This could be a Manchester United dressing room that dances to Cristiano Ronaldo's beat. Six of the outfield players who started in the defining performance against Tottenham were South American or Portuguese and the squad is characterised by their aggression and hunger now.
Instead, Ronaldo has ostracised himself from the team and the way back looks too long and too winding for a 37-year-old to navigate. The only thing United might be missing at the moment are his goals, but then there's only been one from open play in 695 minutes this season.
Erik ten Hag has taken a tough stance against Ronaldo, the Dutchman putting an end to the days of player power at Old Trafford, but he does still want his players to be demonstrable on the pitch. He wants personality out there and the fire of Lisandro Martinez and Casemiro feels like the new United.
READ MORE: Ten Hag explains why he dropped Ronaldo for Chelsea fixture
There is still an English influence at United, Harry Maguire remains club captain, Tom Heaton is a key off-field leader, Marcus Rashford is top scorer and Luke Shaw and Jadon Sancho started on Wednesday, but the days when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wanted to build around a British core are over.
Diogo Dalot, Fred and Bruno Fernandes were part of the squad Ten Hag inherited, but three of his summer signings were South American in Brazilians Casemiro and Antony and the Argentine Martinez. It is something of a cliche but it is generally an accurate one that players schooled in those conditions can have an extra edge to their game, a willingness to push the line and sometimes cross it.
Martinez's subtle aggression in his performance against Harry Kane on Wednesday helped to set the tone for United and at one point in the second half he earned a roar of approval from Casemiro. As the players left the pitch to jubilant roars from the Stretford End they were two of the most demonstrative when it came to celebrations, unleashing fist-bumps back to the supporters after a statement win.
A squad that was stretched to breaking point in terms of unity last season has come together under Ten Hag. In countless media appearances, this season the new United manager has stressed the importance of team spirit, which is why he has taken such a hard line with Ronaldo.
It takes substance and a total commitment to the project to take that kind of action against one of the game's biggest-ever players, but Ten Hag has shown he has the steel to do that. He has worked hard to build a squad with the right character, with the right leaders, and he wasn't going to allow Ronaldo to fracture that.
After a litany of passive performances last season, the ferocity of Wednesday's performance was a welcome sight and it got the crowd onside in a spectacular way. It felt like it was driven by the shifting of sands of power in the United dressing room and the changing face of this squad.
Ronaldo could have fit into that in terms of character, but on the pitch he has been left behind. The reality for the Portuguese is that the squad don't really need him anymore, as they've just proven.
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