[Ezkay]

He makes Casemiro look like he's still in his prime, an utter travesty of a signing and it was obvious if you spent 30 minutes watching a PSG game

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

He's similar to Fred minus the occasional MotM performance but also minus the absolute brain fecks Fred had from time to time. I'm ok with what he brings to the table

It’s fine, problem is that sort of player shouldn’t have been our first choice main target we spent a premium for, and certainly not funding a team so that they can get someone twice as good for the same price

 

[Jam]

Oh shit do we not like Ugarte now? I like him personally but whatever.

It’s difficult, I think it’s more frustration than anything.

I don’t think people outright dislike him, it’s just he’s an easy target currently and people always want to have a moan.

I don’t dislike him, nor do I think he’s particular great. He’s certainly a useful player to have and I think he has more to give. He’s the kind of profile of player that’s very good to have in the squad but I think people put too much pressure on any new midfield signing / academy player here and expect the absolute world.

He’s certainly technically limited, but he has fine and think a bit more adjusting to the pace and constant man on pressure of the league and he’ll come round a bit better on the ball next season.

My main concern is how Amorim wants the team to kick on and leave behind quick transitions to being a dominant possession team, does Ugarte have enough in his locker to thrive in that kind of team? I have my doubts. But regardless even in that system there’s time he could be a very useful squad player.

 

[Isotope]

It seems like he's even getting slower, compare to his early months.

 

[Olecurls99]

He was poor tonight. Very bad in and out of possession at times.

 

[tomaldinho1]

I thought he was good, breaks up play a lot, nipped a lot of their counters. He fouls all the time but if he's getting away with it that's fine. We are very weak team centrally without much pace and they were cutting through us constantly, he did decently for me.

 

[#07]

On the plus side Ugarte's volley is a big part of how we equalised. On the down side his distribution is really bad. He just isn't distributing through midfield. Tom Cleverley was levels above in terms of progression. Its not his fault we paid over the odds for him but it does make you wonder if we could've gotten better.

 

[Godfather]

He turned crap lately

 

[The Hilton]

He was the better of the two starting central midfielders, he did a lot of dirty work tonight.

It's a shame about his poor distribution.

 

[DWelbz19]

He turned crap lately

Been a fair few games, I feel.

 

[Idxomer]

The guy is allergic to playing the ball forward during buildup.

 

[FrankDrebin]

Non existent first half but finished the game strongly.
His distribution is a issue but also his willingness to actually get on the ball. He hid in that 1st half and his movement off the ball was lacklustre. But he had a far stronger 2nd half.

 

[Adnan]

The guy is allergic to playing the ball forward during buildup.

That was known before he arrived at the club. Sadly it seems Wilcox didn't have a clue and hence it will be very difficult for Wilcox to explain to Ratcliffe that they need to upgrade and hence I assume Ratcliffe is being fed the line about not having the requisite data analytics.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

He sort of sucks. Was a bit of a stupid signing when it happened and still is. It’s like Wilcox just sorted FBref and went with whoever had the highest defensive actions.

He doesn’t win a ton of duels (it’s like 50%), and gives you pretty much nothing in possession.

I’m so tired of spending big money on players that are instantly limited. It’s unacceptable. Just because he runs and fouls a shit ton doesn’t mean he’s a great midfielder.

 

[RORY65]

The 2024 recruitment wasn't as disastrous as 2023 has turned out to be but, with the exception of Yoro (and Mazraoui who was cheap), it does seem like an awful lot of money was spent on OK but nothing special players that will need replacing again if we ever have aspirations to be a good side in the future.

 

[VivaJesperBlomqvist]

I think he’s been really good??? What am I missing.

 

[OleGunnar20]

I think he’s been really good??? What am I missing.

I'm not sure, I like him too.

He's a specialist destroyer in midfield, but also quite good at carrying the ball. Works hard and covers lots of ground.

I'd like to see him be more positive with his passing but overall I think he's done decently so far, and would be very good next to a more ambitious playmaker from deep.

Why he was taken off instead of Casemiro, who was being run rings around tonight, I've no idea.

 

[pocco]

I think he’s been really good??? What am I missing.

He’s not even particularly dominant in his duels for a start, and his ability on the ball is inadequate really for a team that wants to play progressively. To me his strengths are pressing players, he’s decent at getting to a player higher up the pitch and nicking the ball or fouling them. But he’s often bypassed by decent players.

When he sits in and plays a more shielding role, like a typical DM, he’s non existent. He’s not got the ability or acceleration to cover areas and again is easily bypassed.

I think it’s been clear for quite a while that, the much complained about Casemiro, is actually still a far better player. The same Casemiro everyone is desperate to get rid of. That’s a problem. He has a little bit more mobility than him but that’s about it, and it’s not good enough.

All of this is why Casemiro is playing more than him, and why we have to sub him off to drop Bruno deeper every game to try to bring more quality into our play. He’s basically in there clog up the midfield for a bit until we’re ready to try to get on top of a game and go for the win, then we need to get him out of there.

 

[Garethw]

A terrible signing. No wonder PSG were desperate to get rid.

 

[Redstain]

He sort of sucks. Was a bit of a stupid signing when it happened and still is. It’s like Wilcox just sorted FBref and went with whoever had the highest defensive actions.

He doesn’t win a ton of duels (it’s like 50%), and gives you pretty much nothing in possession.

I’m so tired of spending big money on players that are instantly limited. It’s unacceptable. Just because he runs and fouls a shit ton doesn’t mean he’s a great midfielder.

I think he's a player who needs the right conditions to be viable, having him alongside Casemiro isn't working because the ball can never transition into the midfield as neither play well on the half turn. So all the build up from the backline is predictable and in all honesty Ugarte only looks decent when the team isn't in possession.

If Amorim's intention is to play a higher line like what he did at Sporting and dominate more of the possession I can only see Ugarte being a bit part player. He offered more versatility playing in Portugal from what I remember but in the years since that period it doesn't seem like he's made any adaptations to his ball playing tendencies. It's also concerning that PSG have certainly gone up a gear with his absence.

 

[Leftback99]

I think he’s been really good??? What am I missing.

Really good at what? He's never stood out in any game.

Berge was the better signing (of those we were linked with in the summer) but everyone wanted the bigger name as usual.

 

[Idxomer]

He sort of sucks. Was a bit of a stupid signing when it happened and still is. It’s like Wilcox just sorted FBref and went with whoever had the highest defensive actions.

He doesn’t win a ton of duels (it’s like 50%), and gives you pretty much nothing in possession.

I’m so tired of spending big money on players that are instantly limited. It’s unacceptable. Just because he runs and fouls a shit ton doesn’t mean he’s a great midfielder.

It's Mendes shuffling his clients around based on the value he puts on every club, and United obliging.

 

[MadDogg]

Really good at what? He's never stood out in any game.

Berge was the better signing (of those we were linked with in the summer) but everyone wanted the bigger name as usual.

He had some very good games when Amorim first came in. Definitely gone off the boil big time the last couple of months though.

 

[RedEM10]

I think its unfair to have him and Casemiro in together as they both havent a notion how to tick a game over. I still think he is a massive player if we had someone along side him who could get on the ball and spray passes around.

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

I think it’s unfair to have him and Casemiro in together as they both havent a notion how to tick a game over. I still think he is a massive player if we had someone along side him who could get on the ball and spray passes around.

Not sure how often Bruno has played alongside Ugarte? More often Bruno played deeper because we are short of numbers, or later in the game when Ugarte has often been subbed. Those two seem like a partnership that should work.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

I get if Casemiro was kept on for setpieces but we lost a lot of legs and control when he was subbed off. Don't think he was great though.

 

[DON’T PANIC ™]

Quietly goes about his business, breaking up play and passing the ball, keeping possession. A player that is consistent. I have no issue with him, think he is a great asset to the team without being a standout star.

 

[RedEM10]

Not sure how often Bruno has played alongside Ugarte? More often Bruno played deeper because we are short of numbers, or later in the game when Ugarte has often been subbed. Those two seem like a partnership that should work.

I prefer Bruno not restricted in there also and playing in one of the 2 behind striker roles. Bottom line is i really like Ugarte and just think we are short in a few areas which would make him play at his best in every game

 

[Gavinb33]

A nothing player that does well nothing.

Upgrading our strikers is important but upgrading the midfield equally so, we'll never truly dominate teams with attacking play with Casemiro and Ugarte as the 2

 

[Wolfbot]

Quietly goes about his business, breaking up play and passing the ball, keeping possession. A player that is consistent. I have no issue with him, think he is a great asset to the team without being a standout star.

Yeah he's been fine. Seems some folk are expecting him to win every challenge he goes for and ping the ball around like Kroos as well. He's not amazing, but we're not in a position for the best players to want to play for us at the moment.

 

[Adamsk7]

He’s the sort of player that does a good job in a functioning team. We aren’t one. We don’t have a playmaker next to him who also has central midfielder attributes (Bruno is too lightweight and slow) and we don’t have clever players in our forward positions or defence. He was excellent for Sporting, is consistently good for Uruguay and despite what some say, was good for PSG as well. They just wanted Neves who to be fair is a better player overall (and no I don’t think we would have beaten PSG to him).

Think he’ll come good next year

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

I think he's a player who needs the right conditions to be viable…

This first sentence is sort of my point though. You don’t go making players like this your prime midfield target that you’re going to splurge a large chunk of the budget on. Same reason it was stupid from the start that we targeted Harry Maguire as our marquee CB signing years ago when as soon as he was bought we were talking about how he already needed complimentary players around him to cover up for his downsides.

Can Ugarte be part of a winning squad? Sure. Is he ultimately our version of Lucas Torreria or someone similar? Yes I think so.

It's Mendes shuffling his clients around based on the value he puts on every club, and United obliging.

I do think there's a real possibility this was the case, as in "If you want Yoro then you'll have to bring Ugarte as well" and we relented.

If that's what actually happened, or close to it, then the decision is a bit more understandable because you could make the case that Ugarte had a bad year and no matter what we needed a DM, and it was worth gambling on him if it meant getting the best CB prospect in the world with him.

Either way, point being I'm tired of watching midfielders in our team that have 0 comfortability on the ball or progressive instinct

 

[jem]

The 2024 recruitment wasn't as disastrous as 2023 has turned out to be but, with the exception of Yoro (and Mazraoui who was cheap), it does seem like an awful lot of money was spent on OK but nothing special players that will need replacing again if we ever have aspirations to be a good side in the future.

I think de Ligt has more than justified his fee.

 

[Leftback99]

The 2024 recruitment wasn't as disastrous as 2023 has turned out to be but, with the exception of Yoro (and Mazraoui who was cheap), it does seem like an awful lot of money was spent on OK but nothing special players that will need replacing again if we ever have aspirations to be a good side in the future.

This was my issue at the time. All they did was pad out the squad, they didn't actually improve the first XI.

 

[Pyro19]

He was poor vs lyon but still a good player. Both can be true

 

[RORY65]

I think de Ligt has more than justified his fee.

I like him and I don't think any of the transfer fees were that bad compared to the prices paid in the past but De Ligt, Ugarte and Zirkzee are all good players but nothing more.

 

[Blood Mage]

He's a good destroyer but that's it. He needs an expansive, creative passer next to him. Not a great signing for the money we paid if we're being honest.

 

[Hammondo]

He was poor vs lyon but still a good player. Both can be true

I think for a top 4 PL team hes a squad player. I am not unhappy with him at all, but we will need better to push for the title.

Not one of the top positions to improve on, plenty of other positions are more urgent.

 

[Mcking]

Good addition to the squad, but we spent too much.

 

[Teja]

Guys like him are useful to have around in the squad. As I kept saying when we signed him, even Pep wants a Kalvin Philipps. The fact that he's our #1 CM says more about our midfield quality than anything else. Sign some more fecking midfielders!