Eva Olid's Brave Vision for Manchester United in Women's Super League
Eva Olid wants Manchester United to walk into the new Women’s Super League season with one word in their heads: brave.
The Spaniard makes her WSL bow on Friday night, away at London City Lionesses, and she is not interested in easing her way into the job. She wants an attacking team, a front-foot team, a team that goes looking for trouble rather than waiting for it to arrive.
“My ambition is attacking football,” she said. “I focus the gameplans on how we can hurt the teams. All teams have weaknesses we can exploit.”
It is a bold message at a delicate moment for United. Marc Skinner’s departure in the summer, followed by a quieter transfer window than many fans expected, has fuelled doubts about whether this side can realistically push 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. “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 will be tested quickly. Pre-season has been underwhelming, the ideas are new, and the league opener arrives before everything is fully in place. Olid knows it.
“This team will play the first match in the league and I want it to be as close as possible to what I want,” she explained. “The style of play is different to what we had last year.
“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 full blueprint can wait. The attitude cannot. She has hammered home the same message in the dressing room: be brave, be attacking, accept the risks.
“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.”
On Friday night in London, under the lights and under scrutiny, we start to find out whether that bravery can carry United back into the fight at the top.
