Manuel Ugarte returned to the Manchester United starting line-up to face Aston Villa.
Before Manchester United’s match with Aston Villa, Ruben Amorim had to decide who should start in midfield in place of the suspended Casemiro.
The injury to Kobbie Mainoo took the decision out of his hands, and made Manuel Ugarte the starter by default.
It was a tough game for Ugarte to step into, and he played 77 minutes. Manchester United lost the fixture 2-1, and we saw the full range from the Uruguayan.
Who was the Man Utd man of the match in the defeat at Villa?
A positive performance despite the loss… who stood out for you?
The good: Tackling machine
The strengths of Manuel Ugarte’s game centre around his defensive doggedness. He is committed to trying to recover the ball, and challenge his opponents.
Aston Villa’s players bore the brunt of this during the game, as his combative approach helped United take the game to the home side.
Against Aston Villa, Manuel Ugarte made five tackles – more than any player on the pitch.
Impressively, this is more than Casemiro has managed in any game this season, his best tally is four tackles, in the 2-2 draw with Tottenham.
This highlights that what Ugarte does well, he does very well. But that is as far as it goes.
Manuel Ugarte managed more tackles vs Aston Villa than Casemiro has in any game this season!
How would you rate Manuel Ugarte's overall performance? Is he too one-dimensional?
The bad: Wasteful, error prone
The rest of Manuel Ugarte’s game is far less efficient. There were two moments that really summed up his flaws.
One was in the seventh minute when he was caught on the ball and left flat-footed on the turf after losing possession.
Aston Villa went up the other end and also scored, with Senne Lammens making an excellent save to deny the home side.
It was a near-repeat of Ugarte losing the ball in the home defeat to West Ham last season, a moment where United did concede. He was subsequently dropped for the Europa League Final.
Villa were constantly trying to press Ugarte, after seeing how he was vulnerable to errors.
Data from Sofascore gives a more well-rounded picture of Ugarte’s performance than simply looking at his tackling.
He only won eight of the 15 duels he competed for, and managed only three ball recoveries.
Ugarte’s passing was another problem for Manchester United to try and negotiate, highlighted by one totally farcical moment in the first half.
Striding up the pitch in possession, Ugarte attempted to find a teammate with a diagonal pass. It went horribly wrong, sailing out of play for a goal kick.
Speaking on commentary, Gary Neville noted that Ugarte needed to keep it simple, and leave the more complicated passes to his teammates.
By and large he did, Ugarte completed 27 of 32 pass attempts (84 per cent). But this moment was a reminder that when he tries to be more extravagant, it does not end well.
The ugly: Manchester United’s record with Manuel Ugarte
Manchester United have failed to win every single game Manuel Ugarte has started this season.
- Grimsby 2-2 Man Utd – Grimsby win on penalties
- Man City 3-0 Man Utd
- Brentford 3-1 Man Utd
- Aston Villa 2-1 Man Utd
Manchester United have lost ALL FOUR games Manuel Ugarte has started so far this season
Is Ugarte the worst signing Ineos have made in their time at the club?
The Grimsby game aside, which was a separate issue for which Andre Onana must take a large share of the blame, Manuel Ugarte has come in for some tough fixtures.
Away at Man City, Brentford and Aston Villa are tough games, but you would normally expect United to have a better record than 0 points from these three.
There are multiple factors going into these defeats, and Manuel Ugarte is just one part of it.
His poor record goes beyond this. United’s ‘Plus Minus’ is examined statistically on the moments he has come onto the pitch when United are leading, and often have given up those leads.
He could be in line to start his first home game of the season next week against Newcastle, due to injuries to Bruno Fernandes and Kobbie Mainoo.
We hope this record does not continue.
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