‘Weird’ – Mark Goldbridge absolutely baffled by Manchester United signing after West Ham loss

Manchester United fell to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of West Ham United yesterday afternoon, consequently leaving them 14th-placed in the Premier League table.

All three goals at the London Stadium came in the closing stages of the game, with Crysencio Summerville breaking the deadlock in the 74th minute. 

Casemiro then thought he had rescued at least a point when drawing the tie level only seven minutes later before his equaliser was ultimately rendered vain when the Irons were awarded a stoppage-time spot-kick. Jarrod Bowen, unsurprisingly, swiftly converted the penalty.

Speculation would have you believing that Erik ten Hag was already on the brink of losing his job before the result. Now, you’d imagine it’s a question of when rather than if he will. 

His in-game decisions often prompt more questions than they answer. Take, for example, the fact that Manuel Ugarte was an unused substitute for the entirety of the clash.

 Ugarte overlooked despite Reds floundering vs Irons

United oversaw a summer-long pursuit of Ugarte, eventually forking out an initial £42.3 million to prise him from Paris Saint-Germain while also pledging a further £8m in add-ons. As such, he became one of five major signings granted to Ten Hag by INEOS chiefs, following Leny Yoro, Joshua Zirkzee, Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui through the doors at Old Trafford.

Barring Yoro, who is sidelined with a metatarsal injury, every other summer acquisition featured in some form. Meanwhile, Ugarte was made to watch on from the substitutes’ bench as his side sustained a fourth Premier League loss of the campaign, with Casemiro and Christian Eriksen instead deployed in front of the backline.

It led Mark Goldbridge to share his perplexed reaction to X/Twitter, as he penned: “Zero minutes for Ugarte again. Baffling signing. Bottom half of the table, 4 losses already, and we apparently have the luxury of not using our biggest summer signing. Weird.”