Dominating the Pitch: How the Manuel Ugarte Plan Will Transform Man Utd

Journalist Carl Anka conceded after Manchester United’s 3-0 loss to Liverpool on Sunday that the position Manuel Ugarte would be asked to take on is “extremely concerning.”

During the summer transfer window, the Red Devils pursued the Uruguay international, and on deadline day, they announced a £51 million deal with add-ons after reaching an agreement with Paris Saint-Germain.

Before the match against bitter rivals Liverpool, when Casemiro was responsible for two goals before Erik Ten Hag replaced him at halftime, Ugarte was revealed in front of the Old Trafford faithful. However, questions have since been raised regarding Ugarte’s potential usage.

After Man Utd’s loss to Liverpool, Carl Anka drops the Ugarte verdict.
Ugarte might make his Southampton debut.
Erik Ten Hag
Ten Hag revealed after finalising a contract for Ugarte that the team will need to increase his level of fitness before he joins the team, and that might take “weeks” or even “months” to accomplish.

However, journalist Anka stated during an appearance on The Athletic’s “Talk of the Devils” podcast that he considers it “extremely concerning” that the manager would ask the 23-year-old to take on many roles and repeat what was done during a dismal campaign two seasons ago.

“I saw Ugarte’s unveiling prior to the game’s commencement. At the half, I heard people saying things like, “Yeah, he probably should have signed him sooner.”

“Ugarte is a man with a lot of running ability, and he can make a lot of tackles.” However, is it really asking Ugarte to run one guy, or one and a half men, and simply repeat what you accomplished in 22/23? You will still complete the task. And it is really alarming.

Manchester United’s Premier League campaign has started horribly. After defeating Brighton and Liverpool back-to-back, they managed to win 1-0 against Fulham on the first day of play. As a result, they are currently in 14th place in the table with a -3 goal differential going into the first international break.

Although Ugarte is abroad with Uruguay for the next two weeks on international duty, he might make his Reds debut in their next match at St Mary’s on Saturday, September 14, against Southampton.

Comparing Ugarte’s defensive statistics over the previous 365 days against positional peers

Metric

Production for every 90

The percentile

Attacks

4.21

1.0%

Tackles prevailed.

2.37

2%

Dribblers engaged in combat

1.93

1.0%

Dribblers faced off

4.52

1.0%

Interceptions

1.01

2%

Ball retrievals

7.72