COMMENT: Same status. Same club(s). Indeed, even same vintage. Did Graeme Souness just have his 'Alan Hansen moment' this week when taking aim at Erik ten Hag...?
Much like his former Liverpool teammate some 27 years ago, Souness has thrown down at a Manchester United manager. The Scot landing squarely behind Cristiano Ronaldo and his Tottenham wobbler last week.
Forget merit. Commitment. Sacrifice. Souness insists Ronaldo deserves special status and his decision to quit on teammates and be on his way out of the Old Trafford carpark before the final whistle was understandable.
And he explained his reasons by taking direct aim at Ten Hag and the prospects of the Dutchman making it long-term at Old Trafford: “In five years, Ten Hag will be away from the club and nobody will talk about him and his spell as Manchester United ever again, but Ronaldo will always be remembered as arguably the greatest to have ever kicked a football.
“Does that give Ronaldo a pass? It does, in my opinion."
As we say, cycle back 27 years and Souness' former Liverpool teammate Alan Hansen took similar aim at Sir Alex Ferguson after United had been blown away at Aston Villa in the opening game of the 1995/96 season. Ferguson had just overseen the departures of Mark Hughes, Andrei Kanchelskis and Paul Ince - and had refused to replace them from the outside. Instead he promoted much of the Class of '92. And after that opening day result, Hansen infamously declared "you can't win anything with kids".
Like Souness now, Hansen at the time was the premier pundit in England. His opinion weighed. It mattered. Indeed Phil Neville, who was playing with older brother Gary for the first time on the day, would later say he was "devastated" by the Scot's claim.
Of course, those words would eventually define Hansen's punditry career as United not only went onto win the title that season - but also the FA Cup.
Now it's another Liverpool icon who has taken aim at a United manager. Souness, in his role - rightfully for this column as the country's leading pundit - choosing to attack Ten Hag in a very sneering, condescending way. Only unlike Hansen, he's given Ten Hag "five years" to prove him wrong. And on current evidence, the good money would be on United's current manager to do just that.
Over these three months, Ten Hag has been tested like never before - and he's overcome time and again. He's proved himself capable of snapping a form crisis, as the team experienced in those opening two games of his Premier League career. He's shown he can lift his players after a heavy loss, as he did after the humiliation at Manchester City. He's displayed a considerable skill in the transfer market - and the managerial ability to get those signings up and running almost instantly. He's taken on big egos. He's made big decisions. He's thrown out the status levels and chosen players on merit and form.
And only this week, amid all the Ronaldo noise, Ten Hag also affirmed a commitment to the United academy. Indeed, not only that, he also reinforced those man-management skills with the introduction - and performance - of Alejandro Garnacho against FC Sheriff.
Thursday night's tie was chosen by Ten Hag as the ideal moment to reward Garnacho for his training ground work. The Spanish born and raised Argentina U20 international having incurred some frustration amongst coaching staff during the club's preseason tour of the Far East. Those doubts had remained for Ten Hag and his assistants until a few weeks ago as the penny dropped for Garnacho.
No-one inside Carrington doubts the winger's potential or present ability. As he proved on Thursday, Garnacho is good enough - even at 18 - to make a difference at that level. And he's a Ten Hag player - both in style and personality. Think Antony or Dusan Tadic at Ajax.
But it was his capacity to follow instructions which had been letting him down. However, as Ten Hag acknowledged after the 3-0 win, those issues now appear to be fading: "In the last weeks, he had a better attitude, more resilience, more determination... He deserved his chance, but there is still a lot of room for improvement, especially in the defending part, in the pressing part, in the counter press, in the defence transition..."
Again, it's simply another tick in the positive column for Ten Hag. Indeed, the greatest endorsement for the manager is that while his relationship with Ronaldo remains a headline maker, there's plenty of positive stories also competing for space. From Garnacho and Marcus Rashford's revival, to the impact of Lisandro Martinez, Antony and Christian Eriksen. Ten Hag, even after these three short, hectic months, isn't going to be defined by Ronaldo's wobbler.
Twenty seven years ago, one former Liverpool captain was so, so wrong when taking aim at Sir Alex Ferguson. And on current evidence, Graeme Souness has just done the same with Erik ten Hag.
