When he needed a result and a performance to potentially save his job and avoid Manchester United's worst start to a Premier League season, Erik ten Hag didn't simply roll out the big guns he has bought as part of a £600million transfer spend over two-and-a-half years at Old Trafford.
When the heat was on and he entered what felt like the last chance saloon, Ten Hag didn't try to blow Aston Villa out of the water with big names and big price tags.
No, he named a line-up for what could feasibly have been his last game as United manager that contained three star pupils from the club's academy (Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo), two free transfers (Christian Eriksen and Jonny Evans) and three players he inherited after arriving at Old Trafford from Ajax (Bruno Fernandes, Harry Maguire and Diogo Dalot).