Sir Alex Ferguson's later career at Manchester United benefited a lot from superstars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Robin van Persie, but the team's achievements wouldn't have been possible without academy talents mucking in.
One of Ferguson's biggest talents was making fringe players feel important, and he was repaid in the form of big performances from those who weren't the biggest names. Players like John O'Shea - never the star man, but still a man who could step up when the star didn't.
The Irishman scored a hugely important goal in the 2006-07 title run-in, helping United launch what was effectively a Premier League-deciding comeback. Two years later, though, he delivered on an even bigger stage.
The 2008-09 season was potentially pivotal when it came to settling the rivalry between Manchester United and Arsenal. The previous campaign had seen the Gunners in pole position for the league title before Eduardo da Silva's season-ending injury, with Ferguson's team ultimately adding a Champions League title to their domestic trophy.
While United needed a long-range Ronaldo stunner to edge past Porto in their quarter-final, Arsenal were a little more comfortable. After a 1-1 draw away to Villarreal, three goals in north London saw them into the last four, where they would go up against a team who they had already beaten in the league.
"They won't change," Ferguson said in the lead-up to the game. "They'll do what they always do – and that's have a go."
What was Man Utd's best Champions League performance? Have your say in the comments section
Ferguson made a number of changes from the team which had come from behind to beat Tottenham Hotspur 5-2 the weekend before the game. Carlos Tevez's second-half introduction had helped turn things around, and he replaced Nani, while Anderson replaced Dimitar Berbatov to allow United to go 4-3-3.
The other change was at the back. Rafael had been enjoying a breakout season for the club, but he was left on the bench against Arsenal. In came O'Shea, and there was a sense the manager was ready to take a more conservative approach as he looked to neutralise the threat of Theo Walcott and Samir Nasri in the wide berths for the visitors.
O'Shea was hardly brought in for his goal threat, despite famously netting at Highbury in 2005. However, when the dust settled, the Irishman's goal was the only one of the game.
The defender hadn't been taking a purely watching brief, of course. He got forward as one might have expected Rafael to, and laid on one of United's best early chances as Tevez tested Manuel Almunia.
Moments later, though, it was all about O'Shea. a cross from the left deflected into his path and he lashed the ball into the roof of the net with all the venom of a seasoned striker.
It hardly felt like the act of a man with just one prior goal all season. This was what Ferguson and his teams had a knack for doing, though, and they could have scored more before being forced to make do with a narrow advantage for the trip to London.
"He is a great professional," Ferguson said of O'Shea after the victory. "The boy never complains. He is happy to play anywhere.
"He has not always been a number one choice but he produces 30 performances a season and it is a contribution we are grateful for. At the present moment in time, he would be in the team if we got to the final."
Before the final, though, there was the small matter of the second leg. Ferguson hinted he was happy with the clean sheet, suggesting his team would have no trouble scoring at the Emirates Stadium, and he was not wrong.
O'Shea was given the nod again in the second leg, where the one change made by the manager was perhaps a predictable one. Park Ji-sung was often called upon as the boss' big game player, and so it proved here as the South Korea international stood in for Tevez.
It was Park who put United in front at the Emirates Stadium after a Kieran Gibbs slip, but then Ronaldo took over. The Portugal forward was in the midst of his last season before a big money move to Real Madrid - at the time, few were even considering an eventual return - and took the tie from difficult to impossible for Wenger's men.
A long-range free-kick from Ronaldo made it 2-0 at the break, and that was almost that. Then, as Arsenal pushed forward in search of a lifeline, the same player finished off a rapid counter-attack involving Park and Wayne Rooney to end the game as a contest.
Still, while finishing the game off is one thing, the goal which started things off was just as important. John O'Shea wouldn't score many over the course of his career, but there aren't many players anywhere in Europe who have ever scored a goal that important.
