It is not very often that a manager gets the opportunity to assess all of his centre-backs in match-action in the space of just over 24 hours.
But that is exactly what happened to Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag over the weekend, as he watched his side lose 1-0 to Atletico Madrid on Saturday and draw 1-1 with Rayo Vallecano on Sunday. United completed their pre-season schedule with a Spanish double header over the course of just two days, meaning Ten Hag got the opportunity to rotate his pack and run the rule over his players one last time ahead of the competitive action getting under way this coming weekend.
The Dutchman, who ended his first pre-season campaign as United manager with three wins, two draws and a defeat to his name, fielded a more recognisable and stronger line-up against Atletico than he did against Vallecano, even though the latter of those two line-ups featured an array of top talent, as the likes of Raphael Varane, Christian Eriksen and Cristiano Ronaldo all started. Neither side, however, managed to secure a clean sheet, meaning the Reds recorded just one shut-out in six pre-season matches, highlighting that Ten Hag is yet to eradicate their defensive woes.
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Nevertheless, that area of the operation was always going to be a work-in-progress. Ten Hag, despite all of the good things he has done so far at Old Trafford, is not equipped with a magic wand. A degree of patience is required on the defensive front.
Ten Hag, as was expected ahead of the weekend, fielded two different central-defensive partnerships, with Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof, who started four times alongside each other in pre-season, starting against Atletico, before new signing Lisandro Martinez and Varane picked up the baton against Vallecano. It was just Varane's second appearance of pre-season and his first since the pre-season opener against Liverpool in Thailand, with injuries derailing his first pre-season campaign in England.
That meant that Maguire and Lindelof quickly established themselves as Ten Hag's first choice centre-back paring, with Maguire lining up as the right-sided centre-back and Lindelof on the left. Maguire's switch across to the other side of the centre-back partnership has suggested that Ten Hag sees him as a regular starter, with the left-footed Martinez, who completed his move to United from Ajax last week, lining up alongside him.
But considering Martinez has played just one game in United colours ahead of the Premier League opener against Brighton on Sunday, and has never played alongside Maguire, Ten Hag might be tempted stick with Maguire and Lindelof, or, alternatively, give Varane the nod as the right-sided centre-back, allowing Martinez to hit the ground running from the off with a feeling of familiarity. That is because he was impressed by what he saw from the new-look combination against Vallecano, despite them failing to help the Reds earn just a second clean sheet of his tenure.
"I think it was a really good combination with Rapha and I think they played really solid and that was good to see," Ten Hag told MUTV, reflecting on Martinez's United debut. "The question is how do you integrate him, but I think he will integrate quite well into the team."
The on-field partnership the duo built-up, even if it only lasted an hour, is bound to have given the Dutchman food for thought. Maguire and Lindelof, the latter of whom started five of United's six friendlies, are, on the face of it, the more likely duo to start the season opener based on the volume of minutes they accrued in pre-season, but Martinez's presence as a natural left-sided centre-back has changed the landscape of the situation - but for the better, of course.
Martinez has not joined United to make up the numbers; he has arrived in England to be a regular starter and stamp his authority on the Reds' defence. Once he is fully settled into his new surroundings, Ten Hag will see him as a certain starter, meaning the battle to join him will be a three-way one between Maguire, Lindelof and Varane.
Maguire, considering he has kept the captain's armband, is likely to be the winner of that particular showdown, but one false move could have serious consequences. Regardless of what Ten Hag settles on, however, he needs to find a combination that makes United less vulnerable at the back, in a bid to avoid any repeats of last season's defensive woes resurfacing.
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