Speaking recently about the presence of Alex Ferguson when an opposing team came to Old Trafford, Frank Lampard succinctly summed his influence up; "he ran the place."
Over a quarter of a century in his managerial role, Manchester United came to reflect Ferguson's persona, and, as such, his departure was always going to cause ructions well beyond the players and team itself.
After a few false starts, Jose Mourinho is exerting a kind of control over the club that is, at times, reflecting the peculiarities of the Portuguese's own persona.
Having carried out extensive "research", Adam Marshall of ManUtd.com deduced that of the 20 Premier League clubs, "Manchester United have a harder time of it than our rivals towards the top of the table" during this festive period.
While Ferguson was no angel when it came to petty mind-games and victimisation, this latest release from one of the world's most lucrative sporting organisations seems particularly trivial.
Documenting the difficulties facing United, Marshall demonstrates how,
Jose Mourinho's side have a total of six non-matchdays over the period - no club has fewer - while London trio Arsenal, Tottenham and West Ham United can boast three more, due to the Gunners' clash with Liverpool being brought forward to this Friday and the Spurs versus West Ham derby moving back to 4 January.
Comparatively, Chelsea, Mourinho's former employer, have their matches "nicely spaced out to give them a total of eight days between games", with Liverpool and Manchester City boasting seven each.
Understandably, United's own official website is always likely to propagate a positive image of the club. Yet, this increasing concern with United's opponents is demonstrative of Mourinho's oft-reiterated abhorrence for discussing other teams (and usually their managers), before inevitably discussing these very topics.
Going down into the very mileage that United will cover during the period, Marshall concludes his concern for the well-being of United's plethora of stars by offering his condolences to the much-maligned, put-upon Mourinho:
It's the price of success, in many respects, but it all means Jose will have to juggle his resources accordingly in order to deal with such an exhausting programme.
Getting their excuses in nice and early? Perhaps. It is worth noting that Leicester City, another Premier League side featuring a similarly daunting Christmas period, have yet to comment on their congested schedule.
Given that United possess a squad of incredible depth and, by and large, understood the rigours of a Premier League season long before December rolled around, it is impossible to feel too sorry for this Goliath turned David.
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