Eva Olid‘s tough start to life at Manchester United continued at the weekend as her side was thrashed 5-0 by Chelsea, leaving the club bottom of the WSL table without a point after two games.
Another Difficult Afternoon for Olid
Chelsea were ruthless from start to finish, punishing a United side that struggled to deal with their opponents’ quality.
Chelsea took the lead after 21 minutes when Dominique Janssen failed to deal with a long ball from Lucy Bronze, allowing Wieke Kaptein to set up Sjoeke Nusken for a simple finish.
Keira Walsh, playing her 100th game for Chelsea, doubled the lead before half-time with a strike from the edge of the box.
United lost full-back Andrea Medina to injury early in the second half, and Chelsea took full advantage.
Lauren James added a third after collecting a through-ball from Walsh, before Ellie Carpenter scored a fourth following an initial save from goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce.
Bronze completed the scoring in injury time, finishing from close range after United failed to clear a corner.
Olid Suffers Back-to-Back Defeats
The result follows an opening-day 2-1 loss to London City Lionesses, meaning Olid has now overseen back-to-back defeats after taking charge in August.
United have scored just once and conceded seven across their two league games, giving them the worst goal difference in the division and leaving them languishing at the bottom of the table.
A Rebuild That Will Take Time
Olid’s appointment at United was always going to come with an adjustment period, but this result will do little to ease the pressure early in her tenure.
With reigning champions Manchester City sitting top on six points from two wins, and several other sides – including Liverpool, Tottenham, and Crystal Palace – unbeaten so far, United already find themselves playing catch-up.
United will be looking to bounce back quickly as they continue to adapt to Olid’s methods. But it’s not going to be an easy task – their next fixture is away at unbeaten Arsenal.
