MUTV pundit praises Man Utd duo who are ‘horrible to play against’, one has ‘immense intensity’

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Manchester United are showing a few positive signs, with Ruud van Nistelrooy steadying the ship, especially in midfield.

Erik ten Hag struggled to get Manchester United’s midfield right during his spell as manager, with the team too easily overrun.

Opposing teams often found United too easy to play against, peppering the Red Devils goal with shots, with the team trying, and often failing, to play on the transition.

Ruud van Nistelrooy was able to shore it up, selecting Casemiro and Manuel Ugarte as a partnership in all four matches.

Manuel Ugarte improving

Erik ten Hag only selected Manuel Ugarte and Casemiro together as starters in one match, Manchester United’s 7-0 win over Barnsley. He never tried it again after that.

Van Nistelrooy selected the South American pairing together, and stuck with it. Manuel Ugarte in particular has grown during this period, beginning to look at home at Old Trafford.

Ugarte managed to impress former United academy talent Danny Webber, who raved about his performance in MUTV’s post-game show.

Webber said: “He played really well under Ruben [Amorim] at Sporting hence why got his move to PSG. So the fact that he’s now been here a couple of months [has] enabled him to get a run of games. Because when he first came in, having not played in all of PSG’s pre-season games, you could see that he was a bit off the pace, and the Premier League’s a different level again.

“So he’s now got those games in, and he’s starting to show what he’s about. Getting to tackles with immense intensity, his tenacity when he’s gonna go and close people down.

“And then there was moments of real quality where the ball’s falling to him and he’s turned out of a situation and showed real calmness.”

• READ: Who is Manuel Ugarte? Everything you need to know on Uruguay midfielder

Ugarte and Casemiro working together

Webber also talked up the partnership Ugarte is developing with Casemiro, pointing out that they make the team trickier for opponents.

He said: “Him and Casemiro, I said to Wes [Brown] in the game, I said them two sat in front of the back four, it’s horrible to play against. And first and foremost, that’s what you’ve got to be.”

Erik ten Hag’s United were too easy for teams to play against. Ruud van Nistelrooy’s United have been no pushovers. Ruben Amorim’s side will not be either.

Ugarte and Casemiro will likely start Amorim’s first match, and they will deserve to. They have demonstrated they can provide a positive platform for the team, who have now kept clean sheets in back to back games.