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When the team sheets dropped at the Gtech Community Stadium at 11.15am on Saturday morning, there were no surprises in the Manchester United line-up.
Casemiro was suspended, Amad Diallo was absent on compassionate grounds and Noussair Mazraoui was injured, so in came Manuel Ugarte, Matheus Cunha and Diogo Dalot.
Otherwise it was the usual 3-4-2-1 formation we have come to expect from Ruben Amorim; the one he swears by. The one, it seems, he will live or die by.
Brentford’s rookie manager Keith Andrews, on the other hand, responded to his team’s 3-1 defeat to Fulham a week earlier by making a significant change.
Andrews switched from a back-five to a back-four, putting defender Ethan Pinnock on the bench and adding another wide player in Dango Ouattara.
The plan was to get at United in the wide areas and stretch Amorim’s side, particularly in transition. It paid off in a well-deserved 3-1 win.
Ruben Amorim has delivered few surprises when his beleaguered Manchester United have needed them most
Brentford's Keith Andrews rolled the dice on the heels of defeat and was rewarded with a win
More importantly, it showed that Andrews was prepared to react to a defeat and adapt to a different challenge – unlike Amorim.
United’s head coach is adamant he will not change and has become tired of repeating himself, even suggesting that the Pope couldn’t persuade him. It may become his epitaph.
He says that his players would lose faith in his philosophy if he changed now, but that is happening anyway and will only continue if results don’t improve.
There is a difference between self-belief and stubbornness. United have become predictable; sitting ducks for opponents who find it easy to second-guess their next move.
While Andrews was tailoring his team for Saturday’s lunchtime clash, Amorim stuck to Plan A and lost for the third time in six Premier League games this season. His two wins – against Chelsea and Burnley – have been chaotic affairs.
‘It's always the same,’ he lamented afterwards. ‘When we win it’s not the system, when we lose it’s the system. I understand that.
‘I think it’s more that we played this game like Brentford wants to play this game. We never settled down into our game. We suffered goals in transition that we knew (about) during the week and worked on that.’
Amorim spent much of last season moaning about the lack of time he had with his players at Carrington.
Amorim has had much more time to work with his players due to the absence of additional competitions at home and abroad
The head coach is deaf to demands to change his playing philosophy and become tired of explaining his fixed position
Now, without the demands of European or even Carabao Cup games, he has weeks free to work with them on the training ground but to little effect, it would appear.
After United spent £236m on new signings to fit his system in the summer, he is a man rapidly running out of excuses.
United observers believe it wouldn’t be hard for Amorim to make a not dissimilar tweak as Andrews and switch to a 4-3-3, sacrificing one of his centre-backs for an extra midfielder to make his team more compact.
But don’t expect the Portuguese to change anytime soon as he prepares to pit his wits against Regis Le Bris when Sunderland visit Old Trafford on Saturday riding high in the table.
The word from inside Old Trafford is that Sir Jim Ratcliffe is still backing Amorim and believes he should be given time to mould his team. Sources insist the club are not lining up a replacement.
United have invested so heavily in Amorim that there is no appetite for change. But with an international break coming up, followed by a trip to Anfield, he would be wise not to test their patience.
