Eva Olid has learned more about her new Manchester United side in the past week than in the whole of the previous month since she took over from Marc Skinner.

Even with some difficult pre-season results and a summer of transition hinting at teething problems, her methods had been sufficiently implemented on the Carrington training pitches to be confident going into last Friday's curtain raiser at London City Lionesses.

Olid knew her first WSL game was going be a challenge against Michelle Kang's star-studded big spenders but the manner of their 2-1 defeat - and a 100th-minute consolation from their only shot on target - was not on the agenda.

"What I saw surprised me a little bit," she tells Sky Sports, ahead of an already crunch showdown with Chelsea on Sunday. "We lost the game by ourselves, we didn't do what we had to do.

"In the friendlies we had played, we were making good progression about what we needed. In our last pre-season match against Man City we could have scored goals, we created chances. Of course, in friendlies if you make a mistake, it's a friendly. Everyone is confident.

"There were still a lot of things to build in terms of style, but we felt ready to compete. But then we reached that first match and the things we were doing in pre-season, we stopped doing. The pressure of the competition affected us in that first 45 minutes. It was a big learning."

Those first-day nerves were picked up on by pundits, who questioned how well Olid's new players were adapting to her methods. She has already admitted United will need to strengthen in January to add players fit for the style she wants to implement, but she insists those already there can succeed, too.

"We work in small spaces a lot in Spain - one, two touch, but here the players are not used to it," she says. "Working this way will help the players feel comfortable under pressure.

"Natalia Arroyo said something similar the other day. I love the physicality here but I think if you have that, plus the technical ability, it will get the best results."

There was always likely to be a period of transition following five years under Marc Skinner. Despite his record of overachievement, momentum needs to be rebuilt after a sour ending to his reign, a four-game winless streak at the end of last season.

But Olid was always going to do things her own way, too. She "revolutionised" former club Hearts, in the words of one Scottish newspaper - culminating in a first ever Women's SPL title last summer - and though she starts from a stronger base at United, she was never going to lose that courage of conviction south of the border, nor be shaken by any early wobbles.

"It's not the first time it's happened to me, a game like that," she says. "You want to help the players - but you cannot go inside their minds.

"I have always had things difficult and I have had to work so hard - and so nothing scares me. If things are difficult, I push harder, that's who I am.

"I don't like things being easy... If that happens, I don't feel useful, you know? I like the big challenges.

"Everyone is aware that it's impossible to change everything in a few weeks, and play 100 per cent as we want. But it's not like we have all the time we want and everything is fine if you don't win games."

It is difficult to know exactly how much is expected of Olid in her debut season given Manchester United's public shift towards youth development, and a summer of limited spending despite the loss of Melvine Malard to Chelsea.

The head coach is well connected to those reforms and was hired in part because of her track record of improving players and investing in youth.

Even a month into her time at the club, Olid is already well involved in the academy set-up at Carrington - and can enjoy a close-up view of potential future first-teamers now the Women's U21 side have finally moved across to the training base.

"Everything starts from the academy," she says. "My work is with them too, not just the first team. We need to make sure when they come up to join us, they are ready. It's not just bringing players from the academy because we have to.

"Over the international break, we will have meetings with the academy staff to begin implementing things. There are already a lot of things which are done really well, it's just about focussing on things like playing in possession, the technical parts - it's so important."

While Manchester United may not need a revolution in quite the same way as a Hearts team Olid inherited when they were bottom of the Scottish Premier League, she is wasting no time attempting to mould the club to create another legacy as she did in Edinburgh. "There is one difference, everyone told me it rains even more!" she laughs.

The spectre of Chelsea and Arsenal in their next two games, both live on Sky Sports, presents a daunting challenge for a coach trying to change so much so quickly. But this is what she relishes.

"At the end of he day, you have to play everyone twice," she adds. "Playing against the best is going to make us the best too."

Watch Man Utd vs Chelsea live on Sky Sports Mix from 11.30am on Sunday, kick-off 12pm.