Fred's best role
Ten days ago Fred had registered nine assists in 140 games for Manchester United, but he's been given licence to be more progressive in Ralf Rangnick's 4-3-3 and is already having an influence.
The Brazilian showed his crossing capabilities when delivering a pinpoint ball to Scott McTominay in the FA Cup win against Aston Villa last Monday and then his ability to press and be on the front foot helped create United's second goal at Villa Park on Saturday, pouncing on a weak pass to tee up Bruno Fernandes. But at Brentford his assist showed a more clinical edge as well.
There didn't look to be a lot on when Fred picked the ball up 35 yards from goal, but he spotted an angle to fire a pass into the run of Anthony Elanga, who controlled it superbly and had an easy task to head past the out of position Jonas Lossl.
Fred's second assist in as many games was a sign of what he can do as a No 8. His pressing is an asset in that position and while he remains far from faultless it does feel like that might be his best position in this side.
He still has the odd brain fade defensively, ducking out of the way of a looping cross in the first half rather than heading it clear and then trying an acrobatic clearance under no pressure in his own area, but in the other half of the pitch, United are beginning to get the best out of him.
Rangnick's selection calls
One of the biggest pluses of the Rangnick era so far has been a boldness in some of his selection calls and his decision to stick with Elanga for a second successive Premier League start was another sign of that.
The 19-year-old played well at Villa Park but it was easy to imagine a more cautious manager restoring the experience of Marcus Rashford in what was a crucial game.
But Rangnick enjoys working with young players, not only due to their fearlessness but also because they can be easier to influence, and his decision to keep Elanga in the team was rewarded. He showed similar decisiveness in keeping Harry Maguire on the bench for the second game in a row.
Rangnick clearly won't be distracted by reputations and it felt like another brave call to withdraw Cristiano Ronaldo when he went to a back three. The safer decision would have been to take Elanga off, but Rangnick was ruthless in replacing Ronaldo. The forward wasn't happy with the decision, remonstrating with Rangnick and Darren Fletcher, but he was more receptive to a pat on the back once Marcus Rashford had added United's third.
Reliance on De Gea
The first 45 minutes at the Brentford Community Stadium were another video nasty from United, who were once again indebted to David de Gea for going in level.
De Gea made a couple of excellent saves with his feet to deny Mathias Jensen and Brentford created far the better opportunities in the opening half.
The ease with which teams are creating chances against United should remain a concern for Rangnick. They've now faced 86 shots in their last six games and they have been against Brentford, Aston Villa (twice), Wolves, Burnley and Newcastle. A quintet of teams who shouldn't have found it as easy as they have done to get shots away against United.
Playing forward
One of Rangnick's key principles is playing forward when United do have the ball, but there was a feeling his players were overdoing it at times against the Bees.
Inside the first quarter of the game Scott McTominay, Victor Lindelof and Bruno Fernandes had all sent hugely ambitious long balls towards the Brentford area, all of which only resulted in a turnover of possession.
Rangnick wants his team to win the ball back high up the pitch and then play through a team yet to regain their defensive structure, but the three passes mentioned came after a spell of possession and when the defence was settled. In reality, they were never one.
It was an example of United's lack of creativity from open play but perhaps also an element of the game plan they are yet to master. There is a time to play forward quickly (such as McTominay for the second goal), but also a time for patience.
Set-piece monitoring
When United ticked over their century of corners without a goal at Villa Park on Saturday there were probably more than a few supporters wondering what set-piece coach Eric Ramsay has done this season.
Since his arrival in the summer United have become no better at scoring from dead-ball situations, although the delivery of Alex Telles and Bruno Fernandes was good on Wednesday, but his role is not just about converting opportunities.
As well as being an individual skills coach, Ramsay's role is focused on defending set-pieces and United have improved a little in this area from last season's profligacy, but there is still work to be done.
It was interesting to see Ramsay sat in front of an interactive screen at Brentford, rewinding it to watch the home side's first long throw of the match inside the first couple of minutes.
That is an area where Brentford have been a major threat this season and Ramsay's attention to detail in watching it several times over showed he wanted to check players were stationed in the right positions. He repeated the trick in the final 10 minutes after Ivan Toney scored from a long throw, much to the fury of De Gea.
