It has felt like a gruelling season for Manchester United. That's because it has been. Their weekend trip to West Ham came just two days after the trip to Brighton, with United defeated just as much as they were depleted at the London Stadium.
It's easy to pick apart players and criticise them for back-to-back defeats that have thrown the top-four race wide open, but United's biggest issue is one that has been unavoidable.
United started well against both Brighton and West Ham, creating a number of good chances, but tailed off in the later stages, having become drained of ideas and energy.
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This is a team that is running on empty and burning out at a time when it matters most. It is perhaps no surprise either, given the demands of a season like no other.
United have already played 57 matches this season and will have played 62 by the time the campaign finally comes to an end. Liverpool will play 52 games this season, Newcastle 46, and Arsenal 49.
Even if Man City reach the Champions League final, they will have played one fewer match than United this season and could win a treble in the process.
When you throw in the World Cup factor into the equation as well, it is frightening just how much playing time some have had this season and remarkable that they are still managing to play so often. It leaves Erik ten Hag with an unenviable dilemma as he approaches the final five matches of the season, knowing wins are needed to keep their Champions League dream alive but that his players don't have much more to give.
No player in Europe has played more matches this season than Bruno Fernandes, with 54 for his club and another nine for Portugal. Marcus Rashford sits eighth on the list, having made 58 appearances for both club and country this season.
Fernandes has also played more minutes than anyone else in Europe this season. He is one of only four players to have played over 5,000 minutes of football; the other three are all goalkeepers.
He has played a staggering 5,457 minutes this season, which equates to nearly 91 hours—almost four consecutive days of non-stop football at the highest level possible.
It brings into debate further questions about players' welfare and the inhumane fixture schedule that they have to deal with, something that will only get worse in the years ahead with the new Champions League format and proposals to add matches to the World Cup as well.
Just because many footballers are well-paid for their job doesn't mean they can be expected to perform like robots, and their luxury lifestyle should not be used as an excuse for football authorities to demand even more from them.
All in all, it makes for a worse and watered-down product. Unless these footballers are given enough rest, the quality of the entertainment on offer will only suffer.
Ten Hag's dilemma is that while he also has a duty of care towards his players' workloads, the stakes are so high that he feels he has little choice but to stick with a core group of key players. It is also glaringly obvious that he simply does not trust many of those in reserve and is reluctant to ever rest his best players because the drop-off in quality is so enormous.
He might well need to gamble on those squad options to help get United over the line, while the comfort of playing three of their final matches at home should also be enough to get them over the line.
In the long term, United should benefit from a less intense schedule next season and will also look to address the problem by adding better-suited players in the transfer window.
And even after a demoralising defeat to West Ham, the light is still glowing at the end of the tunnel. The prize of Champions League football not only brings with it more money but also a less demanding schedule.
They just need to get there now.
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