Manuel Ugarte | Romano - he’s signed | Awaiting Club announcement

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sherrinford said:
Obviously they have, yes. Verratti clearly did, along with Motta and Matuidi. Vitinha was the best midfielder I watched last season, he replaced Ugarte (positionally) as the season went on and was PSG's best player.

It was merely a response to post I disagreed with. I think Ugarte is the right kind of player to bring in and expect him to be a good compliment for Mainoo and much better than Casemiro.
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I agree but those 3 came very early in the QSI era. Matuidi even before that, when Colony transitioned ownership to QSI : He was a very late era Colony Capital target, a solid to great L1 player from ASSE bought from 8m€ (insane steal in retrospect). Arguably until Vitinha and Ruiz, lots of duds in midfield in the meantime with Verratti carrying it whenever fit / not suspended.
 
mu4c_20le said:
That does sound believable. ETH wanted a box to box like Mount or Frenkie, he never targeted a player like Ugarte's profile. This looks like an INEOS club signing, with a view towards the next manager.
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It doesn't sound believable to me one bit, if someone reliable reports it then sure.

From the outside looking in, it seems a signing EtH and the new management want, he is literally the only midfielder the club chased all summer to sign according to any reliable or semi reliable journalist.
 
chay chay okocha said:
I think it's worth contextualizing this a little. It's fair to say that when our current squad is fit - ETH almost never starts Mctominay in any combination of tactical approaches. The most common tactical approach for how ETH uses Mctominay can be thought of in a couple of dimensions: primarily as a substitute from the 70 min+ mark, primarily as a utility player who serves a couple of key tactical functions:
  • To provide athleticism and power when out of possession, particularly defending set pieces (which we are already notoriously poor at winning first and second balls)
  • To provide a goal threat by crashing the box with conviction
  • To your point - it’s worth noting that he is almost never deployed as an actual DM (this is purely my eye test, but happy to be shown alternative data points)
I suspect that apart from the tactical utility that ETH sees in Mctominay, there are probably some less tangible elements for which he is valued - primarily in terms of “soft” attributes like strong character, fighting mentality, probably a very hard trainer – all of which raise the bar for squad culture, which is a key problem that ETH has historically identified and publicly articulated. I think this is probably corroborated by how other coaches have spoken of Mctominay and valued him from a squad building perspective (e.g., Jose and Ole), particularly in the context of a squad that has often been called weak-willed and lacking in strong character.

In those respects, I think Ugarte, while athletic across the midfield third, does not really impact both boxes in the way Mctominay is typically leveraged tactically. I can understand why ETH is reluctant to lose that option - even if I don’t personally agree with it. That said, all signs point to Ugarte also being a strong character with fighting attributes, so hopefully this is a signing that will continue to build on the cultural aspect of the squad.
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It’s refreshing to read a post like this once in a while.

Ten Hag has hinted that McT might leave for the right price and also has said repeatedly that if we have the chance to strengthen the squad, we will do so (in response to questions about Ugarte).

The fact he almost never starts McT should put these rumours to rest, one would hope.

In addition, he has a veto.
 
Anything you want,
Ugarte!
anything you need,
Ugarte!
Anything at all,
Ugarte!
 
So looks like we got him for the price we wanted him for - €50M up front compared to the €60M up front price tag PSG put on him (think they even lowered it to that price as were initially looking to make a profit).

Well played INEOS once again
 
42,171,250.00 Pounds (says Google)

not a bad fee and I imagine the add ons will be happily paid if he helps us become successful
 
RedDevilRoshi said:
So looks like we got him for the price we wanted him for - €50M up front compared to the €60M up front price tag PSG put on him (think they even lowered it to that price as were initially looking to make a profit).

Well played INEOS once again
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Yep, INEOS has been seriously impressive. Couldn't really have asked for any more from them this window.

It's now upto ETH to deliver on the pitch now - no excuses
 
Zed is not dead said:
Not really, he’s really not a No8 able to play box to box.
He’s basically a midfield destroyer who plays it safe and doesn’t carry a lot. He may develop into a box to box but from what I’ve seen it’s not really his strongest suit.
To me the obvious and realistic improvement we can expect of him is to be more comfortable in his passing and when under pressure, but if anything I think he’ll slot between or besides the defenders when building from the back as it would be too risky to have him as the receiver when trying to build from the back under pressure.
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You have to differentiate how players are used and instructed and what they can do. E.g. people keep bollocking his progressive passes, which are indeed very few, but accurate when attempted.

His professional debut aged 15 was as an inside forward so clearly can't be useless on the ball. Not in the "destroyer=can't pass or create" dichotomy that lives rent-free in our fans' minds.

It was only a couple of years later the Uruguay U20 coach (the one winning the last U20 WC, a former midfielder) suggested his engine and tenacity would make him stand out more as CM/DM. If you look at him play for Sporting, he looks very well suited for a box-to-box role.

If you look at him for the NT, he is used more as that #6 build-up outlet with Valverde being b2b. The fluency and effectiveness of his execution varies when his triangulation counterparts get shifted around. Bielsa being a bit mad + injuries + reds got all his go-to lanes/triangles wiped out during Copa, and it showed. Much of that is NTs not getting as much time to iron that out under various setups.

I wouldn't be surprised if what happened at PSG went along those lines too. I don't follow them, but it stands to reason that Luis Enrique first got an XI to play to their strengths and then started tinkering with the midfield. From what I hear it was a matter of few bad games and out of his plans altogether.

The scars from that would explain how much more conservative and safe I found him to be at the Copa, even more so once Araújo got injured and his outlet through attacking fullbacks got compromised by Nández' red and Bielsa doing some random shit constantly tinkering with Viña and Olivera.

All in all, as we know, he is not a single pivot that will dictate the game. He absolutely can contribute to the build up and the more settled our backline and midfield get the better he will be at it. ETH will take his time and that may not be a bad thing really.

I bet all that pushing was him champing at the bit seeing all that space and players just walking through our midfield he could hound around. At least that part he knows he can have a lot of fun from Day 1. But yeah, the sync will take time.
 
Our composition capable of winning the LDC and the PL in 2 years:
Onana
Dalot - Ugarte - Lisandro - Amass
Wharton - Mainoo
Amad - Bruno - Kvara
Hojlund

Coach: McKenna

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(I am giving you at the same time our two recruits for next summer).
 
Kent13 said:
Our composition capable of winning the LDC and the PL in 2 years:
Onana
Dalot - Ugarte - Lisandro - Amass
Wharton - Mainoo
Amad - Bruno - Kvara
Hojlund

Coach: McKenna

​
(I am giving you at the same time our two recruits for next summer).
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Ugarte will play CB?

(We should steer clear of Kvaratshkelia as well)
 
Kent13 said:
Our composition capable of winning the LDC and the PL in 2 years:
Onana
Dalot - Ugarte - Lisandro - Amass
Wharton - Mainoo
Amad - Bruno - Kvara
Hojlund

Coach: McKenna

​
(I am giving you at the same time our two recruits for next summer).
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That might be the smallest XI ever put out by a PL team.
 
Kent13 said:
Our composition capable of winning the LDC and the PL in 2 years:
Onana
Dalot - Ugarte - Lisandro - Amass
Wharton - Mainoo
Amad - Bruno - Kvara
Hojlund

Coach: McKenna

​
(I am giving you at the same time our two recruits for next summer).
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:lol:
 
While we are definitely over paying, he is the kind of player we really need and in theroy can be a great partner for Mainoo for the next 5 years.

Wasn’t great at PSG last season though which is worrying, but then tat club is on a par with us interms of being a bit of an unstructured mess.
 
Lash said:
Stopped listening after 13 seconds. Nonsense opening and then describing their opinion as "the truth". No thanks.
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Oh well...since you were triggered, you missed out on his analysis of what Ugarte has been poor at whilst at PSG -- and what ETH needs to work on/develop or have a structure to compensate. In addition to what his strengths are. Then what your expectations ought to be in the near term.
 
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kaku06 said:
He wasn’t. Danny Drinkwater has never been a DM. Go watch that season again.
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Leicester played a 4-4-2 double six and Kante works in that system too. He also played in a double six for Tuchel, albeit ahead of three CBs.
 
Pleased it's getting done. From everything that I've seen and heard, he does look like he'll be yet another player that is pushing forward to win the ball back high so it's going to be vital that he wins his duels to stop our midfield being exposed again.
 
I can’t wait to see him flying into people and winding the opposition fans up. I used to like that about Fred how he was a tenacious little fecker but he was weak compared to Ugarte. Fred is a better attacker though to be fair! I think Ugarte is going to quickly become a fan favourite here because he puts his body on the line and wins it more often than not.
 
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