Just when it appears like Manchester United have turned a corner, they often end up going around in circles.
There was certainly some mitigation to their defeat at St. James' Park on Sunday afternoon, but regardless of who was missing, it was a performance that highlighted many of the same old problems.
It was clear from the opening few minutes that United hadn't arrived to control the match themselves, instead looking to play Newcastle at what they perceived as their own game.
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United were caught in two minds as they looked to incorporate elements of the possession-based football Erik ten Hag wants to implement, with the no-nonsense approach designed to frustrate the home side.
At times, they tried to play out from the back; at others, they decided to just lump the ball long—a mismatch of styles that contributed to their poor performance.
What is even worse for United, though, is that Newcastle were well aware of this identity crisis and pinpointed it as an area of weakness right from the off.
"Their first goal kick, De Gea was taking a while," Josh Murphy told Rio Ferdinand after the match. "This is a bit unusual; he was taking his time with it, he was asking everyone to go up field, then hit long. They were just taking a while, lots of pointing, I could sense from that, we were going to have a good game from there."
It wasn't just his kicking that was a problem, either. The other well-documented issue with David de Gea is his tendency to stick to his line, something that was apparent with both goals Newcastle scored.
Alan Shearer also noted it as a continuing problem point in United's approach, noting that the Spanish goalkeeper simply isn't the right fit for the style of football his manager wants.
"You've got to be brave," he said on Match of the Day 2. "He's not comfortable, there's no way that David de Gea's comfortable doing that, he doesn't want to do that. Teams are quite happy to let him have the ball because they understand that's a problem for Manchester United."
The 32-year-old has often been punished for his reluctance to come out and collect the ball, though the trade-off is that it makes him really tough to beat in one-on-one situations, particularly long-range ones when a player has plenty of time to run at goal.
United might never be able to find the perfect goalkeeper, and the compromise for a more progressive one would be signing another who can't make the same world-class saves at such a frequency as De Gea.
Even that was apparent on Sunday, with the Spaniard producing a superb double-stop in the first-half of the match, though it was quickly forgotten about by full-time.
Just as inevitable as De Gea's occasional clumsiness in goal is his ability to salvage matches on his own, and this season he has been a help far more than he has been a hindrance.
It means that Ten Hag must weigh up what he really values most from his man in goal and make a ruthless decision whether to back a sensational shot-stopper or pursue someone who is comfortable with the ball at their feet.
The fact that opponents are still identifying him as a weak point suggests that it might well be best to move forward at some point, given that his style is in contrast to the one Ten Hag wants.
They can't keep going around in circles.
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