Giving your team two days off immediately after a second successive loss may seem unusual to some. But that was the decision Erik ten Hag on the back of his Manchester United side losing to West Ham United. Dig deeper and it made perfect sense.
United hadn't had a midweek break since September barring the World Cup and March international break. If Ten Hag felt punishment was necessary, he would punish his players; the forced running after the defeat to Brentford at the start of the season showed the manager has it in him to discipline them when deemed necessary.
On this occasion, however, it was more valuable to allow reprieve.
Beyond the break, there were complete days of training to focus more on details than when recovery is paramount during quick turnarounds. "We needed it," Ten Hag admitted ahead of facing Wolves last weekend. "We got some energy back. I saw a lot of energy and joy on the pitch. We have been able to work on some details."
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The reality is that professional athletes are by no means machines - something Ten Hag has been keen to point out over the course of the season. And while their fitness levels are mightily impressive, recovery time between games more often than not being two and three days is always going to have implications.
In those tight turnaround periods, you would imagine focus would be primarily on recovering rather than having any substantial preparation time for the upcoming game. In his first season at United, Ten Hag will no doubt have wanted more time to work on patterns of play to form a side even more in his image.
United's squad isn't the deepest either, with some profiles still missing, and alternatives not always the best fit for what Ten Hag is trying to achieve. Often, it has been a case of Ten Hag being cornered into either his favoured players burning out or rotation causing a drop-off in quality - a possible lose-lose that all amounts to the side's level falling.
Tiring in games has been a factor in recent times for United, and it no doubt contributed to one regulation time win in six games prior to beating West Ham. It has caused them to lose their way, and particularly lose any edge later in matches; they have often started games well, yet they end up going more direct and long to no avail as fatigue becomes more of a factor later on.
Tiredness naturally lends into more slack displays. And this can often look like effort is diminished too. But the players have shown this season that they are committed under Ten Hag, and they have no doubt been working as hard as they can within their physical capabilities amid fixture congestion.
A lack of intent has seen them struggle over the line, but an element of exhaustion has undoubtedly played into this. That is mental exhaustion too - playing so many games can take its toll on players in that way too. This could certainly be an explanation behind capitulations and struggles under pressure, especially away from home.
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In some ways, it could prove a blessing in disguise that United exited the Europa League. It means they have been afforded two free midweeks, and with European football still to contend with, United's somewhat precariously-placed bid to make the top four could have been derailed.
It has already been shown that there is merit to having a week's gap given the display against Wolves, where United sustained front-footedness to really restrict admittedly poor opposition.
There were errors to capitalise on and spaces were there to be found, and United played some assured, flowing football to exploit this. Recurrent issues with missing chances reared their head, however the intent was there. And that was credit to energy in and out of possession, which made a different to a sequence of flatter displays prior.
Antony showed this off-ball work twice to reach loose balls, once getting Diego Costa a booking. Luke Shaw ran the length of the pitch to make a defensive intervention after United found themselves caught on the break following a corner taken by the left-back.
Rested legs no doubt correlated to more being in the tank for United. This was shown from an attacking standpoint too, including from Antony, who showed his electric side on a number of occasions, including to once burst from his own half to get into a goalscoring position. With Antony, however, decision-making is an issue, and after this drive, plus at other times, he was let down by deciding to release the ball at the wrong time.
Antony's strengths and weaknesses were exemplified against Wolves. He is capable of beating a man and getting into good areas when he puts his mind to it, but end product still lacks more often than not. Only one shot on target from six is evidence of wastefulness and some wrong decisions in the final third.
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It is a general theme that United are failing to punish their opponents. And they were off-kilter at times against Wolves, with misjudgements between passes and runs at times - as well as the now-regular litany of missed chances.
With four big chances against Julen Lopetegui's side, United's league season-total rose to 76, and their expected goals tally for the campaign rose to 62, yet they have still only scored 51 times. A positive is that, at least, they are engineering these opportunities.
Most encouraging against Wolves was that, with tiredness not so much of a factor, there was a decent spread of attacking play and their 27 shots throughout the first and second half - not any real tail-off in the second 45 minutes. It was indicative of what a week off to recharge can do in terms of being able to sustain a high level of performance.
United were much more calculated at times, with no signs of extreme desperation despite the fact they struggled to convert some good chances. They would try to play through Wolves, rather than opting to shoot from range or incessantly try to play over.
One of these patterns of play was shown as they opened the scoring. Jadon Sancho and Bruno Fernandes combined deep inside the opposing half, before the latter briskly fed the ball to Antony, who showed composure to square the ball to Anthony Martial for an open net.
It took a while to consolidate the victory, but United creditably showed drive to persist in the closing stages and were able to dig deeper physically and mentally. It reflected well on their attitude that they kept on trying to create until the death, and it was substitute Alejandro Garnacho on his return from a two-month injury that secured United the three points.
The star quality of the Argentine was exemplified by the ovations he received when warming up, limbering to come on, then scoring. His goal was exceptionally well-taken - a calm finish off the post after showing measure to halt and not rush himself, all after a well-timed run in behind from Fernandes' precise through ball.
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United's run before facing Wolves had been fairly wretched, but victory last Saturday was a reminder of the mitigating factors somewhat self-inflicted by United's relative successes by way of going deep in knockout competitions.
The final three home games have been bookmarked as significant in their bid to hold onto their top four place, and a controlled display in the first of that trio of games proved why United's home form can be relied upon.
Everything seems under decent control with fixture congestion alleviated somewhat.
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