The problems at Manchester United have nothing to do with the manager and that laid bare again in their 2-2 draw vs Liverpool at Anfield.
Ruben Amorim was baffled as to how the same group of players who surrendered limply to the likes of Newcastle, Bournemouth, and Wolves could pull out a display like at Anfield.
Even Bruno Fernandes was upset as to why they couldn’t do it weekly and that brought the focus back to the core issue at the club, mentality and mental fortitude.
However, one player who seems to have risen above that malaise, and that’s translating to the pitch, is the latest untouchable at Manchester United.
Manuel Ugarte setting standards at Man Utd
Manuel Ugarte didn’t have the best of starts at Manchester United as he joined under a manager who didn’t want him as the first-choice and a team that didn’t know what it was.
Erik ten Hag kept preaching patience with Ugarte but then dropped him after good performances and threw him to the wolves after bad ones.
The Uruguayan stood to benefit the most from the arrival of Ruben Amorim, under whom he first broke through in Europe with Sporting Lisbon.
However, the heights he has reached so soon after Amorim’s arrival have gone beyond the most optimistic fan expectations. It hasn’t just happened by chance.
Manchester Evening News reports that Ugarte has been setting standards at Carrington by regularly being one of the last players to leave after finishing training.
He has undertaken additional gym sessions after training to get to grips with the intense pace and physicality of the league which gave him problems at the start.
He has come a long way from looking like a training cone in front of Micky van de Ven to bossing the Liverpool midfield at Anfield and his work off the pitch to make that happen should serve as an example to his teammates.
Casemiro hole has finally been filled
The impact a proper defensive midfielder has on a team was on full display in the contrasting seasons United had under Erik ten Hag in his first and second year.
Casemiro arrived from Real Madrid in 2022/23 and immediately became “the cement between the stones”, as his partnership with Christian Eriksen formed the bedrock of United’s success.
When the Brazilian’s form fell off a cliff in the 2023/24 season, so did United’s and it ultimately led to Ten Hag paying for it with his job.
Ugarte took some time to get going at the club but his form has coincided with United finding form as well, once again putting into focus how important the No 6 spot is.
Manchester City look like a shell of their former selves after Rodri’s injury so it’s paramount for United to get a backup for Ugarte too.
The Uruguayan is a machine who rarely gets injured and as things stand right now, he is probably the most important player who makes the whole system tick.
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