Manuel Ugarte came to the World Cup hoping to change the story. Under Marcelo Bielsa, one of the best in the business at getting the most out of players, Uruguay felt like the perfect place for the Manchester United midfielder to finally become the midfield wrecking ball everyone thought he could be.
It hasn’t worked out that way. Not even close.
While United teammate Noussair Mazraoui has been busy reminding everyone why he’s still valuable, Ugarte has quietly become one of the bigger letdowns of the tournament. He struggled against Saudi Arabia. He didn’t improve against Cape Verde. In a game where Uruguay desperately needed their No. 6 to dominate, he turned in what many are calling his worst performance in a national team shirt.
Uruguayan outlet Montevideo Portal didn’t hold back. They called him sloppy on the ball. Struggling against physical, fast opponents. They specifically noted that when the team needed someone to control possession, he wasn’t the guy. One of the harshest lines? He was one of the team’s biggest weaknesses and should have been subbed off much earlier. They added that his lack of precision was a big reason Uruguay’s attacking flow fell apart in the second half.
That kind of local media reaction cuts deep. It’s not a foreign pundit taking a random shot. This is his own country’s press saying he doesn’t look ready for that level.
And honestly? It lines up perfectly with what we’ve been hearing from United. According to multiple reports, INEOS has quietly accepted that Ugarte just isn’t their guy. They’re not going to shop him around. But if a club shows up with a £25 million offer, they’re not going to block the door either.
That’s a hard pill to swallow when you remember United paid £42 million for him not that long ago. You can see why local media zeroed in on the same problem that’s plagued him in the Premier League: he’s careless with the ball when things speed up. And in a league where basically every opponent has fast, physical midfielders who press hard, that’s a fatal flaw.
Maybe a change of scenery helps. A league that doesn’t punish sloppy touches quite as mercilessly could let Ugarte reset and find the form that made United buy him in the first place. But right now, at this World Cup, he looks like a player who’s lost his way.
Leave a Comment