"This is a process and I know it will not only go up. Setbacks will come and we have to deal with that."
Erik ten Hag is correct. And it is that pragmatic view that has to be inherited by Manchester United fans as well as those inside the club.
The nature of the rebuild that Ten Hag is orchestrating means there has never been any promise that everything would go swimmingly in the first instance, and United's 3-1 defeat to Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon exemplified that.
The loss at Villa Park drew to a close a nine-match unbeaten run for United, though it is more important to focus on the progress that this typifies rather than dwelling on the fact that the streak has been curtailed.
Consistency cannot be expected so early in the tenure of a new manager, and it is credit to Ten Hag that his side have already beaten the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.
At this early stage, it is natural for Ten Hag to still be getting to grips with his squad, and for the players to still be becoming accustomed to a new manager.
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Albeit there are still limitations within Ten Hag's squad, with plenty of scope for reinforcement. It is not all that long ago that Ralf Rangnick was calling for "an operation at the open heart".
While Rangnick's demands for a near-wholesale revamp have been proven extreme given the tune that Ten Hag has found from a squad consisting of many existing players, there remains evidence that it is a work in progress.
United's start against Villa exuded the all too familiar feeling of being susceptible to some form of rout. They had already been four goals behind at the break twice this term - away to both Brentford and Manchester City - and there were stark parallels in the Midlands on Sunday as United fell to a two-goal deficit after only 11 minutes.
To call it a capitulation would be disingenuous to Villa as, in reality, United were never in a position from which they could capitulate. The home side were fast-starting, unsettling United with their assertion of authority.
It took only seven minutes for Villa to break a frail United resistance - a somewhat unusual spectacle given recent defensive developments that had seen United not concede from open play in the seven matches subsequent to beating Everton at Goodison Park.
However, on this occasion, it felt all too routine for Villa to cut through United. Victor Lindelof unduly engaged with Ollie Watkins, who was content to carry the ball further and further towards the halfway line. A gaping hole in midfield for Watkins to feed the ball into was followed by a vacancy left by Lindelof providing space for Jacob Ramsey to exploit feed Leon Bailey into. The finish was clinical from Bailey.
"They looked more fresh, more ready," Ten Hag said on Villa, who ushered United into a passive approach.
Following the first concession, Ten Hag's point was evidenced by a slack piece of play from Lisandro Martinez, which saw Luke Shaw forced into lunging for his pass and receive a yellow card inside the defensive third.
From the free-kick that ensued, only 11 minutes into proceedings and four minutes on from Villa taking the lead, Lucas Digne delivered an unstoppable-looking attempt.
It was a free-kick that any goalkeeper would struggle to prevent, but lamentable was the fact that United's wall was further back than the required 10 yards. It was a basic lapse that embodied their switched-off start.
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For the most-part, United were inferior in terms of their tempo and general performance. A resurgence prior to half-time displayed improved resilience even compared to earlier this campaign, with Luke Shaw's effort from outside the penalty area shortly before the break deflecting off Ramsey and past Emiliano Martinez for an own-goal and United lifeline.
But that lifeline didn't last long - four minutes of the second half, in fact. Ramsey's bittersweet (well, mostly sweet in the end) afternoon took another twist as he added a goal to his assist, winning of a goal-scoring free kick, and own-goal.
It was testament to another assured Villa move, but also a legacy of more lax defending from United. Lindelof was tentative against Watkins this time, not committing to making a challenge but instead allowing him to run from around the halfway line into United's box.
Watkins was ultimately able to play a cut-back ball to the edge of the box, where Ramsey was unattended to and able to ghost into the penalty area unmanned and find the top corner to beat De Gea with conviction.
Villa's performance felt like a visual representation of 'new manager bounce', with Unai Emery taking charge for the first time and his new side reenergised for the presence of a new, highly esteemed manager.
The coherence on display from Villa was contrary to that of United, who were made to look disjointed from the very early stages of affairs. It will have been tough for Ten Hag to establish a basis from which he could create much of a focused game-plan given Emery's Villa were an unknown entity, and that was telling at times.
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At the same time as Villa were benefitting from more structure enforced by Emery and reaping the rewards of unpredictability inflicted by a new manager on their opposition, United were suffering from the personnel, or lack of it, available.
Lindelof's frailties were exposed on two crucial occasions, epitomising issues with regards to a drop-off in standard between Ten Hag's favoured options and those rendered alternatives. Lindelof had performed at a high level when deputising in matches prior, in fairness. But there was an evident gulf between him and Martinez, who has proven himself as being a consistently high performer even against adversity, against Villa.
The starkest exemplification of this decline came between Bruno Fernandes and Donny van de Beek. Suspension for the former meant the latter started for the second match in succession, noteworthy given it was his first start for United in the Premier League for 701 days.
Regrettably, you could tell it had been that long, and his performance went some way to illustrating why it may have been so long. United missed the hub-like presence of Fernandes - someone able to orchestrate from the No.10 role. By contrast, Van de Beek was largely an anonymity and purely a passenger; United resultantly lacked a genuine link between midfield and attack at times, often struggling to break the lines and get out of their own half.
Despite being at his best as an attacking midfielder, Van de Beek's profile as a player whose strengths lie with exploiting space with his movement and featuring in incisive passing exchanges is alternative to Fernandes'. Not a renowned ball carrier or creator, Van de Beek didn't quite offer what Ten Hag would have desired.
Additionally, Van de Beek's presence off the ball wasn't anywhere near as prolific. United's midfield often found itself overrun without Fernandes present to initiate a press from high.
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Issues also lay across the front line, where United were once again missing two right-sided options in Antony and Jadon Sancho. As a result, Ten Hag was somewhat limited with his selection and was forced to take decisions such as playing Marcus Rashford on the right, where his directness is restrained due to being unable to cut inside onto his stronger foot.
Alejandro Garnacho was named on the left for his first ever league start and second inclusion in the starting XI in succession. But the Premier League is a big step up for a young player, thus this selection choice wasn't necessarily optimal at this stage of Garnacho's development.
Meanwhile, Anthony Martial was fit enough to make the bench, but the inhibiting presence of Cristiano Ronaldo was evident with Martial forced to operate in the role behind the striker after replacing Van de Beek during the second half.
Ronaldo was a significant contributor to incoherence among the front four, with a continued sense that players again felt obliged to revolve play around him. Ten Hag lamented the number of crosses being played towards Ronaldo, who strikingly appeared to once again have lost his edge in front of goal, once squandering a free header from point-blank range.
After starting four consecutive matches, a lack of sharpness can no longer be an excuse for Ronaldo's attacking inefficiency. The reality is that his powers are starting to wane, and it shouldn't be that the expectation is still for everything to orbit around him.
Ronaldo was somewhat contentiously handed the captaincy by Ten Hag - a decision which must indicate attitudinal improvements behind the scenes given his disciplinary breach that saw him miss the away match prior. There were few signs of an improved attitude as he instigated a needless scuffle with Tyrone Mings, however.
Ten Hag was slow to act in terms of making alterations - much different to in the second half against Real Sociedad last Thursday. But it is tough to see whether he could have done masses different.
In essence, he could have withdrawn Van de Beek at half-time, pushing Christian Eriksen to a more advanced role and adding Fred's energy to the midfield. Though the eventual substitutions made soon after the hour mark - which saw Tyrell Malacia, Anthony Elanga and Martial replace Shaw, Garnacho and Van de Beek - did little to impact the flow of the match.
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The reality is that United are presently suffering for their lack of depth to an extent exacerbated by the fixture congestion forced by the imminent World Cup. A number of players looked as though they were in need of rests from early on against Villa, but they were forced to continue to wilt with alternative options either undesirable or non-existent.
Right now, even a couple of absentees can make United feel as though they are plagued.
So, with mitigating factors considered, it is important not to view the result against Villa as any sort of considerable backwards step. Even without additional context, the development that has been made recently should outweigh a natural bump in the road.
It feels like an opportunity missed for United with top four rivals dropping points, but these results should have been foreseen before the season. In the long run, the learning curves that games like these will offer will be invaluable for a squad in a state of rebuild.
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