Three games, two wins, one draw vs Chelsea and an extremely winnable fixture against Leicester City to follow. The life is good for Ruud van Nistelrooy.
After the 2-0 win vs PAOK got Man Utd their first three points on the board, the feeling is good in Manchester and the decision to sack Erik ten Hag has been vindicated.
The team was quickly going nowhere under him so even though the players looked like they hadn’t given up, a change was needed.
Van Nistelrooy hasn’t done anything groundbreaking tactically in his short time as Man Utd manager but the human touch and man management has worked wonders.
That change in the air can be best summed up by his treatment of one Man Utd ace and the contrast with Ten Hag’s handling of the same player.
Undroppable Manuel Ugarte for Ruud van Nistelrooy
Outside of the usual suspects like Bruno Fernandes or Alejandro Garnacho, a player who has come in from the cold under Ten Hag to start every game under Van Nistelrooy is Manuel Ugarte.
The Uruguayan has started alongside Casemiro and that has looked like a solid partnership with enough attacking invention in the Brazilian with Ugarte’s energy and defensive resilience.
He has been a solid 7/10 in all his starts under the interim manager and the questions regarding his suitability at the club have started getting answered.
Alongside Amad, he has been the biggest success story under the new manager since Casemiro was already starting to do well under Ten Hag.
As one of Ineos’ marquee investments of the summer transfer window, it was absolutely imperative that he became a success and Ruben Amorim, a man who known him well, will only help with that mission.
In the meantime, the change in Ugarte’s standing from Van Nistelrooy to Ten Hag makes one thing certain.
Mishandling Ugarte weakened Erik ten Hag’s position
Ugarte either didn’t start under Ten Hag or when he did and played well, he was dropped for the subsequent game.
It was clear that he was a player who didn’t inspire complete confidence in the manager for whatever reason and the biggest sign of it was after the Fenerbahce game.
Ugarte played a brilliant game that day and Ten Hag gave him faint praise but back he was on the bench for West Ham which turned out to be Ten Hag’s final one.
It is an open secret that the Dutchman wanted to sign Sofyan Amrabat permanently for United but was blocked from doing so by Jason Wilcox.
That unease with not getting his way was reflected in his treatment of Ugarte and his lack of trust in the player which was affecting the signing.
Amorim comes as the “Head Coach” instead of “Manager” which is the clearest sign yet that the new executive team will not single-mindedly cater to the whims and fancies of the manager.
Ten Hag was the last remnant of that model and his treatment of Ugarte perhaps is the best example of the situation Ineos want to avoid in the future.
Amorim knows what he’s getting into while Ten Hag had powers stripped off him to an extent. His treatment of Ugarte made it clear and was probably a huge reason why Ineos had to act.
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