Manchester United's under-siege manager Erik ten Hag will clutch gratefully at any small mercy as he battles to present a convincing case that he should have a long-term future at Old Trafford. Ten Hag faced games at Porto in the Europa League and away to Aston Villa in the past week, which were flagged as potential defining moments as United's restructured managerial hierarchy plotted their next moves. United may not have won either of those games - the concession of a two-goal advantage to draw 3-3 in Porto typical of the disorganised chaos that has characterised much of Ten Hag's tenure - but a battling goalless draw at Aston Villa at least means he did not lose any.
The club's co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe was in attendance at Villa Park alongside sidekick Sir Dave Brailsford and other members of United's new executive group such as Dan Ashworth, Omar Berrada and Jason Wilcox. Sir Alex Ferguson was there too, for good measure. So has Ten Hag done enough to maintain the continued faith of Ratcliffe and his cohorts - and what will be central to their deliberations this week? Ten Hag's decision to revert back to the veteran duo of 36-year-old Jonny Evans and Harry Maguire to stem the tide against Aston Villa spoke volumes about the problems he has had making United any sort of cohesive unit.
The Dutchman ditched Matthijs de Ligt, his recent £45m signing from Bayern Munich, and Lisandro Martinez in a decision which was hardly a vote of confidence in a pair designed to be the fu.