Following his arrival late in the summer transfer window, Manuel Ugarte could make his Manchester United debut this weekend. We analyse what he’ll add to Erik ten Hag’s team.
Manchester United chased him practically all summer but only managed to sign Manuel Ugarte from Paris Saint-Germain on transfer deadline day at the end of August. While the protracted nature of the club’s pursuit will have likely frustrated Erik ten Hag, he’ll have been no less enthused when the deal was finally completed.
United are said to have paid an initial £42 million for the midfielder, who’s arrival became even more poignant after Casemiro’s nightmare against Liverpool in the final game before the international break.
United lost that match 3-0 at Old Trafford, with Casemiro committing errors leading to two goals. His midfield partner, Kobbie Mainoo, was also robbed in the build-up to one of the visitors’ goals, albeit the England international’s display on the whole was far more accomplished.
It was the first time on record (since 2007-08) that United have committed as many three errors leading to goals in a single Premier League match and underlined the need for change in midfield, with Ugarte only able to watch on after not being registered in time to feature.
But having come through Uruguay’s games in the international break seemingly unscathed, Ugarte will likely make his United debut this weekend in the trip to Southampton.
Although the saga of Ugarte’s signing polarised the United fanbase in some respects, it had long felt pretty obvious the club needed to bring in a more defensive-minded, destructive midfielder.
United were routinely criticised last season for being too open, their cavernous midfield too easy to play against. Opponents often exploited gaping holes in the centre when playing Ten Hag’s side due to the combination of a high press and fairly deep backline, and as a result their defence – which was rarely at full strength due to an injury crisis – found itself overwhelmed.
The fact United rivalled relegation candidates for most shots faced became the worst-kept secret in the Premier League last season, ultimately finishing the campaign with the second-worst record (667) after relegated Sheffield United (678).
Undoubtedly contributing to that was their midfield setup, the openness of which was reflected by their opponents registering 620 transitions reaching the final third, more than any other Premier League team, with 205 of those resulting in shots – only relegated Luton Town (215) and Newcastle United (208) had poorer records than that. They also faced the third-most shots from fast breaks (36).
Presumably, the hope is Ugarte will help to shore things up defensively in the centre by largely replacing Casemiro. While the former Real Madrid star is still technically capable and offers quality on the ball (despite what that Liverpool game suggested), but physically – and by extension when defending – he simply isn’t what he once was.
Ugarte should, at the very least, provide the bite, aggression and destructiveness many feel has been missing.
He was the only player in Ligue 1 last season (minimum 900 minutes played) to average more than 4.0 tackle attempts per 90 minutes (4.6), while his 2.7 successful tackles was also more than anyone else.
He’s uncompromising in his defensive duties and a tough tackler, too. Of course, this can lead to obvious problems, and his 2.1 fouls conceded every game was pretty high, but sometimes that’s the price you pay with players like Ugarte – it’s a drawback that certainly won’t have been overlooked by Ten Hag.
Further to that, he does have a track record of being effective at recovering the ball, with his 8.4 possession regains per 90 last season bettered by only two players in Ligue 1 (min. 900 mins), while his 1.9 interceptions per 90 saw him rank 14th among the same group. While that might not sound astonishing, it’s a metric you tend to see players from less possession-dominant teams rank high in. The fact Ugarte is up there for both reflects well on his positioning and awareness.
And considering the issue United seemed to have with conceding from cut-backs or low crosses to the edge of their area last season, this could be a welcome development.
The issue that some supporters might have is that Ugarte isn’t someone who’s likely to dictate a game. It feels like fans of most clubs these days yearn for a Rodri-type player; of course, someone of that calibre is so incredibly rare.
And this brings us on to the reason Ugarte was allowed to leave PSG in the first place; Luis Enrique apparently told him he’s not in his first-team plans despite him only joining from Sporting CP last summer.
According to widespread reports, Ugarte was training apart from the first team throughout the summer, with the PSG manager instead preferring to deploy a midfielder who’s more likely to control possession. The 23-year-old featured fairly prominently last term, making 25 Ligue 1 appearances, but that was seemingly enough for the coach to decide a change was needed.
But while United fans shouldn’t then expect Ugarte’s arrival to provide them with their own answer to Rodri, the Fénix youth product shouldn’t be written off as some hopeless no-mark on the ball either. He’s actually more adept than perhaps many give him credit for, as he’s technically sound, strong and a pretty able dribbler.
As for his distribution, he completed 91.4% of his passes last season, which was bettered by only eight players who attempted at least 1,000. The caveat is that his passing was rather simple and lacking in adventure. For instance, just 42 of his 1,314 open-play passes were deemed progressive (passes outside the defensive third that move the ball at least 25% closer to goal). That’s 3.2%, the 13th lowest proportion among the 155 players to attempt at least 700 passes.
Even when you consider his status as a defensive midfielder occupying deep positions, that is very low. Now, that’s not necessarily a problem if those limitations fall in line with expectations on him as a player, but there will undoubtedly be fans out there hoping United had signed their very own Rodri – on the evidence of Ugarte’s career to date, they haven’t.
However, there have been few signs during Ten Hag’s two-and-a-bit years in charge that he wants United to be an all-out possession side like Manchester City anyway. They’ve looked their most threatening when playing as a transition team and yet found similar sides difficult to halt – Ugarte appears to address that weakness with his destructive capabilities, and while he may not be a classic playmaker, he’s shouldn’t be a liability either.
The most important factor for most is Ugarte should provide United with certain strengths they appear to be without, and his profile seems to fit well when considered in relation to arguably the team’s biggest weakness.
In that sense, Ugarte has the potential to be a very useful acquisition.
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