One of Manuel Ugarte’s final contributions on his full debut for Manchester United was maybe his most impressive of the night.
As opponents Barnsley sought to spring a counter-attack in Tuesday’s Carabao Cup tie, the ball bounced loose near the halfway line. Ugarte jumped into a 50-50 challenge with Stephen Humphrys, came out of it with possession, then spun away from visiting captain Luca Connell. The 23-year-old turned back towards his own goal and, while being hemmed in by both Barnsley players, found enough room between the two of them to slide a pass into Christian Eriksen.
A ripple of applause and a cheer of appreciation went around Old Trafford. This happened again a few minutes later, when Ugarte was brought off and the €50million (£41.9m/$55.7m) summer signing’s second outing in a United shirt came to an end.
How much can you really learn about a player from two appearances lasting a combined 79 minutes against Southampton, a newly promoted Premier League side still waiting to pick up their first point after four games, and then a team from League One — the third tier of English football — who went on to lose the tie 7-0?
Ugarte made his United debut as a substitute at Southampton (Ryan Hiscott/Getty Images)
One of the few things certain about Ugarte’s United career is that he will face far tougher tests than those games — the trip to Crystal Palace today (Saturday), for example.
But what caught the eye about that moment against Barnsley shortly before he was replaced was that Ugarte performed it under pressure, manipulating both the ball and his body in a tight, congested space to put United on the front foot again.
It was the sort of thing their supporters have come to expect from academy graduate Kobbie Mainoo, whose close control and composure in tight areas was a revelatory addition to Erik ten Hag’s midfield last season. Now, the early signs are that Ten Hag has another midfielder he can rely on in such moments.
That moment was not the only example on the night.
Around the half-hour mark, deep in his own half and up against Barnsley’s 6ft 3in (191cm) Vimal Yoganathan, Ugarte spun away from the 18-year-old midfielder and out of trouble, before carrying the ball around 40 yards up the pitch until being fouled by Connell. Old Trafford enjoyed that one, too.
Then, in the early stages of the second half, Barnsley’s Adam Phillips attempted to shut down Ugarte in a similar position. The 24-cap Uruguay international signed last month from Paris Saint-Germain held him off, managed to turn the ball back towards the opposition goal and win a free kick. He took it quickly, finding Eriksen in space and setting up United to counter-attack.
This ability to protect the ball while in possession means Ugarte can be trusted as an outlet when United are building up deep in their territory.
Although it remains early days, Ten Hag’s side have looked noticeably more patient on the ball in their defensive third this season — not as direct as they were in the previous one, and more likely to try to play through a press than go over it.
At one point in the first half on Tuesday, Ugarte received the ball from central defender Harry Maguire and immediately came under pressure from Phillips again. As the Barnsley man closed in, Ugarte laid a simple pass out to Diogo Dalot and moved up the pitch, creating separation between him and Phillips.
All Dalot had to do was return the favour by passing back to Ugarte and United had taken four opponents out of the game.
United might have themselves another midfielder comfortable in the first phase of build-up like Mainoo, and not liable to play a risky pass or go long as Casemiro often does. Combine this with Ugarte’s greatest ability — winning the ball back — and Ten Hag’s side will have the opportunity to punish opponents who press high at the expense of staying compact and organised.
Take the fourth goal against Barnsley, a move that began with Ugarte winning back possession.
When Josh Earl prepared to play a ball inside to Connell, Ugarte was already alert and nipped in first to steal away the ball.
As grey shirts converged on him to try to win it back, a simple pass to Ugarte’s left found Marcus Rashford. He played it backwards to Eriksen, who bent a through ball over to United’s left-hand side, where Alejandro Garnacho had a clear run at goal and went through to score.
It was a classic up-back-and-through which better opposition than Barnsley are not as likely to fall victim to, but it is also the type of move that is easier to pull off in the transitional moments that Ugarte’s ball-winning helps to create.
Ugarte had nipped in from Connell’s peripheral vision to intercept and start that sequence, and he did the same on a couple of occasions during his late cameo in the Premier League game at Southampton three days earlier.
Ross Stewart was his victim both times.
Despite being up against a 6ft 1in traditional target-man striker, and despite Southampton appearing to have successfully defended a United corner, Ugarte snuck up behind Stewart, then wrestled his way in front of him to get to the ball. Ugarte then turned back towards his own goal and safely laid possession off to a team-mate, helping United sustain their attack.
He had already pinched the ball off Stewart from behind a few minutes earlier, setting Garnacho away.
Repeated attempts to win possession risk fouls and, even though Ugarte committed very few in Ligue 1 last season for a player in his role, he has looked a little rash at times in these early stages of his United career. There was an eight-minute spell during the first half against Barnsley where he caused referee Gavin Ward to blow his whistle four times.
That aggression is fundamental to Ugarte’s game and will at times mean he is caught out of position.
One of his first significant moments as a second-half substitute against Southampton came when he attempted to cut out a Jan Bednarek pass but made a misjudgement and was left chasing its recipient Yukinari Sugawara.
One note of interest from the Barnsley match was that Ugarte was consistently the furthest player back in defence when United were awarded a corner.
Early on, there was some confusion between Dalot, Toby Collyer and Antony as to who should stay back with him, until set-piece coach Andreas Georgson set them straight. On other occasions, Ugarte was on his own as the last line of defence.
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Had Barnsley successfully defended those corners and launched counter-attacks, any miscalculation or over-aggression on Ugarte’s part could have left United badly exposed. It will be something to watch for over the coming weeks and months.
So far though, Ugarte has slotted in as well as could be expected. And if all he has done in these early appearances seems awfully simple, that is kind of the point.
Having the ability and physicality to win the ball back, the composure to keep hold of it when under pressure and the nous to lay the foundations for other, more technically gifted, players are the fundamentals for the modern holding midfielder. And yet United have missed all those traits at the base of their midfield at one time or another over the past few years, never being able to rely on one player to provide all three consistently.
The pursuit of Ugarte this summer was protracted precisely because United’s hierarchy believed he fitted the profile Ten Hag’s side have lacked.
Time will tell if that patience pays off, but the signs from this very small sample size are positive.
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(Top photo: Stu Forster/Getty Images)
