Matic's untimely form
The Manchester United midfield was an area that needed reinforcement even before Nemanja Matic confirmed his time at the club was coming to an end.
After recent performances Matic might find his options opening up this summer. The Serbian has been a reassuring performer in the centre of the pitch of late and has mixed his positional discipline with an eye for a pass further forward as well.
It sounds simple but United's ideal replacement this summer needs to basically be a younger, more mobile version of Matic. Someone like Declan Rice looks to fit the bill perfectly.
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Matic is United's only natural holding midfielder and in the back-to-back Old Trafford games against Chelsea and Brentford he has stood head and shoulders above Scott McTominay, who is probably the closest United have to someone who can fill his shoes.
Matic created Cristiano Ronaldo's goal against Chelsea with a brilliant loft-wedge of a pass and he showed an eye for the impudent again early in the second half against Brentford.
He had time to pick a pass in the centre circle, but the chipped ball he found to release Bruno Fernandes was outstanding and it deserved the finish, only for Fernandes to drag it narrowly wide.
When Matic was replaced with 20 minutes to go Ronaldo began the applause on the pitch and then raced to the centre circle to give his teammate a hug. After this dreadful season it was a gesture that showed Ronaldo knows what United will miss when Matic isn't around.
Ronaldo's role
If Erik ten Hag has been watching United closely in recent weeks then he will surely have been impressed by the form of Ronaldo, who is now up to 24 goals this season.
Ronaldo won and converted the second-half penalty that put this game beyond Brentford and produced another display that showed he is far more than just a goalscorer despite his advancing years.
The 37-year-old looked to be having fun with Juan Mata playing just behind him. Mata's neat flick played Ronaldo in during the first half, with a penalty appeal waved away when he went down. A few minutes later Ronaldo produced some skill of his own to return the favour, creating a chance which Mata put wide on his right foot.
So eager was Ronaldo to make his mark defensively as well that in the first half he charged back to put in a strong slide tackle on Bryan Mbuemo as Brentford threatened to break. Ronaldo even nudged McTominay out of the way as he closed in on his prey.
This has certainly felt like a slightly different Ronaldo in recent weeks. Maybe he's eager to impress Ten Hag, but his movement has been noticeably more vibrant, dropping deep and to either wing and becoming much more involved in build-up play.
Momentum for Ten Hag
When Ralf Rangnick was asked before the game whether United needed to perform and win for the supporters on Monday night he agreed with the sentiment but also stressed the importance of carrying form and energy into next season.
It is a shorter than usual turnaround ahead of the kick-off for 2022/23 on August 6 so perhaps there is some merit to the idea of finishing this season in good form, to give Ten Hag a platform to build on when he takes over in June.
That certainly explains Rangnick's desire to continue picking a strong squad, with neither Alvaro Fernandez nor Alejandro Garnacho coming off the bench against Brentford.
There is certainly a lot of work to do for Ten Hag this summer, but maybe if United can finish with a flourish it will make his task ever so slightly easier.
Protests
It was another night of protests at Old Trafford and they got plenty of TV coverage, although maybe events conspired against the impact that might have been expected.
The idea of a walkout on 73 minutes sounded good, but United had scored their third goal a minute earlier very few supporters rose from their seats to leave the ground.
The Red Army singing section let off red, green and gold smoke bombs when the clock struck 73 minutes and held up a banner encouraging a walkout, but very few of them left the ground. The noise and the colour certainly made an impact, however.
There were five minutes on the clock when the first chant of 'stand up if you hate Glazers' echoed around Old Trafford and while thousands got to their feet, there were also plenty that didn't.
The chant resurfaced several times during the game but it does feel it can die off at times once it's had its first airing. It shows the battle facing groups like The 1958 to get the numbers on board that are required to make their protests really headline-grabbing.
Replacing experience
All five of the senior United players leaving the club at the end of their contracts this summer are aged 29 and over and while they will need replacing in the squad, Ten Hag will need to find ways of replacing their experience as well.
Matic, 33, has been a calming presence in midfield in recent games and Mata, 34, has shown his class in the final weeks of his time with the club.
It was interesting to see Mata go over to Anthony Elanga just before kick-off to issue some final instructions. Elanga listened intently to the Spaniard's final words of advice and started the game well. Maybe that's coincidental but experienced players can offer that kind of guidance on the pitch and it can be invaluable to a manager.
The departure of Matic, Mata, Jesse Lingard, Paul Pogba and Edinson Cavani is a chance to refresh the squad, but sometimes there is no substitute for experience.
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