Manchester United beat Fulham thanks to Alejandro Garnacho's goal.

The defensive pecking order is confirmed by Ten Hag.

This was the clearest indicator yet of where Erik ten Hag stood in Manchester United's defensive pecking order. In Diogo Dalot's absence, Tyrell Malacia filled in at right back, and despite the fact that both Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire were available for selection in the center of the defense, the team went with Lindelof. Harry Maguire was passed over in favor of Lindelof.

United will continue to look for a new right back in the next year, and the club may need to buy a backup central defender in the near future if either Victor Lindelof or Harry Maguire decides that they want to leave the club in order to get more significant playing time elsewhere.

After what happened on Sunday, it is now quite evident that both Varane and Dalot will, without a shadow of a doubt, return to the lineup as soon as they are fit to do so.

The unpredictability of Martial

Cristiano Ronaldo was not available for the trip to Fulham, much to the dismay of one "influencer," and even if he had been, there is no way that he would have started ahead of Anthony Martial. Even if he had been, there is no way that he would have started ahead of Anthony Martial. The Frenchman made his first league start since the victory against Everton a month ago, although he was hardly a noteworthy "influencer" at Craven Cottage in his own right at that time.

With Martial in attack, they did appear to play with greater purpose, and even when they were unable to break through the Fulham defense, his movement was essential in locating pockets of space that might be exploited.

If he had been healthy for the entire season, it is possible that Manchester United would have finished higher in the league standings going into the break for the World Cup. Even on a day when he didn't play well, it was obvious that having Martial on the field made them a more cohesive unit, and this was the case even if he struggled. Please consider this your weekly reminder that we are in need of a new striker.

A point to demonstrate

Andreas Pereira and Manchester United had a falling out during the summer, which turned out to be for the best, but it does not mean that Pereira will necessarily agree with the choice to part ways with the club. He was once a Brazil international during his time at Old Trafford, and in a parallel universe, one might well wonder if he would be heading to Qatar this week if things had turned out differently. If things had gone differently, he would have spent his time at Old Trafford playing for Manchester United. Mind you, in an other version of our universe, all of us would be on that level.

Even though Pereira was the driving force behind practically everything good that Fulham did in the game, it was illuminating to see that on a day when he stood out, he also struggled to perform adequately when it mattered the most.

Even if Pereira makes Fulham a better team when he plays for them, Manchester United have also been better in the time while he's been gone. The same can be said for Dan James, another player who was far too unreliable for Old Trafford and who scored, but despite this, he was a guy who scored.

The future is looking bright for both of them at Fulham, where they are playing football with a squad that is able to overlook their flaws and still win games. However, this does not mean that they are not missed at all.

Fixation of Garnacho Ten Hag error

United was in the lead and doing a good job of containing the threat posed by Fulham. Ten Hag then made a tweak, which caused the pendulum to swing back in the opposite direction.

They made a pragmatic move when Anthony Elanga was replaced by Scott McTominay. Scott McTominay entered the pitch as a No. 10, but he would soon drop deeper as they searched for a way to get back into the game. Despite appearing so dangerous on the counter-attack, they made the change.

It is not a personal attack on the Scotland international for what he brought to the occasion; rather, it is a criticism of Ten Hag for a tactical change that saw United lose a key attacking outlet and resort to a style that Fulham thrived against. Specifically, the change saw United lose a key attacking outlet and play in a style that Fulham thrived against.

Once again, the entrance of Alejandro Garnacho from the bench gave United the balance and brightness in attack that they had been lacking, but this raises the question of why they didn't do that in the first place, rather than reacting after they had blown a lead they had previously held.

Garnacho was the answer to a crisis that United had brought upon themselves via their own actions.

Fifth avenue

Even if we haven't quite reached the halfway point of the season yet, we've seen enough from United to realize that placing in the top four might be as good as it gets for them in the coming year.

If you had offered to be in fifth place in the table by the time the World Cup break rolled around, many people would have reluctantly accepted it as progress from the previous season, if not scooped it up after the first two games of the season.

United have shown steady signs of improvement since then, but their trip to Fulham on Sunday was another reminder of just how much work is still to be done and how thin the squad is when a few key players drop out of it. United have shown steady signs of improvement since then, but their trip to Fulham on Sunday was another reminder.

Even while there is still a great deal of work to be done, they are moving in the right direction.