Man-management has so often been cited as the hallmark of Erik ten Hag's transformation of Manchester United, and understandably so, given his one season in charge has been bookmarked by several ruthless decisions.
Ten Hag's big calls have all been back-page material: Removing Jadon Sancho from first-team involvement due to fitness concerns, benching top-scorer Marcus Rashford at Wolves for being late to a meeting, axing Cristiano Ronaldo altogether after the Portuguese veteran aired his many frustrations to Piers Morgan.
But another of the Dutchman's most impressive qualities has flown somewhat under the radar - at least until this week, anyway. On Wednesday, United came back from a goal down to beat West Ham 3-1 in the FA Cup. Alejandro Garnacho rightly grabbed the headlines when his brilliant effort in the 90th minute handed the Reds a 2-1 lead - but Fred's goal will have pleased Ten Hag just as much.
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His was the 20th scored by a substitute this season - the most of any side in Europe's top five leagues - highlighting the impact made by Ten Hag's in-game decisions. Such moments rarely grab headlines in the same way as terminating contracts or axing star strikers, but they are affecting games week in, week out.
United deserved to beat Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup last Sunday, and Eddie Howe's side rarely caused much danger but when they did, it tended to come from Allan Saint-Maximin. Diogo Dalot started and was booked inside nine minutes, Saint-Maximin sensing a vulnerability and running at it relentlessly.
Dalot was hooked at half-time and replaced by Aaron Wan-Bissaka, not just free of a booking but undoubtedly a more capable one-v-one defender. After that, Newcastle fizzled out.
In the second leg of their Europa League decider against Barcelona, Antony was introduced for Wout Weghorst at the break with his side 1-0 down, the Brazilian eventually netting the winner to send United into the last-16 and a tie with Real Betis - that was the Reds' 19th off the bench.
"I'm really happy with that, because it shows that we are not only 11 players," Ten Hag told United's website last week when informed of the stat. "It shows we have a dressing room, and we have weapons in our dressing room who can change games. You need players who are ready to do that, and [who are] in the mental state to come on the pitch and have an impact.
"That's not easy, so I'm really happy that our players can do that. It makes our dressing room, in those moments, successful. But success is only there when you get silverware in. On Sunday [in the Carabao Cup], we have the opportunity."
Another brave move at Wembley on Sunday came on 70 minutes as Ten Hag introduced an extra midfield body, replacing Fred and Weghorst with Scott McTominay and Marcel Sabitzer. Eddie Howe's side barely laid a glove on United in the 20 minutes that followed, with the pair forming a solid central base alongside Casemiro as Bruno Fernandes - one of the most reliable in possession - kept things ticking over with the ball.
"There are times when Jose was at Chelsea and he would make substitutions, Sir Alex would do the same and you'd think 'what's he doing?' and it would work," Gary Neville said on The Overlap earlier this week. "Ten Hag's done that five or six times now in the past few months.
"Even on Sunday, I was absolutely certain that only one midfielder would come on. I didn't think both Marcel Sabitzer and Scott McTominay would come on. I thought he'd bring on a wide player like Alejandro Garnacho or Jadon Sancho plus a midfield player on. So that surprised me.
"Newcastle were having their best period around that time and it just got Manchester United back in control. Every time he makes a change or a substitution, it has a massive impact. I think he's done it in the last six or seven matches and actually it makes the team better. It's hard to do that."
How much attention is drawn to Ten Hag's in-game decisions between now and June remains to be seen, but the Dutchman has quietly been going about impacting games from the dugout all season. And while it won't grab headlines, it is already paying dividends in points and trophies.
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