If this is the right direction Erik ten Hag keeps talking about, then God help Manchester United if they ever take a wrong turn.
A week after it felt like United couldn't play any worse following the defeat at Newcastle, they did it at a rain-lashed Old Trafford on Saturday, although that may not do justice to an excellent performance in Bournemouth.
In between, Ten Hag's team defeated Chelsea here in midweek. Inconsistent barely begins to describe them.
It remains to be seen which Manchester United will show up on Tuesday for the crucial Champions League match against Bayern Munich and the dangerous trip to Anfield next week.
If it is something like this, then Ten Hag is in even bigger trouble than we think.
Dominic Solanke put the visitors 1-0 up after five minutes, putting the ball past Andre Onana with an excellent finish
It was Solanke's eighth Premier League goal of the season, having also recently scored in Bournemouth's 2-2 draw with Aston Villa.
Angry sounded at full-time at Old Trafford, with Erik ten Hag's side cutting deflated figures as they left the field
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Somewhere Sir Jim Ratcliffe watched this horror show unfold as he prepared to put the finishing touches on his £1.25 billion investment.
What should Ratcliffe and his Ineos advisors make of this utterly shabby performance? What should they make of these overpaid and underperforming stars? And how do they judge a coach who clearly has no idea what kind of performance his team will deliver from one game to the next?
As a form team in the Premier League, United went to Newcastle and had their pants pulled down. They went into this with the chance to move level on points with Manchester City, having just won the manager, player and goal of the month awards in November, yet yet again found a way to fall flat on their faces .
'Consistently inconsistent! A terrible result,” Gary Neville posted on social media, summing up the angry nature of his old club this season.
Ten Hag manfully accepted responsibility for United's 11th defeat in their first 23 games, but once again it was the players who let him down. He can't keep making excuses for it, especially not for a performance of this class.
United had twenty attempts on goal, ten more than their opponents, but were not as clinical as Bournemouth
It was United's second defeat in their last five games in all competitions, with the Red Devils now sixth in the table, three points behind Man City in fourth.
It felt like Old Trafford's infamous leaky roof had collapsed. When substitute Dango Ouattara seemed to have scored a fourth goal in injury time, you honestly feared that Ten Hag would survive until Tuesday's match against Bayern.
The ball was disallowed for handball, as was Marcus Tavernier's header for offside in the first half. Dominic Solanke hit the post. Make no mistake: this could have been worse and it wouldn't have flattered Andoni Iraola's side either.
They were excellent from start to finish. Everything United was, it wasn't. Smarter, hungrier and more clinical when it mattered.
Their fourth win in the last five games was also the club's first-ever victory at Old Trafford.
It will never equal Bournemouth's famous FA Cup victory over United at Dean Court in January 1984, when Harry Redknapp's side struggled to the bottom of the old Third Division, but their fans will not soon forget it.
Scott McTominay had a chance to pull one back in the first half, shooting from outside the penalty area, but couldn't find the back of the net
Ten Hag made several changes in the second half, with Facundo Pellistri, Marcus Rashford and Jonny Evans making the switch, but they were unable to change the score.
That includes Iraola, who considers his Europa League win with Athletic Bilbao here in 2012 the highlight of his playing career.
It was hard to believe how easily Bournemouth could keep United at bay. Ten Hag's team had twenty shots on target, but twelve shots were blocked and three were on target. Only one of these, Harry Maguire's looping header from Sergio Reguilon's cross in the first half, caused any discomfort for goalkeeper Neto.
United was already behind and the time had come before Solanke gave Bournemouth the lead in the fifth minute.
A slow start has been a problem for Ten Hag all season. They have now gone behind in half of their Premier League games and have conceded the opening goal nine times in all competitions at Old Trafford.
They were at it again here, having made several sloppy passes before Bruno Fernandes tried another to Scott McTominay. Lewis Cook got to the ball first with an acceleration that took him ahead of McTominay and past United's back four in the same move.
Cook sent a low cross for Solanke, who had found space between Maguire and Luke Shaw, and he beat Andre Onana with a fine move.
Solanke and Cook were the pick of a very good Bournemouth bunch. The attacker proved to be a real pillar for the United defense. He bullied them at times and then dropped deep to give their midfielders a taste of the same medicine. Cook got to the ball first time and time again.
United were so poor that when Maguire intercepted on the edge of his penalty area before half-time it was greeted as a goal.
Within 11 minutes of the restart, the home fans were cheering again when Ten Hag decided he had seen enough – or not enough – of Anthony Martial and hooked the Frenchman in favor of Rasmus Hojlund.
It was hard to say which part of that move pleased fans the most. Yes, Martial was back to his old, angry self, but he wasn't alone.
United continued to work and were floored by a second Bournemouth goal in the 68th minute.
This time Shaw's aimless pass was intercepted and Solanke fed Tavernier on the left. He crossed to the edge of the six-yard box where six-foot substitute Philip Billing was always favorite to beat Shaw and Reguilon and head home.
Within five minutes there were three. Tavernier curled a corner from the right and no one picked out Marcos Senesi as he planted a header into the back of the net from ten yards.
Philip Billing (centre) scored the second after half-time from a cross from Marcus Tavernier
Marcos Senesi made it 3-0 in the 73rd minute, heading in another Tavernier corner
Bruno Fernandes could also have been sent off after being kicked at Adam Smith in the second half
The goal was met by a chorus of boos from the United fans as Ten Hag stood frowning on the touchline.
If United can't beat Bournemouth, what chance do Bayern have? Based on such an erratic season, you wouldn't put it past them.
But the prospect of a Champions League exit on Tuesday and a move to Anfield on Sunday, where Ten Hag lost 7-0 last season and without captain Bruno Fernandes after being booked here for dissent, is almost too terrible to bear thinking.
With Ratcliffe's arrival looming, the United manager has every right to be nervous.
Bournemouth are now unbeaten in their last five matches, having won four and drawn one