Manchester United Women are already being written off after one game. Let's be honest about what's actually going on here before the pile-on gets completely out of hand.
Eva Olid had three weeks. Three weeks to strip out Marc Skinner's imprint on a squad, install her own ideas, and prepare for a WSL opener. The fact that United laboured badly against London City Lionesses, with Simi Awujo's late consolation doing very little to dress up the performance, is a problem. But it is not the problem people are making it out to be. The problem is structural, and it predates Olid by a long stretch.
The club set her up to fail before she'd kicked a ball
Monica Jusu Bah did not arrive from Häcken until 28 August. Rebeca Bernal signed from Washington Spirit on 2 September. Two days before the season started. That is not a transfer window. That is an afterthought. Seven players left, four came in, to a squad that was already considered light. While other WSL clubs used a full pre-season to bed in new signings and get match-sharp, United were still doing paperwork.
Olid has said she has assurances that January will bring reinforcements. "We have some plans in January about signing players that I really need for my style of play and game model," she told her first press conference. That is welcome. It is also not now. There are 12 WSL matches before January, plus cup games, and the schedule opens with Chelsea at home on Sunday and Arsenal away the following weekend. Brutal does not cover it. You can read more about how the WSL window played out for clubs across the board in our [WSL transfer talking points](/uprise/football/wsl-transfer-talking-points-three-things-we-learned-from-the).
Jim Ratcliffe's fingerprints are all over this
The minority owner's dismissive attitude towards the women's team has not gone unnoticed, and it cannot be separated from what we are watching on the pitch. The stated focus on sustainable recruitment and developing young players sounds reasonable in isolation. At a club with United's financial clout, where relatively modest investment could make a tangible difference to the women's side, it reads as an excuse for doing the minimum.
There is a bitter irony in Olid's journey here. She left Hearts after taking them from amateur football to professionalism and a Scottish Women's Premier League title in five years, feeling the investment needed to compete in Europe was not coming. She has arrived at one of the biggest clubs in the world and found herself in a remarkably similar bind. The [WSL opening weekend](/uprise/football/wsl-talking-points-palace-result-in-doubt-after-substitution-nightmare) showed what clubs with proper backing look like. United were not in that conversation.
On top of all of it, Olid is dealing with a torrent of sexist abuse on social media that would wear down anyone. That it persists regardless of results tells you everything you need to know about its source.
Our take: Olid deserves time, patience, and money. She is experienced, well respected, and was building something serious before arriving at a club that has repeatedly refused to back its women's side properly. If United falter over the next few months, do not blame the head coach. Look at the people holding the purse strings and making excuses for keeping them shut.