In the summer, Manchester United went out and bought Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's top target in Jadon Sancho for £73 million pounds after missing out on signing the player last year due to his former club Borussia Dortmund's high valuation of the player.
The player had been fantastic for Dortmund last season, registering double figures in goals and assists for the third season in a row, and alongside Erling Haaland, he was a major factor in the team's push for Champions League football.
Fans were full of anticipation waiting to see how Sancho would link up with Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford to create a devastating front three which would help Solskjaer push the team to win silverware this season.
However then, something changed.
And the thing that changed was United went out and re-signed 36-year-old striker Cristiano Ronaldo and from that point forward, the hopes and dreams that United fans had for that new look attacking line faded, and was replaced with overwhelming support for their 'new' superstar striker.
Now some of it is quite obviously nostalgia, which I am party to as a fan who grew up watching Ronaldo flourish in the mid-2000s but also the quite logical argument that United had acquired a five-time Balon d'Or winner to lead their attack.
But what was lost was a desire and excitement for the project that Solskjaer was building and in place is a rabid desire for this team to win it all and overcome Manchester City and Liverpool as soon as possible.
Progression has now changed its definition, from a title challenge and some silverware to winning it all and that is probably why things have gone so sour for Solskjaer so quickly when it looked like that wasn't realistic (if it was ever a realistic expectation in the first place).
And now with the further move towards playing a 3-5-2 with Solskjaer (it's been one game I know but he would be mad to move away from it when it clearly solved a lot of his issues very quickly), it seems like the dream of Sancho, Greenwood and Rashford working as a dynamic and interchangeable attacking force is fading quickly.
However, it is not completely gone and I think we could see it as the next logical step in Solskjaer's managerial tenure if it continues.
Do you remember a time at United under Solskjaer before Bruno Fernandes, if unlike me you've successfully put it out of your memory, let me remind you, we were quite bad. United are unable to play or create without him in the side.
But the best teams still work without their best players and are elevated when they are in the team and I think Solskjaer needs to find ways to both utilise all his talent and also successfully rotate what is a large squad.
Ronaldo is 36 and Cavani is 34, they can't play every game and both are on short-term contracts meaning even if they are highly successful, it will not be a long-term fix.
The 3-4-3 keeps the same ideals of defensive stability and a compact midfield which solves United's major balance issue, but it also allows United to use their attacking talent on the wings.
Currently, the 3-5-2 allows Ronaldo and Edinson Cavani to both play, but long term, varying to this formation will aid Bruno's progression into more of a deep-lying playmaker as he gets older (it will also be further helped if United sign a true defensive midfielder to play alongside him) and with the frontline of Sancho, Greenwood and Rashford to play to it allow for a lot of angles of attack for United.
This would help them counter effectively and also stop them from becoming stagnant creatively which is what we have seen as a problem in the past for United against teams who utilise a low block.
No project is ever going to follow the blueprint exactly for a hundred different reasons, it is how the manager adapts his system to solve problems while keeping his ideals intact, and I truly think for Solskjaer, finding a way to get the attacking three which will lead United in the future more playing time now.
Are you still excited to see what Jadon Sancho has to offer? Follow our United On My Mind writer Casey Evans on Twitter to get involved in the discussion in the comment section below.
