When the final whistle blew on Manchester United's test of resilience against Real Betis Erik ten Hag turned on his heels and made sure to shake hands with every member of his squad behind him.
The Dutchman climbed back into the dugout to share his appreciation with his substitutes and backroom staff before striding out onto the Old Trafford pitch. He immediately sought out David de Gea, the one player who will feel he didn't do himself justice, and wrapped an arm around him.
Ten Hag didn't speak to any of the other players who finished the game, but instead walked with De Gea to the tunnel, holding an animated discussion as he tried to raise the confidence of his goalkeeper, who had a wayward night with his kicking.
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The United boss could afford to focus his attention on De Gea. The rest of his team had rediscovered their own confidence levels as the 90 minutes wore on against a poor Real Betis side. There was a wobble after conceding an unmerited equaliser, but by full-time United were pouring forward.
If there is a disappointment it will be that they didn't score more than four. It could arguably have been double that. By the end they played with a swagger that was evident before Sunday's collapse against Liverpool.
It would have been a long four days for these United players after their Anfield horror show. They were in early on Monday for a video nasty with Ten Hag and had been left in no doubt that what they produced on Merseyside wasn't good enough.
Ten Hag wasn't overly critical in his press conference on Wednesday, but when it came to his programme notes at Old Trafford and the chance to address fans, he didn't hold back. “The players have been left in no doubt that we cannot tolerate what we saw in the second half on Sunday," he wrote.
He has at least become accustomed to dealing with the fallout from these kinds of defeats now. United had been embarrassed at Brentford and Manchester City already this season, although neither plumbed the depths that Sunday did. Both of those games also signalled a staging post in the evolution of Ten Hag's team.
Harry Maguire and Cristiano Ronaldo were dropped after the 4-0 defeat at Brentford and Casemiro was promoted after the 6-3 loss at Manchester City. There was no such option available after Anfield. This is essentially the best team available to Ten Hag at the moment and it felt telling that he picked the same XI against Real Betis.
There was an expectation changes would be made, but Ten Hag took the opposite approach. Go out there and show me a response was the message when the teamsheet landed.
The players emerged into another Mancunian snow flurry, but as the teams were read out there was a defiant roar for each member of the team. The bonds built up over the previous six months were certainly stronger than a year ago, when defeat at Brighton was met with chants of 'you're not fit to wear the shirt'.
The response looked like being routine when Marcus Rashford scored after six minutes. United escaped a nervy moment at the back, when De Gea had to head clear an overhit Diogo Dalot backpass, but they quickly swarmed down the other end, waved on by Ten Hag, and a moment of individual quality from Rashford settled nerves.
United enjoyed a spell of domination at that point but failed to capitalise and when Betis equalised from nowhere it became apparent how fragile the confidence was after Sunday. Ayoze Perez's goal was expertly taken but it also sucked the life out of United. De Gea's distribution became more wayward and the Spaniards sensed blood.
Had Perez's deflected shot gone in, rather than hitting the post and coming out, it might have been a fatal blow. Instead, they took their slice of luck, regrouped and managed to stay afloat.
Antony's goal was brilliantly taken, assisted by Fernandes, who scored the third six minutes later, a popular goalscorer after a difficult week when he was singled out for particularly critical appraisals of his Anfield conduct.
The icing on the cake came when Wout Weghorst added a fourth and United were rampant at this stage. They will feel they left a couple of goals out there, such was the ease with which they created chances late on.
But the manner in which they recovered their composure after conceding an equaliser will please Ten Hag. They passed two tests in one game with flying colours.
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