Cristiano Ronaldo gets Manchester United's message as they draw with Aston Villa

At half-time in Perth, Cristiano Ronaldo hit "tweet". There he was, shredding his sculpted abdominals in his Manchester United shorts.

Whether it is currying favour with United fans or encouraging speculation with Champions League participants, Ronaldo is remaining relevant whilst an irrelevance to United on the other side of the world.

Timing is everything and Ronaldo's post seemed strategic. Erik ten Hag all but confirmed his attacking quartet against Brighton in a fortnight and they were in telepathic form again as United got it right by working it from right to left.

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Anthony Martial, who passed it to Bruno Fernandes, then onto Marcus Rashford and he played in Luke Shaw on the overlap. Then it was left to right with a prompt cross to Jadon Sancho to cushion in on the volley.

These fluid team moves have been commonplace from Bangkok to Perth via Melbourne. United were denied a back-to-front effort by the woodwork against Liverpool in their opening friendly yet there were two against Crystal Palace and now another. From Melbourne to Perth, United have showed their worth: four games, three wins, one draw and 13 goals.

Such goals hardly happened under the previous regimes and when they did they were usually on the counter. Blinkered purists might argue the mythical United way has returned under Ten Hag when the approach is far more modern and sophisticated. United are playing proactively.

The timing of the winter World Cup is working to their advantage with Sancho and Rashford playing to regain spots in the England squad. Ten Hag has addressed United's lopsided attack by insisting Sancho revert to the right-hand side - where United originally intended to start him - and he