After Manchester United were beaten by Manchester City at Old Trafford, plenty of questions were being asked about how the home side might be able to improve after the international break.
Eric Bailly's own goal put Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side behind inside the first 10 minutes of the game, with Bernardo Silva clinching victory for the visitors after indecision from Luke Shaw and David De Gea.
While Pep Guardiola opted to use none of his available substitutes for City, United boss Solskjaer used all of his, as well as introducing Alex Telles for Shaw as a concussion substitute.
Donny van de Beek was the last of the group to enter from the bench, replacing Fred with 10 minutes left on the clock, and the introduction of the Dutchman was a divisive subject in the Sky Sports studio.
Van de Beek has struggled for minutes since joining Manchester United from Ajax in 2020, starting just four times for the club in the Premier League.
He has only scored once for the United, on his debut against Crystal Palace, but came close to netting again when he came off the bench towards the end of the midweek draw with Atalanta.
The midfielder's name came up when Micah Richards and Roy Keane were discussing United's expensively assembled squad, but the mere mention of Van de Beek saw the former United captain react angrily.
"Are you saying he's the answer?" Keane said when Richards brought up the former Ajax man, who set United back £35m.
"He played at the end of last season and he was very average," he added, before dismissing the fee as "a drop in the ocean".
"Jack Grealish was on the bench today and he's £100m."
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Van de Beek recently changed agents, leading to reports that he is hoping to find a new club as soon as January.
He has only started twice this season, playing 45 minutes against Young Boys in the Champions League and completing the full 90 as United were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by West Ham in September.
His most recent 90-minute run-out in the Premier League came back in May, during a 2-1 victory away to Wolves on the final day of last season.
The defeat against City, coupled with Chelsea's draw against Burnley, means United go into the international break nine points off the top of the Premier League table.
Van de Beek wasn't the only United midfielder left out of the starting line-up for the derby, with Nemanja Matic spending the game on the bench.
Paul Pogba was also absent, serving the second game of his three-match suspension after being sent off in the recent 5-0 home defeat to Liverpool.
Pogba will also miss the upcoming trip to Watford, though the Frenchman will be available when United return to European action against Villarreal at the end of November.
