It has been a whirlwind 10 weeks for Eva Olid since she became manager of Manchester United. Her surprise appointment in August, following Marc Skinner's departure, meant she joined one of the biggest clubs in England just a month before the Women's Super League season started. When BBC Sport met her in a Manchester coffee shop, it was her first real pause in a schedule that had left her little chance to discover the city she now calls home. "It's been good but really busy," Olid said. "It's just been work, home, work, home."
Olid, 41, enjoyed exceptional success at Hearts, taking them from the bottom of the table to Scottish Premier League champions within five years. Despite that, she was relatively unheard of south of the border. On her first day at the training base at Carrington, she set out to explain to her players who she was. "I tried to be myself from second one," she said. "I showed that I'm a person before a coach."
Her start at United was far from straightforward. She inherited a thin squad and a new policy of prioritising academy players over signings, while also wanting to implement a new attacking style. United lost 2-1 at London City Lionesses, then suffered a 5-0 home defeat by Chelsea. Olid believes that humbling loss in front of United's own fans proved to be a turning point. "There were honest conversations," she said. "I took responsibility for a lot of things." A 1-1 draw at Arsenal started a five-game unbeaten run, during which the team climbed from the bottom of the WSL to seventh.
Off the pitch, Olid is keen to explore Manchester, starting with good Spanish food. She admitted some tapas bars are not fully authentic and said she needed time to find one that felt like home. She has yet to embrace driving on British roads but has become a fan of public transport. She has already visited Old Trafford, where she first watched a game 13 years ago as a fan.
Source: BBC Sport Football · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing