Mathias Jensen celebrated by holding his finger to his mouth after scoring against Manchester United in August. He had just given Brentford a two-goal lead within 20 minutes and he was gesturing that Erik ten Hag's side had been silenced and stunned.
Harry Maguire, Diogo Dalot and Christian Eriksen threw their hands in disbelief while David de Gea trudged toward his goal to pick up the ball for the restart. De Gea had just made two mistakes in quick succession and Ten Hag, who was standing exasperated under the glaring sun on the touchline, was aware that his gameplan had been made redundant. De Gea wanted the ground to swallow him whole.
The players slowly returned to their positions as they stared at the blades of grass beneath them and it was clear at that moment they were already defeated. It is not impossible to overturn a two-goal advantage, but the players' body language, with the exception of Cristiano Ronaldo, who was shouting and gesturing from the halfway line, suggested they had already accepted their fate.
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Ronaldo rallied his teammates to respond and he urged them to concentrate. Ronaldo has played at the Bernabeu, Nou Camp, San Siro and Vicente Calderon, and he was never going to be fazed by the 17,000-capacity Brentford Community Stadium.
It's just a shame that his teammates were and they continued to capitulate in spectacular fashion, conceding another two goals before half-time. "Hey Jude," from the Beatles played after the final whistle to serenade Brentford for their emphatic win.
The atmosphere at Brentford is as intimidating as that of Lord's cricket ground and United had been shell-shocked regardless. The performance was a stain on the club's history and it was clear that something needed to immediately change. The players had to take responsibility, but Ten Hag was certainly not exempt from criticism, as even he would probably admit his approach was naïve.
Although there was talk of Ten Hag joining in with punishing running drills after the Brentford debacle, it was actually his self-awareness and tactical flexibility that inspired United to an unlikely win against Liverpool at Old Trafford just nine days later.
Liverpool did not start the season with their usual vigour, but supporters feared the worst with last season's heavy defeats still fresh in the memory, with the wounds of those matches barely healed and expected to be inevitably reopened by Liverpool.
United bounced back to win 2-1 against Liverpool instead and the performance was a remarkable improvement from the display that had been mustered at Brentford. It was spirited, determined and the counter-attacks had been ruthlessly efficient.
Ten Hag has managed Go Ahead Eagles, Bayern Munich II, Utrecht and Ajax and there were doubts about whether a coach with that CV would have the tactical acumen to succeed in the Premier League. The demands of Eredivisie are entirely different to the Premier League and Ten Hag was naïve to think he could set up United to play as his Ajax side did in his first two matches in charge.
The Dutchman wanted to control proceedings against Brighton and Brentford and it backfired. It was clear that Ten Hag did not have the personnel to play how he wanted, which led to a change in approach against Liverpool and that was the difference.
Ten Hag started Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane against Liverpool and he kept the faith with Scott McTominay and Christian Eriksen, although he instructed them to play differently. That pragmatic approach worked and it has been used since.
Somewhere in a parallel universe, Brentford did not humiliate United in August and Ten Hag stubbornly persisted with his Ajax-like approach, instead of realising it was not working and leaving his side hopelessly vulnerable to average opposition. Ten Hag deserves credit for changing, but perhaps that change wouldn't have happened if the Brentford debacle was not etched in the history books. United needed to be pragmatic and the shock of Brentford was the catalyst for change.
United defeated Arsenal 3-1 last month with that exact approach and they inflicted the first defeat of the season on Mikel Arteta's side, a result which would have been highly unlikely if Ten Hag had used the same tactics that failed against Brighton and Brentford.
Regardless of his reputation, this is certainly not uncharted territory for Ten Hag. While Ajax dominated possession in matches in the Eredivisie, they were often pragmatic in the Champions League against opposition who had superior man-for-man talent.
That Ajax side was able to absorb pressure and they could play on the counter-attack when required, which is exactly what is now being seen at Old Trafford. The history of United also dictates this approach should be embraced, not shamed.
United's best teams over the decades prioritised substance over style and counter-attacking football has underpinned some of the greatest triumphs at the club. There have been many special Champions League nights when that has been the case.
United play Manchester City on Sunday and they will dominate possession. United have shown they can absorb the pressure and counter-attacking with the pace of Marcus Rashford, who can target the space in behind, will be the approach at the Etihad.
Whatever the outcome, there is less chance of another embarrassing scoreline because Ten Hag has changed his approach. Man City would have been laughing if the Dutchman started his side with the instructions they received at the start of the season.
The result would have been ugly if nothing had changed, but the new approach has given United confidence for the fixture.
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