This week, Gary Neville wondered if Erik ten Hag might benefit from a change of formation at Manchester United. A change that could suit Manuel Ugarte too.
The 11-time Premier League champion feels that this Manchester United squad is one well-suited to a three-at-the-back formation.
Neville feels Lisandro Martinez would thrive in a system allowing him to drive forward and step into midfield. Harry Maguire excelled in such a role under Gareth Southgate for England. Luke Shaw, Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui, he adds, may also be given a new lease of life as wing-backs freed up of their defensive responsibilities.
Manuel Ugarte, meanwhile, looked like he had been playing in a back three for years as Uruguay took on Peru in Friday night’s World Cup qualifier.
Ugarte, it should be said, had only ever played in central defence once before. And that was during Paris Saint-Germain’s 9-0 hammering of US Revel in the Coupe de France.
But, handed an 8/10 rating by Uruguayan publication El Observador, Ugarte took to a new position like the proverbial duck to a warm, sun-lit pond.
Manchester United’s Manuel Ugarte shines for Uruguay in new role
Manchester United’s £42 million summer signing Ugarte excelled against Peru, not only defensively but also while playing the ball out from the back. He won nine duels and completed 89 per cent of his passes.
Bielsa, ever the perfectionist, was disappointed with the nature of Uruguay’s performance. Miguel Araujo struck a winner for Peru with 88 minutes on the clock.
But a new-look back three of Ugarte, Wolves’ Santi Bueno and Man United old boy Guilhermo Varela was, the manager said, the highlight of a largely below-par display.
“[The defence] was the best part of the team,” a frustrated Bielsa said during his press conference. “Varela played well, Ugarte had hierarchy and Santi Bueno made no mistakes.
“In general terms, I thought it was the part that exceeded the demands of the match.”
Pundit says Erik ten Hag tactics are not helping Ugarte at Man United
The former Sporting Lisbon enforcer is yet to really get going at club level.
Ugarte criticised his own performance as Manchester United collapsed against FC Twente in the Europa League. He was dropped to the bench against FC Porto and Aston Villa after a traumatic afternoon in the 3-0 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur.
Though any criticism should be countered by the suggestion that even a prime N’Golo Kante would struggle in this Man United set-up.
Erik ten Hag’s bemusing, kamikaze tactics often leave his deepest-lying midfielder having to do the running of two or three men in the middle of the park.
That is surely part of the reason why Casemiro declined so quickly, with Ugarte the latest victim of Ten Hag’s flawed plan to make Man United the world’s greatest ‘transitional’ team.
“It’s hard to sometimes see what they are trying to do. I felt a little sorry for Ugarte,” Wimbledon legend turned pundit Robbie Earle said after watching the Uruguayan battleaxe chase Spurs shadows like an unruly toddler haring after a pack of pigeons.
“He’s come to Manchester United as big midfield player, he’s going to play with Kobbie Mainoo, and then around him there’s all kinds of chaos.
“Nobody really looks like they know what they are doing. It must be so difficult for a new player, an international quality player, to come into that team and do your job in the way you think, or expect to do your job.”
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