Where would Manchester United be right now had Erik ten Hag succeeded in shipping out two players who, less than 12 months ago, appeared to have at least one foot and maybe a few toes out of the Old Trafford exit.
Well, not in the FA Cup final, for one. Finding positives from that calamitous semi-final victory over Coventry City may be like trying to locate a needle in a planet-sized haystack – has any victory ever felt more like a defeat?
But the performances of Scott McTominay and Harry Maguire, both of whom were available for transfer and targets for West Ham in the summer of 2023, at least gave an increasingly disillusioned fanbase something to smile about.
Maguire was colossus at both ends of the pitch, scoring a thumping header on the stroke of half-time while going about his business with the class and the professionalism a certain Brazilian winger could stand to learn from.
McTominay, meanwhile, continued his best-ever goalscoring season with what is becoming a very trademark ‘finisher move’. Scott the Scot made another perfectly-timed run into the penalty area before converting a fine Diogo Dalot cross. His 10th of the campaign in all competitions.
McTominay and Maguire shine for Manchester United
And Manchester United legend Roy Keane was left recalling the advice of his iconic former team-mate Bryan Robson, McTominay channelling ‘Captain Marvel’ himself while more than tripling his output from the whole of 2022/23.
“He’s very good at (making those runs),” Keane tells ITV Sport (21 April, 3.30pm).
“He’s certainly improved with the timing of his run. Simple, effective, it’s about time and quality. He just walks in there. He doesn’t get in too early .
“Bryan Robson used to make the point to me, never get in too early. And McTominay does that really well.”
Only Bruno Fernandes and Rasmus Hojlund have more goals for Ten Hag’s side this term, the former putting United 3-0 up at Wembley just after half-time before a Red Devils team who have thrown away countless two-goal leads this term went one step further with an alarming collapse which will have Erling Haaland and co licking their lips and tucking a napkin into their sky blue shirts.
A baffling reluctance to adapt to the game state, meanwhile, looks certain to cost Ten Hag his job, the Dutchman feeling more and more like a man who continues leaving his front door wide open and returns home wondering why he’s been burgled yet again.
Erik ten Hag in defensive mode
“I can’t say that word (embarrassment) because, at the end of the day, it’s about the achievement,” says Ten Hag, who appears to be stuck in the ‘denial’ stage of the Seven Stages of Grief.
“I see the mistakes we make – we can’t look away from it – but it’s not an embarrassment. It’s a huge achievement.
“Even the big team from United, a decade ago, only achieved the final three times. We now have two times in two years, so that’s a good performance.
“I see we can play in very high levels, but in the same match we can also go very low. That’s not explainable. It has to do with managing the game.
“I have to teach my players, clearly. We have to do better in such occasions. On several occasions, we’ve let the result slip away, but today we got away with it.”