From the moment Erik ten Hag dusted off his tactics board and laced up those beautiful old-school Adidas boots, the noise circulating around Carrington followed a similar tune to the 'factory reset' offered up by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer during his tenure as Manchester United manager.
However, with the air-miles starting to clock up for Ten Hag and his Cristiano Ronaldo-less squad on their summer tour to Thailand, Australia and Norway, three players consigned to the shop floor under Solskjaer might have to be relied upon to lead their revised sales pitch. That is without the star attraction who draws punters in.
Even when Solskjaer was sacked midway through that disastrous season, it seemed unthinkable that Diogo Dalot, Donny van de Beek and Anthony Martial could all have a part to play under whoever United settled on as a successor, and that Cristiano Ronaldo may not.
