Manchester United fans will be hopeful that Manuel Ugarte is ready to debut for the club this weekend when Erik ten Hag’s side travel to St. Mary’s where they will take on Southampton in the Premier League.
Any chance of Ugarte making his United debut this week was boosted by the midfielder being named in Uruguay’s starting XI against Venezuela.
Ugarte played 79 minutes against Paraguay on Saturday and has picked up additional minutes in the clash versus Venezuela.
Although the match is still taking place, with Ugarte on the pitch and the scoreline 0-0, there was one standout highlight for our new signing who has performed strongly in the middle of the pitch.
Venezuela star Yeferson Soteldo, who plays for Brazilian side Gremio, went on an incredible run seeing off multiple Uruguayan players on his quest into the final third. That was until Ugarte’s crunching tackle saw him dispose of the ball.
The referee booked Ugarte for his tackle which seemed harsh.
Ugarte’s return to play is much anticipated by United supporters, but Erik ten Hag once stated that it might take him a month to fully recover. Marcelo Bielsa nevertheless started the defensive midfielder in both international matches in spite of that.
Ugarte was brilliant for Uruguay in their World Cup qualifier vs. Venezuela, making a strong claim to be afforded a start by Ten Hag at St Mary’s on Saturday.
The 23-year-old played all 90 minutes against Venezuela and during that time, had 57 touches of the ball to his name.
Ugarte attempted 41 total passes and found his teammates 34 times, managing an individual pass completion rate of 83%.
He tried to ping six long balls and successfully connected on three occasions. He fired one shot, which was on-target and demanded that Venezuela goalkeeper Rafael Romo swing into immediate action.
The United No.25 embarked on three dribbles and completed all of them.
Defensively is where Ugarte thrives and he demonstrated this perfectly well against Venezuela as he won seven of the 11 ground duels he delved into.
The former PSG man was required to contest just one duel in the air and he came out on top.
He made one clearance and three times as many interceptions. Ugarte put in an impressive four tackles.