Manchester United's two matches immediately after the international break are already looking really important for the club and manager Michael Carrick.
An underwhelming start to the Premier League season sees Man United sitting in 12th position, while they have also been knocked out of the EFL Cup by Brighton and Hove Albion after surrendering a 2-0 lead at Old Trafford.
If the Red Devils are to repeat the third-place finish in the top flight last term, and have a positive campaign in the Champions League, then improvement is needed, and quickly.
United's first match after the current three-week break sees them host another club who are seriously underperforming given they spent more than £300m in the summer transfer market.
Roberto De Zerbi's Tottenham Hotspur side only scored their first league goals of the season last Saturday, and they lie bottom of the standings having only taken two points from a possible 15 available, on the back of successive 17th-place finishes.
Both managers are in desperate need of a positive result at the 'Theatre of Dreams', with United then facing their first real challenge in the Champions League three days later.
They comfortably beat Azerbaijani minnows Sabah 4-0 at Old Trafford in their European opener, but it will be a much harder challenge against Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid in the Spanish capital on October 13.
It is 72 hours that could define where their season is headed, and reports suggest that United chiefs are already identifying potential managers who could take over from Carrick if a decision needs to be made.
Reports in Italy suggest that the currently available Antonio Conte is their number one target, and he would arrive at Old Trafford with numerous league titles on his CV, as well as extensive experience managing in Europe's elite club competition.
It's also been suggested that another out-of-work manager in Kieran McKenna is 'very keen' on the United job, having managed youth sides and then been part of the first-team coaching staff under Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick.
McKenna is Good Fit for Man United
There may be some United fans who would be unimpressed if the club replaced Carrick with McKenna, but he could be the perfect fit for the job.
The 40-year-old is a coach who clearly has a big future in the game given his achievements with Ipswich Town, where he led them to back-to-back promotions before securing an immediate return to the Premier League last season after their relegation from the top flight.
McKenna is highly-rated among his peers and has been on the radar of top Premier League clubs including Chelsea and Brighton and Hove Albion, who he turned down to sign a new long-term contract with the Tractor Boys in 2024.
One report has claimed that Ipswich viewed him as a 'world-class' coach, which is something that is yet to be said about Carrick and shows just how highly thought of he is.
He was certainly hugely respected in the Tractor Boys' dressing room, as former Ipswich star Conor Chaplin confirmed earlier this year.
"When someone like me talks to someone like him, I just listen. There's nothing that I can say that he doesn't know. I'm just learning from him.
"Every morning we'd always talk about the game that was on the night before. He’d always says something and I’d think, ‘I didn't see that’.
He's a genius in terms of the way that he sees tactical pictures.
It's not just his tactics though, with Chaplin also providing insight into his man-management skills too.
“That's one of the boss's massive strengths. He keeps everyone right where they need to be at any given time, reads the room incredibly well every single post-match, same on a Monday, always realising exactly what the lads need at that point in time.
He always, always hits the nail on the head with the atmosphere in the room, whether the lads need a confidence boost or a little bit of a rocket.
The other big positive is that, like Carrick, McKenna knows the club and the pressures involved with the job, having worked on the coaching staff before.
He will also have picked up some sound tips and advice from the likes of Mourinho and Rangnick, as well as Mauricio Pochettino during his time at Tottenham.