How much significance do you place on a win in the third round of the Carabao Cup at home over an opponent that is 41 places behind you
the league and has already lost to your under-21s in his own backyard this season? Probably not that much.
Not beyond the outcome and score, at least. Because, while any victory less than that would be unsatisfactory,
victories more than a usual two or three-goal victory might have advantages, especially if, like Manchester United, you don't deal out a genuine beating all that often.
It should come as no surprise that Erik ten Hag's 7-0 victory over third-tier Barnsley was the largest of his tenure. Ten Hag's previous biggest victory was by only three goals, which should.
Remember the 4-1 victories over Real Betis and Chelsea in his first year in charge? Good, solid performances, but not brutal,
unwavering annihilation of the opposition. Those were not nights in which United were completely dominant.
There haven't been many of those, in fact. That's a big cry from Ten Hag's predecessor as permanent manager,
you could make a compelling case that some of the more daring aspects of United's approach under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have disappeared over the last two years. The data back that up
While Solskjaer's two full seasons in charge resulted in 233 goals across all competitions, Ten Hag's produced 196, albeit overseeing eight less games.
This was United's largest win since a 9-0 victory over Southampton in February 2021, and in retrospect, Solskjaer's team was not significantly better than Ten Hag's on this afternoon.