As Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United players gathered for their Friday debriefs they would have both gone through the good, the bad and the ugly from an entertaining but ultimately flawed Premier League game.
Erik ten Hag and Ryan Mason both had some positivity to sprinkle in their post-match press conference, but they also couldn't escape the elephants in the room and the issues that plague their teams.
This season looks like being more successful for United than it does for Spurs, but when Ten Hag and his staff begin to plan for next term and a more sustained challenge at the top, they will have one area that is clearly ripe for improvement.
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For 45 minutes in north London, they actually played well, although Ten Hag insisted afterwards he wasn't even that happy with the first half. They moved the ball quickly through midfield and created chances. A 2-0 lead against a time shorn of confidence should have been enough.
But if the opening half shone a light on Tottenham's weaknesses, the way they came back into the game after the break highlighted United's shortcomings. They lost control of an away game yet again.
As it stands United are 13 points behind Manchester City. That is the kind of improvement Ten Hag will need to find this summer. If they beat Aston Villa on Sunday then United will have taken just four points less at home than City from 16 games. But if City win at Fulham on the same day then they will have collected nine more points on the road from the same number of games. United have embraced data in the past two years, but even a nation apparently full of maths dummies can spot the issue here.
It's clear where problems lie. United have conceded 31 goals in 16 away games, at almost two a game. Scoring three to win an away game is not sustainable. The porous nature of their performances away from Old Trafford is even more pronounced given they have let in just eight goals in 15 home games. They have the best defensive record in the league at home, but only the 16th-best away from home.
Within that, there have been five away clean sheets, but they've all been against teams in the bottom eight. Against the top 12, there has been one away win and not a single clean sheet. The 2-1 success at Fulham, sealed in injury time, is the only success against the top dozen.
And to challenge for titles you need to have a reasonable record against your rivals. Including Chelsea in the big six feels generous at the moment but their spending should make them a threat and Newcastle probably turn it into a supposedly magnificent seven now. In the six away games against those teams, United have draws at Chelsea and Tottenham and four defeats, conceding 21 goals in the process. It's a wretched record.
They will have to be more competitive away from home next season. United have just three away games to go this season. The fixtures at West Ham and Bournemouth fall into the category of games they've done okay in, but next Thursday's trip to Brighton is the final chance to land kind of statement result.
It's probably damning in itself that if United do win at the Amex - and that's a big if - it would be by some distance their best away win of the season. If they don't get all three points then a win at Craven Cottage will take pride of place. You won't win any trophies if that is the headline act at the end of the season.
Ten Hag deserves credit for the way he has transformed United's Old Trafford record. They have lost just once their this season, against Brighton on the opening day when Ten Hag was still finding his feet. They've beaten Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham and still have Chelsea to come.
But the disconnect between those performances - some of them exceptional - and what is happening away from home is far too big. Winning on the south coast next week might give them some confidence to take into next season, but the improvements must be significant.
United's biggest issue in these games has been a lack of control. They completely surrendered that against Tottenham. Next season has to be different.
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