Manuel Ugarte, The Lion From Montevideo
Manchester United have been criticised for their signatures in the summer transfer window, but one player who has certainly impressed in the early months of the season is Manuel Ugarte. The Uruguayan has proven his worth since coming into Ruben Amorim’s side, renewing a relationship that flourished in Portugal during his time at Sporting CP.
There was belief from a young age that Ugarte would be a special footballer. Those close to him knew they had a serious talent on their hands from around 12 years old, and the signs during that period pointed towards the fact he would go on to be one of the standout midfielders for a top side in world football. Ugarte was driven and determined from a young age, standing out more than those of a similar age when he began playing football at five years old in his home country. There was always a conviction in him from young. That desire we see today on the football pitch hasn’t been manufactured; it is in the midfielders DNA.
Manuel Ugarte, the early years
Manuel was advanced when compared to those he played alongside during his younger years. He would always play up a year, with teenagers 2 or three years ahead of him. This has been highlighted as something that would have given him more confidence. Steven Gerrard has spoken in the past about playing with people older than him on the streets of Liverpool as something that gave him that fire and belief in himself as he grew up, and something like that carries over with you into your career as a professional footballer.
Something key that was drilled into Ugarte was his focus on developing his football intelligence. Playing the game of football is one thing, but understanding it is a completely different beast. Those close to the player always mentioned the importance of doing this during his development. Theory is sometimes just as important as the practical side of things when developing an understanding of something.
Ugarte shows that understanding in his anticipation of interceptions and his positional awareness during games since he broke through at Sporting and even now years on playing in the Premier League. In Ugarte’s last season at Sporting, he had the most interceptions, most tackles, most ball recoveries, most blocks, most switches of play, most fouls won, and most ball wins leading to shots in the entire Sporting side. He was a key cog in a title-winning Ruben Amorim side, and there is hope and a belief that this combination can work together to achieve the same in Manchester.
Ugarte progressed admirably throughout the ranks in Uruguay, becoming the youngest player to ever play professional football in the country when he made his debut for Fenix at 15 years and 233 days. This was a huge culture switch considering the midfielder had to go from training with kids of a similar age to a squad of full-blown men. During this period, Ugarte learned how to behave from a professional point of view. The day-to-day training aspects. How to take care of your body in regards to recovery, and of course the importance of nutrition in the overall nourishment of an athlete.
This altered the maturity levels of Ugarte, who very quickly as a boy had to grow into a man. Since a youth, the midfielder has been focused continuously on improving as a footballer. It’s a worry he always carries with him. That reluctance to settle for what he is and the drive to become something better. An anecdote that depicts this more than anything else came when he was called up to the U20 team at Fenix, with players three years his senior. He came away from the first training sessions with the club wanting to get himself a personal trainer away from the club, telling those close to him, “If I don’t get a personal trainer, I won’t make it.” That’s the level of dedication Manuel Ugarte has. That’s the type of player Manchester United have in their midfield. A warrior who will stop at nothing to achieve things for his club and himself as a person.
Pure Dedication
Ugarte spent a year and a half going to train in the morning at the club. His father would pick him up after training, Manuel would eat lunch in the car, and he would then go to another place to do his own training away from the club for another 3-4 hours. Again, pure dedication. Pure drive. It was football and nothing else for Manchester United’s number 25, and it was always going to be football in the end. Football has been good to Manuel Ugarte during his time as a player, but there is a true belief that this is only the beginning of his career, and there is much, much more to come from the former Sporting midfielder.
Ugarte is happy at Manchester United at present. There is a feeling amongst those close to him that he could become a hugely important part of the future of the football club, and he is beginning to settle into life in Manchester more and more as the weeks pass by. His best spell in the team has come under the guidance of Ruben Amorim, with his game time fleeting under former manager Erik ten Hag. The need for physicality in midfield has been a forefront conversation in the early weeks of Amorim’s tenure, and Ugarte, more than any other option in the current setup for United, can provide the ground-covering abilities the manager needs. The pair have a brilliant relationship, with Ugarte having a huge amount of trust in the new manager. The Portuguese coach got the absolute best out of the midfielder before he left for his brief stint in Paris.
United are a better team with Ugarte:
His period at PSG changed a lot of the public opinion around him, but context is an important metric to add when basing an opinion around a player. Ugarte is not a player who will thrive in a tiki taka system; more so, he is the kind of footballer that can carry that piano to let the ball players press the keys to their full range of delight. Luis Enrique’s system required ball-playing midfielders. Ugarte’s game is different. Ugarte’s game thrives when a team requires high pressing and intensity in the middle of the park. It’s a brand of football that is much more applicable in the Premier League.
United are a better team with the Uruguayan in the side, statistically as well as visually. Kobbie Mainoo hasn’t had someone like Ugarte beside him up until this season, with the English midfielder allowed to focus on deploying his game going forward as opposed to doing the clean-up sweeper job in midfield that Ugarte is currently being tasked with doing. The midfield makeup is still not perfect at this moment in time, and good recruitment will determine the direction the team goes in the coming months, with Atalanta midfielder Ederson being someone who has been scouted in recent months by those behind the scenes at the club to slot in alongside Ugarte.
In the Premier League this season, Ugarte is averaging 4.45 tackles per 90. This puts him in the top 1% of midfielders in the entire league. His ability to win the first ball or the second ball is vital to taking Manchester United from a dangerous situation into a possible counterattack situation going the other way, which is something they lacked at times last season due to the declining physical make-up of the midfield with Christian Eriksen and Casemiro.
He also has an ability to carry the ball that not many give him credit for. In fact, he’s one of the only midfielders from the current selection at the club who can carry the ball 40/50 yards at pace and make something out of the situation by the end of it. United lack ball carriers in central areas, so to add one from the starting base of the number six position is something to build on and bodes well for the future if INEOS are heading in the direction of adding better ball carriers and raising the physical floor of the squad as a whole.
Patience:
The wait was long for Ugarte in the summer in regards to getting to Old Trafford in the first place. PSG dug their heels in and were somewhat disrespectful to the player in their treatment of him as they tried to get as much money as possible out of United. Ugarte stuck his head down and continued working as he would normally, not letting the situation or the noise get to him but equally being excited about the prospect of signing for the biggest club in the world. There was a belief prior to his signature that he would leave his mark during his period in England wearing the famous red, and the player himself is set on making that prediction come through in the coming years.
Patience will be required. The period United are in at the moment will mean players will struggle individually at times due to the expected collective failings of the group. Amorim mentioned a storm, but Ugarte can provide a lifeboat within that storm for the team to cling onto in times of struggle. He is anticipated to be one of the key pillars the squad going forward is built around. It’s important to remember Ugarte was a prime target for Liverpool and Chelsea prior to his arrival at PSG. Sporting CP knew they had one of the most sought-after defenders on the planet at that moment in time, and despite the decision to join the Paris-based side not working in the manner he may have wanted to, it doesn’t change the fact some of the top scouts in Europe highlighted him as a potential player to push their squads to the next level. One failed stint at a club doesn’t make a player. If it did, we wouldn’t have a Mohammed Salah or a Kevin De Bruyne.
Manchester United have a gem in the shape of Manuel Ugarte, and it will be a pleasure to see him continue to flourish under the iconic lights over the coming years. The Lion of Manchester.
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