One of many hanging issues about Manchester United’s poor efficiency within the 2023-24 season was how open they had been in midfield, and the way straightforward it was for opponents to play via the traces of supervisor Erik ten Hag’s staff. The lung energy of Fred was not there, age appeared to have caught up with Casemiro, and Sofyan Amrabat was one thing of a disappointment — a reminder that gamers who star on the FIFA World Cup are usually not at all times the wisest signings.
The midfield drawback has not gone away. Within the curtain raiser to the present season, United seemed alarmingly susceptible to the Fulham counter assault. With the roof leaking, it’s not an ideal shock that the Ten Hag is popping to Uruguay midfielder Manuel Ugarte to assist present a little bit of safety.
The younger Celeste star — he turned 23 in April — is an apparent match. He’s a cell midfield ball winner, however a staff like United, with Ten Hag’s want for managed possession, can not restrict themselves to a mere destroyer. And Ugarte can be spectacular with the ball at his ft, giving fast, crisp passes to gamers round him.
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There’s something in Ugarte that brings again recollections of Javier Mascherano, the Argentine holding midfielder who, after an odd few months with West Ham United, established himself down the highway at Liverpool. Mascherano, after all, went on to excel as a significant a part of Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona, the place he ended up that includes in the midst of the defence.
Mascherano’s first coach with Argentina was Marcelo Bielsa. Now accountable for Uruguay, Bielsa did one thing related with Ugarte within the semifinal of the Copa América. As an alternative of filling his regular place in entrance of the again 4, Ugarte featured towards Colombia on the left of a again three — an experiment which ended after half an hour, when Rodrigo Bentancur limped off injured and Bielsa was obliged to readjust, bringing Ugarte again to his typical place. But it surely was an attention-grabbing tactical change, exhibiting the potential versatility of United’s new signing.
The Uruguay nationwide staff has at all times been necessary in Ugarte’s profession. He first got here to world consideration shortly earlier than the COVID-19 pandemic, taking part in impressively for Uruguay’s under-23 aspect within the Olympic Video games qualification event when he was solely 18.
With the impatience of youth, Ugarte might argue that he had waited years to be an in a single day sensation. He made his debut for Fenix, a small membership in Uruguay’s first division, on the age of 15, and was the primary participant born within the twenty first century to characteristic within the nation’s prime flight. However teaching modifications noticed him relegated, typically to the Fenix third staff. On the age of 17 he went in once more, and this time it was for retains.
His performances in 2019 had been so good that he was fast-tracked into that Uruguay under-23 squad for the Olympic qualifiers initially of the next 12 months. And there he did so properly, holding his personal within the midfield battle towards gamers 4 years older, that it was solely a matter of time earlier than Europe referred to as.
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The traditional route for a promising participant from Fenix could be to be snapped up by Penarol or Nacional, Montevideo’s giants, earlier than then making the transfer entry the Atlantic. Ugarte leapfrogged this part, backing himself to enter European soccer with a small membership and work his manner up.
The entry level was Famalicao in Portugal. A strong season there led to a transfer to one of many giants, Sporting CP, and two glorious campaigns there received him a transfer to Paris Saint-Germain, the place he began to amass the behavior of profitable silverware.
In the meantime, throughout the course of the final season he grew to become a key participant for the senior Uruguay aspect. Ugarte went to the Qatar World Cup, however as an unused reserve. The approaching of Bielsa modified all that. With Ugarte maybe bringing again recollections of Mascherano, Bielsa put him straight within the staff because the defensive midfielder. The function had beforehand been stuffed by the skilled MatÃas Vecino, who was dropped to the bench.
A number of months in the past, Vecino introduced his retirement from the nationwide staff — a comparatively uncommon incidence with Uruguayans, particularly as a result of, on the age of 32, the Lazio midfielder would appear to have loads of soccer nonetheless left in him. However Vecino declared that his cycle had come to an in depth — a mirrored image which can properly have been attributable to seeing shut hand how convincingly he had been changed by Ugarte.
Uruguay completed final 12 months’s burst of six World Cup qualifiers as South America’s in-form aspect, beating Brazil with ease after which profitable away to Argentina — the one defeat that Argentina have suffered since their World Cup triumph in Qatar. Ugarte was glorious in each matches. And after exhibiting such grit, widespread sense and flashes of expertise within the sky blue, it appears a good guess that may do one thing related within the deep purple of Manchester United.
