Outside Old Trafford a photo of Alejandro Garnacho had been vandalised with an X drawn across his face.
On the back of the matchday programme Jadon Sancho’s name sat at the bottom of a long list of 38 Manchester United players. He was the only one not to be allocated a squad number.
Rasmus Hojlund, so often given the thankless task of spearheading the United attack last season, found himself dropped from the squad in a not-so-subtle message to pack his bags and leave before the end of the transfer window.
Marcus Rashford was pushed out to Barcelona on loan and Antony has become an afterthought in these parts now.
And so here was a Manchester United in Ruben Amorim’s vision. Ripped up and started again to the tune of £200million. What was produced over the course of 96 minutes in defeat to Arsenal – that can’t go on too much longer, granted – was an underlining of why he was right to start over.
United scored a paltry 32 league goals from 27 league games last season under Amorim. Over the course of the campaign only four teams scored fewer league goals than United (and three of them went down!)
Matheus Cunha (left) and Bryan Mbeumo (right) are just what Man United have been missing
A photo of Alejandro Garnacho outside Old Trafford had been defaced amid his ongoing exile
Factor in, too, that even when they did create chances they wasted them, boasting – if that can even be an appropriate word here – the second lowest shot conversion rate in the league, both in total and from ‘Big Chances’.
Too often Manchester United’s attackers sucked the life out of a stadium that was already a bag of nerves.
So to see the electrifying displays of Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha getting fans off their feet time after time after time was to underline to supporters just how much the previous iteration of this Amorim side had had them starving.
Mbeumo was so dynamic in the role of right No 10, a thorn in the side of Arsenal left back Riccardo Calafiori all game.
In a relentless first half he completed 100 per cent of his dribbles from 13 sprints. Eight completed passes, four crosses, two shots and a created chance had some inside Old Trafford in disbelief. One particular one-on-one deserved a better finish than the fatigued one it ended up with.
As far as first impressions go, this was a great one, even if no goal arrived as the cherry on top.
Cunha, too, thriving in a role that allowed him space to break from deep and switch between being a false No 9 and a wide player as one of the No 10s.
It took two spectacular saves from David Raya, one down low to his left with mere fingertips to deny Cunha in the first half, and a brilliant reflex stop to keep out a Mbeumo header in the second, to deny both attackers goals their performances deserved.
Ruben Amorim (centre) was backed to the tune of £130million to sign the duo this summer
By the time Simon Hooper blew his whistle to put Arsenal out of their misery as they clung on for a huge three points, Cunha and Mbeumo had taken nine shots between them. That was as many as the entire Arsenal team managed combined.
The retort here is that United lost again. They did that a lot last season and, take Cunha as one example, stats show he had the least touches (35) of any outfield player to play 90 minutes and lost the most duels (12) in the match.
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That is why the eye test is important. Old Trafford felt like a place attackers could thrive again after previously looking like a graveyard where promising players’ careers came to die.
‘They created a lot, they were in the right positions,’ captain Bruno Fernandes said of the dynamic attacking duo afterwards.
‘We know they are dangerous and they are a threat. We are very aware of what they can give to the team. It was a good first impression for them but I’m pretty sure they will do much better.’
Sesko came off the bench late, too early to judge, even if he had a couple of half-chances to try his luck with.
The story here was Cunha and Mbeumo, two players of a throwback era where Manchester United had an attack that could get people off their seats.
‘Players like Cunha and Mbeumo can elevate the stadium in one moment,’ Amorim said. He’s spot on.
‘The most important thing is that we were not boring.’
Mbeumo brought a speed, touch and finesse that has been lacking at Old Trafford for a while
Benjamin Sesko came on as a late sub but rarely has there been so many positives in defeat
Promise and hope of better days is a currency that will only last so long when one game a week is the punishment for failing so badly last season.
But walking out of Old Trafford last night to hear fans talking positively of players was to grip on to the fact that Amorim’s revised version of United is right with every call.
‘Six months ago, in my first three games in charge, with two victories and one draw, I said to you the storm is coming,’ Amorim told fans on May 25.
‘Today, after this disastrous season, I want to tell you the good days are coming.’
Ninety-six minutes here, lit up by their shiny new toys, showed just why he’s right.