[OmarUnited4ever]

Still not seeing it with him. Our mid table to bottom of the table rivals have players just as effective or better.

Pretty anonymous today. Had one shot that was saved, but I can't remember him being mentioned in the commentary apart from that.

Unfair, he is doing his job very well, we have terrible front line and not much he can do there, he breaks up play passes it well, he is the best out of shitty bunch

 

[Bobski]

I think he needs a pure DM with a passing range behind him so he can go and hunt the ball. A bit like Fred, but he wouldn't have the extra bits that Fred could sometimes bring out going forward.

He is very good at what he does, but it a skillset that can be difficult to find ideal partners for to get the most out of.

 

[Wezzaldo]

Don’t understand what people think he’s going to do. It’s like they expect him to be dribbling, creating, pass master who slams in 20 yarders.

He did his role extremely well today. Was our only stand out player.

 

[Poborsky's hair]

After a positive start he seems to be less dominant in midfield. Is it because he's lacking a partner in midfiekd and overall the team is less compact or instructions? I have seen Fred playing alone in midfield for a few years so Ugarte needs to step up.

 

[SubutaiScipio]

Good at one thing only. His inability to progress the ball consistently will always be an issue. He needs a Pirlo or Scholes next to him for it to make sense.

 

[Amar__]

His touch can be very inconsistent which is his biggest problem. Hopefully it can improve with more confidence next year, but he is equally inconsistent so far as Fred. Not exactly the same player, but his inconsistency reminds me much of him.

It's also really weird that few posters above mentioned Fred and I came into this thread to compare him with Fred.

 

[Bobski]

I think there is also a difference between being an elite ball winner and an elite DM. He is beyond question the first but the second tends to be more positioning and reading than ball chasing.

None of this is helped by there not being a natural CM pairing at the club. A younger Cas and Ugarte might be it, but if you had a younger Cas you wouldn't need Uagrte.

 

[ThanksBoss26]

I’m not as convinced as others I have to say. His best games have come in big away games but at home, much like the team, I think he’s struggled.

 

[Squeaky_Bum_Time]

I’m not as convinced as others I have to say. His best games have come in big away games but at home, much like the team, I think he’s struggled.

There is an easy explanation which was very evident today. He’s better off the ball than on it. Today was an extreme example, commentator was praising how he’s everywhere and taking the ball off their players, which was true, but he was so sloppy in possession (tbf, like many others). I wanted him off at half time.

 

[Adnan]

Good at one thing only. His inability to progress the ball consistently will always be an issue. He needs a Pirlo or Scholes next to him for it to make sense.

Agreed. We lost the game in midfield today where Palace's running power/physicality completely exposed our central half spaces. Our deeper midfield can't be counted on to progress the ball and neither do they have the legs to contain big physical pacy players in space. Mateta for Palace was too much for our midfield.

Playing Bruno deeper for ball progression purposes should be a temporary measure and we should be aiming to sign at least one midfielder with a well rounded game both in-possession and out of possession. Ugarte has his uses but is too limited on the ball which puts extra pressure on the backline to progress the ball. I've been saying for a long time now and the biggest issue for this team is the midfield and it must be rectified in the summer.

 

[criticalanalysis]

His worst game for us imo. Constantly chasing the ball and getting square/not getting goal side, inconsistent touch, positionally off and the few times he got on the ball, he was poor.

Wasn't helped by a non-existent midfield but individually he wasn't up to standard.

 

[Ollie Derbyshire]

Don’t understand what people think he’s going to do. It’s like they expect him to be dribbling, creating, pass master who slams in 20 yarders.

He did his role extremely well today. Was our only stand out player.

That’s cause most of the cafe are just down right negative now and looking to critise any new player given the chance.

He’s doing his job, others aren’t.

 

[Ollie Derbyshire]

Good at one thing only. His inability to progress the ball consistently will always be an issue. He needs a Pirlo or Scholes next to him for it to make sense.

So why is that a negative of his? Surely it’s a negative of the club, team, manager.

It’s like expecting a striker to create every chance for him or a full back to be a constant attacking threat.

 

[NZT-One]

Agreed. We lost the game in midfield today where Palace's running power/physicality completely exposed our central half spaces. Our deeper midfield can't be counted on to progress the ball and neither do they have the legs to contain big physical pacy players in space. Mateta for Palace was too much for our midfield.

Playing Bruno deeper for ball progression purposes should be a temporary measure and we should be aiming to sign at least one midfielder with a well rounded game both in-possession and out of possession. Ugarte has his uses but is too limited on the ball which puts extra pressure on the backline to progress the ball. I've been saying for a long time now and the biggest issue for this team is the midfield and it must be rectified in the summer.

Fully agree. I'd add that this player has to be starting-eleven-Top-5-PL-level who is in his physical peak. And for me personally, that new midfielder will take Brunos spot from today to form a solid, combatitive base. I am happy to push Bruno forward then with the licence to fall back into midfield to help with handling the ball but the days of light weight AMs in the heart of our team simply have to end.

 

[NZT-One]

Good at one thing only. His inability to progress the ball consistently will always be an issue. He needs a Pirlo or Scholes next to him for it to make sense.

Thing is, we either weren't willing or able to bring in two new players for the midfield. But it was always clear that we needed to add those player types. A mobile ball winner with above average workrate and a player who is at least slightly-above-average in off-the-ball aspects but really good in terms of progression. If we had chosen this player to be bought first instead of Ugarte, we'd probably still be struggling, just for different resasons.

 

[Adnan]

Fully agree. I'd add that this player has to be starting-eleven-Top-5-PL-level who is in his physical peak. And for me personally, that new midfielder will take Brunos spot from today to form a solid, combatitive base. I am happy to push Bruno forward then with the licence to fall back into midfield to help with handling the ball but the days of light weight AMs in the heart of our team simply have to end.

Honestly, without significantly raising the level in midfield we aren't going to make as much progress as a team as far as controlling games go. I honestly don't think we're far off having a very good team. But we need midfielders of a much higher quality.

The last time we had a midfield that even looked decent in-possession was when we had Pogba and Matic. And even then we had issues but at least those players had ability on the ball.

 

[RuudTom83]

If the creative players don't score then sure Ugarte isn't going to make up for that. But it feels like a strange stick to beat him with.

 

[Ludens the Red]

He will always look bang average in games where we have 55-60% of the ball with the current midfield we have.
Something amateur rookies on redcafe.net were saying about him before we signed him.
Thankfully Manchester United know better…..

 

[Isotope]

Best midfield pair i have seen in the last decade or so was Schwein - Martinez at Bayern under Heycknes (?). Both defensively astute while also really good in playmaking.

I think that is the profile we should go. And sadly Ugarte just doesn’t fit.

 

[KjaAnd]

He’s our Conley midfielder who can do the dirty work and occasionally, he shows glimpses of good technique. However, he’s really poor at receiving the ball and passing it forward. Even with plenty of space in front of him he passes it sideways.

 

[NZT-One]

Best midfield pair i have seen in the last decade or so was Schwein - Martinez at Bayern under Heycknes (?). Both defensively astute while also really good in playmaking.

I think that is the profile we should go. And sadly Ugarte just doesn’t fit.

easier said than done unfortunately.

I can see all your points and yes, somebody who has qualities handling the ball under pressure and making good passes from the center of the pitch would be quite good but apart from Ugarte, we have basically nobody in the team I would consider a good ball winner. Ideally we have a combination of that ballwinner and the progressor but those are unfortunately pretty rare. So as long as we don't have those two players who do their job defensively AND are able to progress the ball, I am more than happy to have Ugarte available. And even if at some point, we will have those two players - we'd still be better off having a really good ballwinner in the team for specific matches or influence matches. Take Ugarte out of this team now and add Stiller for example, we'd most likely be still in trouble. It might look a little different but still trouble.

 

[Devil81]

He's a willing grafter but I personally think we've had our pants down again. 50 million seems a bit steep for the ability I've seen on the ball.

I might get shot down for this but he's about the level Joey Barton was, tackler and busy but fairly limited footballer.

 

[lex talionis]

The fee aside, and we do get shafted all the time, Ugarte makes net positive contributions to our overall play, but he has no exceptional talent. Not yet that I've seen at least.