A Europa League campaign that began with three draws for Manchester United ended with five wins. You can pinpoint when they sacked the manager.
Of the five victories, the last against FCSB was the most serene once the team's balance was redressed at half-time with the introductions of Amad and Alejandro Garnacho. Starting four attack-minded players was remiss of Ruben Amorim and United's most assertive attacker in the first half was a defender, Lisandro Martinez.
Kobbie Mainoo was the story of the night with his first goal since the FA Cup final. In an advanced role, he had three goalscoring opportunities, converted one and tallied an assist. It was not a coincidence Mainoo got his first goal and first assist of the season following his relocation.
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Ever since he enriched the United team last season, Mainoo has appeared capable of transitioning into a playmaker role. He got his first goals in his first starts next to Casemiro, the sentry while Mainoo stormed forward.
Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets were the players for Mainoo's generation to imitate. Football has already evolved but Mainoo was hot-housed in the United academy as a possession-based midfielder.
During United's triumphant FA Youth Cup campaign in 2022, the pocket dynamos Mainoo, Dan Gore and Sam Mather were so accomplished with their close ball control and balance that they could have been mistaken for graduates from La Masia. Gary Neville said after Mainoo's full Premier League debut at Everton that he reminded him of a City-bred player - a midfielder moulded by Pep Guardiola, famed for upgrading Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets to the status of world-class.
Watching Mainoo, there are undeniable shades of Iniesta, who started out as a midfielder but whose forward drives on the ball and equanimity in possession saw him develop into an all-out attacker.
Spain's golden age of central midfielders beyond the Catalan clan - Marcos Senna, Xabi Alonso, Cesc Fabregas, Javier Martinez - also pushed Iniesta into the final third. In Spain's three final victories between 2008 and 2012, Iniesta was used as a forward and slammed in the winner in the 2010 World Cup final.
Erik ten Hag prematurely described Mainoo as a "perfect midfielder" in August. Mainoo was one of Ten Hag's academy legacies and the Dutchman was not shy in trumpeting his feats at United. He was also reminding anyone who listened why the Ineos overlords had mistakenly kept him.
On Thursday night in Bucharest, Amorim opined that Mainoo had been "struggling a lot defending as a midfielder. Cue a gear-change.
"Now more as a 10, you can feel that he was so free, playing the ball near the box is really good, the small connections," he said. "We need time to work with the players and understand the best positions for them."
Mainoo was a No.10 during his early years in the United academy. On the night United won the Youth Cup, the academy coach Colin Little noted that Mainoo, then 16, might have been vulnerable to breakaways against Nottingham Forest. "They had to be aware of the counter-attacks, they couldn’t just get lost in the game.
"That can happen with young players. They get the ball and think they’re in every attack, but actually sometimes they’re not, they’re there in case we lose it. I thought they put some fires out, mopped up counter-attacks quite well."
United were particularly porous in the 3-0 home defeats to Liverpool and Tottenham four weeks apart in September. Mainoo was paired with Casemiro in the former and Manuel Ugarte in the latter. The next time he was fully fit, there was a new face in the manager's office and a new system to adapt to. Amorim has quickly concluded that Ugarte needs a robust foil.
Bruno Fernandes' seamless switch back to a deep-lying role could make Mainoo's positional change permanent. Paul Scholes got a new lease of life by reinventing himself as United's conductor at the age of 31 in 2006 and Fernandes, now in his 30s, will have to take a back seat at some stage.
United are not blessed with adequate cover in midfield. Casemiro made his first appearance in exactly a month in the 71st minute in Bucharest and that was only after United went 2-0 up. United have engaged intermediaries in the vain attempt to sell him in the final days of the transfer window.
Christian Eriksen, 33 in February and out of contract in the summer, is not a durable option. Toby Collyer, by his own admission, has to improve in possession and he was hooked at half-time against FCSB. Ugarte was rested in Romania.
The win was only Mainoo's ninth start in 18 matches under Amorim. Ten Hag's golden boy has not had the Midas touch this season but Amorim has adopted a trial-and-error approach with his selections and he is yet to settle on the optimum position for some players.
Garnacho has adapted encouragingly to his redeployment as one of two No.10s in a system that jars with pure wingers. Garnacho, Mainoo, Amad and Fernandes are four current options for those two slots heading into the home fixture with Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Fernandes excelled from a deep midfield role at the tail-end of Ten Hag's first season. Garnacho had an encouraging January and it is imperative United keep him beyond February amid ongoing uncertainty over his future. The 3-4-3, at times rigid, is now fluid.
The snapshot of the night in Romania was of Garnacho offering Mainoo a piggyback. The two Youth Cup-winning teammates, the two FA Cup final goalscorers, and the two poster boys of United's future.
They may be a greater achievement for Ten Hag than his two trophies.
