Hindsight is a wonderful thing but if Gareth Southgate had his World Cup again, he might not have returned Marcus Rashford to the bench after his exploits against the Welsh.
It worked out for England against Senegal but would probably have done so with Rashford in the starting eleven and, in his current form, he might have been a game-winner had he got more than fifteen minutes against the French.
It did not need a wonder goal against Burnley in the Carabao Cup to tell you Rashford is flying right now, a player utterly revitalised.
And for that. Erik ten Hag must take a lot of credit.
It is not the only thing Ten Hag should take credit for and as the Premier League season restarts, it is becoming clear Manchester United have a serious operator on their hands.
If proof were needed that Ten Hag called the whole Cristiano Ronaldo situation perfectly from day one, it came with the striker’s posturing at the World Cup.
There was a perfunctory 81-word farewell to Ronaldo in the match day programme on Wednesday night and that was probably 81 more words than Ten Hag thought necessary.
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He has been ruthless with Ronaldo, just as he was ruthless with Harry Maguire.
The opening two Premier League games of the season told Ten Hag what he needed to know about Maguire.
With United 4-0 down at half-time against Brentford, Ten Hag hooked Lisandro Martinez, who had actually performed better than Maguire but the manager knew that dragging off the club captain would have created an unnecessary sideshow and it did not matter who he took off anyway.
Instead, he replaced Martinez but had a quiet word assuring him he would be playing in the next game - against Liverpool - and would be partnering Raphael Varane.
That is high-class management.
Since then, United have lost only twice in the Premier League and Varane missed one of those losses.
The latest test of Ten Hag’s man-management is, it appears, being provided by Jadon Sancho.
And it is a sign of the trust Ten Hag has earned from supporters that his comments about Sancho have barely raised an eyebrow.
This is a £73million 22-year-old we are talking about and, according, he is not “physically and mentally” at the level Ten Hag wants him to be at.
The Dutchman is not being overly critical of Sancho - he just wants to get to the bottom of the player’s drop in form over a long period, a drop in form that cost him his England place and now his club place.
Ten Hag is being upfront and honest and those are qualities that get managers onside with their fanbase.
Of course, results help, and across all competitions, Ten Hag’s team has lost once in their last 13 games.
That defeat was at Villa Park and after the 3-1 reverse, Ten Hag did not sugar-coat the performance, calling it “unacceptable”.
His blunt assessment of that display probably won over a few more doubters.
These are very early days and they are 11 points from the top of the table and have an unimpressive goal difference of zero.
But there is enough evidence to make fans believe United might finally have found the man to lead them out of the post-Fergie depression.
