The appointment of Ralf Rangnick didn't signal the end for Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United after all.
When the godfather of gegenpressing arrived at Old Trafford in December it was considered to be bad news for Ronaldo, but United are as reliant on the 37-year-old now as they were back then.
It certainly helped his cause that Ronaldo scored twice in front of Rangnick in the 3-2 win against Arsenal and that Edinson Cavani has essentially been unavailable for most of the German's reign.
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But United also stopped pressing with the intensity that Rangnick usually desires fairly on in his reign. Whether he decided the players couldn't act on his instructions or whether the squad themselves failed to follow the plan, United haven't been a pressing team under their interim manager.
Erik ten Hag's appointment will signal a fresh start, however. Rangnick was constrained by time as interim manager but Ten Hag will have no such problems.
He has always played a high-pressing game at Ajax and that is unlikely to change. He will also benefit from a full pre-season, including a tour in Thailand and Australia, to get those ideas across.
United are also determined to sign a young centre forward this summer, someone who can come in and compete with Ronaldo at the very least, so the next few months will certainly represent a challenge for the striker.
It's not inconceivable he considers his own future, given this is now almost certain to be the first season since playing in the UEFA Cup with Sporting Lisbon that Ronaldo won't be operating in the Champions League and with the clock ticking on his career, that will be an awful lot to give up even for just one campaign. Nobody wins the Ballon d'Or while playing in the Europa League or the Conference League.
But if he decides to stay with United for the final year of his contract, there could yet be hope that he would fit into a Ten Hag system. Returning to the Premier League has looked a challenge physically this season, but Ronaldo's fitness remains good and with a long pre-season block he can prove he has what it takes to press in the manner that Ten Hag would demand.
Then it will depend on how the 52-year-old Dutchman sets United up. While his principles remain pretty much unchanged, he has shown flexibility in how he sets his team up at Ajax.
In that run to the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2018/19, Ajax played with a false nine in Dusan Tadic and an advanced No. 10 in Donny van de Beek, who probably has the most to gain at United from Ten Hag's arrival.
Tadic was magnificent during that season, particularly in Europe, but United don't look to have a player in his mould who could fulfil that role and, most importantly, Ajax have moved on since.
A lot of that team was broken up, particularly the homegrown talents in Van de Beek, Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt, but Tadic is still at Ajax, even if his role had changed.
Initially, he was moved to the right-wing, drifting inside onto his left foot, but Ajax spent big (by Eredivisie standards) on Sebastien Haller last summer and that has altered the dynamic. They're still an aggressive team out of possession, but the 6ft 3ins Haller has given them a focal point at centre forward.
Ten Hag has shown his flexibility not only with the signing of Haller but how he has managed to get the most out of him. The talented Brazilian Antony has played on the right, but Tadic has now switched to the left, attacking players down the outside and swinging crosses in for Haller to attack.
It's not difficult to see Ronaldo benefitting from a similar approach. His dominance in the air remains a strong point of his game and if United start to provide a regular flow of crosses it could be a productive route to goal.
That might require a change on the wing. At the moment United have Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Anthony Elanga who all want to play as inverted wingers on the left.
Sancho has shown he can play on the right, however, and maybe this kind of approach would see him moved back there, with a licence to take his full-back on.
The way Ten Hag has set up two fairly contrasting Ajax teams is a sign that he is adaptable to the players he has around him, so it could yet benefit Ronaldo.
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