weeks but I believe with a little time you get impossible things."

That sense of conviction underpins everything she is trying to build at United.

Brave football, even with the risks

Olid has not sugar-coated the scale of the task. Pre-season has been patchy, performances short of what she demands. Yet she has doubled down on her philosophy rather than retreat 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.

She wants United to look different from the very first whistle. Not just in shape, but in intent.

"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 cannot happen overnight, so Olid has been selective. Some ideas can wait. The core principles cannot.

"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 hierarchy knew exactly what they were signing up for. They wanted front-foot football. They wanted risk. They wanted bravery.

"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 on Friday, with doubts swirling and expectations recalibrated, we find out how quickly Eva Olid’s United can turn bold words into something far more tangible.