On Tuesday morning Erik ten Hag would have looked at his midfield options and thought the cupboard bare for Manchester United. Fast forward 36 hours, and the shelves had been suitably restocked to last for the remainder of a season full of promise.
With Christian Eriksen ruled out for three months, United were down to three fit central midfielders ahead of the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg. Casemiro, Fred and Bruno Fernandes played because there was nobody else.
But solutions are appearing. In the stands sat Marcel Sabitzer, a smart deadline-day addition on loan from Bayern Munich who has the pedigree to play a part between now and the end of the season.
READ MORE: Sabitzer tells United fans what to expect from him
Then came two substitutions against Forest which showed Ten Hag's hand when it came to solutions from within. Jadon Sancho's introduction saw him take Fernandes' attacking midfield role, with the Portuguese pushed out wide, while Victor Lindelof came on for Casemiro and played the holding role.
Ten Hag had been asked on Tuesday whether Lisandro Martinez could fulfil that brief, but it turned out we were looking in the wrong direction. Lindelof played more than 20 games as a defensive midfielder for Benfica B and then the odd match in that role for the senior team. He's played there for United in training at Carrington and looks like an option.
But Lindelof is likely to be used in emergencies only, or when games are locked down to give Casemiro a rest. Sancho could become a more regular option at No. 10.
Explaining that change after the match, Ten Hag said he felt using Fernandes to replace Antony on the right could confuse defences, but also discussed the "dynamic" between Sancho and Anthony Martial when they line up centrally together.
"To bring a different dynamic in the team, I wanted to see how that works, we brought Bruno more times before in the wide position," said Ten Hag.
"I think it’s difficult to anticipate it when you first have to deal with Antony, then you bring a semi-wide player there, it’s difficult to anticipate, Bruno is really effective but I want to see the combination with Jadon and Anthony Martial, we’ve seen a different dynamic, that can help us and give us more opportunities in the future."
Like Lindelof as a No. 6, this is not a new experience for Sancho. He might have been characterised as one of Europe's hottest wingers when he signed, but he played 20 games in a central role for Borussia Dortmund, scoring six goals and creating five more, and spent a good portion of his final season in the Bundesliga in that position.
It's certainly an option for Ten Hag, with Marcus Rashford and Antony providing strong competition out wide. There is also that attraction of moving Fernandes to the right instead, giving defences a new problem mid-game.
But with numbers stretched in midfield, Fernandes could just as easily be shifted backwards. It feels an eternity ago now, but his first 45 minutes as a United player saw him fielded in a holding role in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's 4-2-3-1. He's barely been that far back since.
Ten Hag's midfield set-up is more versatile, however, and Fernandes could fill the Eriksen role, offering some occasional support to Casemiro but more generally playing as a No. 8, shifting between the Brazilian and, for example, Sancho. Fernandes is certainly a more complete midfielder now than he was back in January 2020 and he is thriving under Ten Hag.
Sancho and Fernandes also offer two very different dynamics in that attacking midfield role. While Fernandes is always looking for that killer pass, Sancho is more of a dribbler and a runner, opening up defences by going past players. Like the Fernandes switch with Antony, it gives Ten Hag different options to unsettle defences.
It's certainly more options than he felt he would have had at the start of the week and with the schedule likely to remain crowded as United progress in cup competitions, that is exactly what is required.
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