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4 hours ago
1 It’s been an underwhelming start to life at Manchester United for Manuel Ugarte.
The results have been dire, overall performances are not cutting the mustard and it looks like we still have a big hole in the midfield.
Casemiro struggled last season so it was decided at United that the club would prioritise a new defensive midfielder in the summer. They chased Ugarte all summer before reaching an agreement with Paris Saint-Germain on deadline day.
The timing of the deal was far from perfect. Ugarte didn’t get any pre-season preparations under his belt at United and walked into a side lacking in confidence.
Ugarte struggled against FC Twente and Tottenham last week, but it’s still early days, so we don’t know whether it’s him or the system at fault.
Speaking to US channel NBC Sports, former Premier League midfielder Robbie Earle made clear that he feels sympathy towards Ugarte.
Earle said: “It’s hard to sometimes see what they are trying to do. I felt a little sorry for Ugarte, he’s come to Manchester United as a big midfield player, he’s going to play with Kobbie Mainoo, and then around him there’s all kind of chaos.
“Nobody really looks like thet know what they are doing, it must be so difficult for a new player, an international quality player, to come into that team and dfo your job in the way you think, or expect to do your job.”
The next test for United and Ugarte is an away trip to FC Porto.
After dropping points in the Europa League, United must get back to winning ways both in Europe and domestically.
Ugarte is likely to start against the Portuguese giants because he needs game time to find form.
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