Manchester United face Watford in the Premier League on Saturday, where Ralf Rangnick will take on the same team that ended his predecessor Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's career at Old Trafford.
There is no suggestion that if Rangnick was to face a similar defeat he would also lose his job, given he is only United's interim manager and as such is unlikely to be at the helm past the end of the season, but a defeat would be still be problematic.
With any chance of the title now impossible given how United started the season, finishing in the top four has to be the aim for Rangnick.
The team has improved as a whole since Rangnick's appointment as manager last December. United look safer in possession and less prone to errors that the opposition can take advantage of, and this shows in the number of clean sheets that the team have kept under the German manager.
And the team has also been much more creative, this partly due to Rangnick playing both Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba together as dual eights. The former has enjoyed some of his best form since the manager's appointment at United.
Fernandes has registered four goals and five assists since Rangnick's first game against Crystal Palace and though he started slowly, all these contributions have come in recent weeks.
However, there is a massive 'but' attached to all of this.
Watford marks the end of what could be considered an easy run for United. Since Rangnick's appointment, the hardest opponents the team have faced have been West Ham United and Wolverhampton Wanderers, who are both also rivals for a top-four place.
Yes, you can only beat what's put in front of you, but the real challenge will come for Rangnick when United play every one of the traditional top six in the Premier League.
Over the next few weeks, United will face Manchester City before playing the return leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against Atletico Madrid, followed by meetings with Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur.
Games against Chelsea and Arsenal will also have to be played before the end of the season meaning that if United want to achieve top four they will need to beat both their rivals for the spot and also teams that are competing much higher up the table.
At the end of the day, United need to secure UEFA Champions League football to put them in the best position possible for a summer rebuild and to attract the targets they need to improve key positions within the squad.
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