[IrwinwasbetterthanCarlos]

We practically gave away McTominay for this clown. Terrible "footballer".

Exactly this. I think in terms of pure technical ability, he’s one of the worst players I’ve ever seen in a United shirt. That could be forgivable if he was some super-physical, all-action, ball-winning, midfield monster… but he’s just kind of alright at those things. Awful signing.

 

[NZT-One]

Dalot’s run before the World Cup was a level he never reached again, for example. That was a solid period where Dalot looked like he was about to go up to the next rung before he reverted back to type.

That sounds a bit toned down in comparison to "actually CL-worthy" but I guess, I'll put too much value into specific words

The likelihood of Ugarte ever hitting such a high note here is remote.

Yeah, thats not a hill I am going to die on. I just said that I think that a player like him has his uses (see Endos role for Liverpool) but United prioritized wrong and overpaid when the funds should have went into a ball player.

 

[Fortitude]

That sounds a bit toned down in comparison to "actually CL-worthy" but I guess, I'll put too much value into specific words

Yeah, thats not a hill I am going to die on. I just said that I think that a player like him has his uses (see Endos role for Liverpool) but United prioritized wrong and overpaid when the funds should have went into a ball player.

Dalot looked like a player who could play for a top 4 side in the run to the World Cup and was getting the plaudits in accordance with that. A Champions League level fullback and someone who was changing some opinions with his game. You can check the threads and performance thread of the time as you certainly don't have to take my word for it. He was well worthy of the praise for that now distant period.

 

[Oranges038]

I've said it before, maybe not on here, but for me he's way worse than thay Torreira guy that was at Arsenal, genuinely horrible on the ball, can't really tackle, his midfield positioning is dreadful, runs around a lot and picks up yellow cards that's about it.

 

[NZT-One]

Dalot looked like a player who could play for a top 4 side in the run to the World Cup and was getting the plaudits in accordance with that. A Champions League level fullback and someone who was changing some opinions with his game. You can check the threads and performance thread of the time as you certainly don't have to take my word for it. He was well worthy of the praise for that now distant period.

United fans opinions on United players in United fan forums are something I certainly wouldn't go to for opinions. But I know what you mean, he had a bit of a period on here where he was talked about as some sort of rising star. Never really got it and thought that it was "just another instance" of United fans desperately wanting to see excellence somewhere, be that talent, chance creation, key passes, or what not.

But thats just me, I totally accept other people coming to different conclusions. (even though I feel confirmed with the trajectory he's taken after that period)

 

[JE-0801]

When he’s on the ball, he doesn’t know what to do with it. That’s why we see him losing possession cheaply today because he held too long few times and killed our tempo and struggled to control the midfield.

Physically, he’s worse than Mainoo because I feel that today Mainoo won some of his ground duel without conceded fouls while Ugarte just non-existent and if he won the duels they were with fouls conceded. So I don’t even know why Mainoo doesn’t start over this guy.

Therefore, he was a waste of money signing. I have always wonder from the start of last season up to now, why we spent 50m on a limited midfielder who is unwanted by PSG only for us to give the money to PSG so they can sign Joao Neves who has better physicality, better on the ball, and has higher ceiling. This is peak poor business and poor scouting. Even if we really want this guy, you don’t spend 50m on player that PSG wants to get rid.

 

[ScholesBrain]

When he’s on the ball, he doesn’t know what to do with it. That’s why we see him losing possession cheaply today because he held too long few times and killed our tempo and struggled to control the midfield.

Physically, he’s worse than Mainoo because I feel that today Mainoo won some of his ground duel without conceded fouls while Ugarte just non-existent and if he won the duels they were with fouls conceded. So I don’t even know why Mainoo doesn’t start over this guy.

Therefore, he was a waste of money signing. I have always wonder from the start of last season up to now, why we spent 50m on a limited midfielder who is unwanted by PSG only for us to give the money to PSG so they can sign Joao Neves who has better physicality, better on the ball, and has higher ceiling. This is peak poor business and poor scouting. Even if we really want this guy, you don’t spend 50m on player that PSG wants to get rid.

we have many of those "trying to be smart" transfers that don't make any common sense at all in the past few years

We bought Ugarte at the same price PSG bought him 1 year ago after he had a bad season at PSG which should supposedly reduce his transfer value
We bought Mount who was on his last year of contract with Chelsea and had finished his season with just 3EPL goals at 55M
We bought Onana, Bayindir and heavily scouted Suzuki in the same window, three goalkeepers well known for howlers

 

[ZainCRse7en]

Not sure what people in here are moaning about but thought he had a decent enough game and was one of our better players. Ugarte is a bonafide destroyer and nothing else. When it comes to breaking up opposition play, he is one of the best in the world at doing that. The problem here is that we expect him to not only do that, but also dictate the tempo of the game and spray passes around like he’s some prime Pirlo, both aspects of which he simply does not have in his game. Just play to his strengths and he will be fine.

 

[Ali Dia]

I think Ugarte Mainoo would be our best midfield pairing. Hooefully the next manager puts 3 back in the middle and we can press and dominate teams. I feel like Ugarte would be a much better player in that system. I think he's actually very underrated on here. As sad as I am to say it it's Bruno really who needs dropping these days

 

[ti vu]

Not sure what people in here are moaning about but thought he had a decent enough game and was one of our better players. Ugarte is a bonafide destroyer and nothing else. When it comes to breaking up opposition play, he is one of the best in the world at doing that. The problem here is that we expect him to not only do that, but also dictate the tempo of the game and spray passes around like he’s some prime Pirlo, both aspects of which he simply does not have in his game. Just play to his strengths and he will be fine.

No. He is not. He’s not even at Fred or Gana Gueye level, let alone the higher profile player at their best.

 

[ScholesBrain]

I don't like the cameo of him casually jogging back in Sunderland's 1v1 in 90th minute

 

[UnitedSofa]

Hopefully this is an appropriate thread to share this:

 

[Ali Dia]

Hopefully this is an appropriate thread to share this:

No shit. He hasn't come close to fulfilling the promise he was showing back then since. He has been good in flashes and he's obviously been poor quite a lot too. I think he's a beast of a ball winner and a presser but he's never going to dictate the play. Like Fred I think he'd look so much better in the right system. I feel like there is genuinely still a lot more to come from Ugarte if we can help him hit form

 

[Martial'sEmergingSmile]

I don't like the cameo of him casually jogging back in Sunderland's 1v1 in 90th minute

Probably my biggest issue with him now.

He's never going to be a great technician, a conductor or an intelligent defensive shield. But at least be a workhorse. The amount of times he'll jog back on turnovers or get tackled and stay down - watching while a team counter on us - is crazy for such a limited player.

 

[astracrazy]

Hopefully this is an appropriate thread to share this:

The irony. An under performing coach from sporting telling an under performing player from sporting he is under performing.

 

[tenpoless]

The irony. An under performing coach from sporting telling an under performing player from sporting he is under performing.

"You are not the same coach than what you were at Sporting"

 

[Red the Bear]

It was a silly transfer in retrospect.

 

[Pronewbie]

I got this one wrong

 

[Bondi77]

Hopefully this is an appropriate thread to share this:

JUST OUT!
What a load of old shite!

 

[tenpoless]

I hope we replace him soon to stop Ruben saying "Manuu"

 

[ron86]

He's far too limited to be anything other than a squad option, another waste of money

 

[Adisa]

Nearly 60m. The people involved should be sacked. The team we bought him from used the money to buy Joao Neves ffs!

 

[aeh1991]

I would say he's been the worst transfer under INEOS.

 

[IrwinwasbetterthanCarlos]

I can see him having a very similar career to Gregorz Krychowiak. He was a highly rated, ball winning midfielder that went to PSG but failed to cut it. Wound up in Cyprus via West Brom, Russia and the Middle East. From our perspective, the best we can hope for is a Saudi club giving us his book value in the summer.

Dreadful signing. Thought we were getting a dog of war, wound up with a kitten of surrender.

 

[Berbasbullet]

Nearly 60m. The people involved should be sacked. The team we bought him from used the money to buy Joao Neves ffs!

I thought it was 50m pound? Might be wrong though.

 

[Trigestis]

I thought it was 50m pound? Might be wrong though.

£42m + performance related bonuses. I think it is safe to say those bonuses have not been accomplished, so it is not as bad, and the fee isn't close to 60m like the other poster claimed. We should still be able to get a decent fee for him because he could still be a good fit in another league or a lower PL team that needs someone to break up play. For all his weaknesses in possession, he is still very good at breaking up play and just keeping it simple, but you need more than that to play for United. His level is higher than what we've seen of him recently, but this is what lack of confidence does to players.

 

[Berbasbullet]

£42m + performance related bonuses. I think it is safe to say those bonuses have not been accomplished, so it is not as bad, and the fee isn't close to 60m like the other poster claimed. We should still be able to get a decent fee for him because he could still be a good fit in another league or a lower PL team that needs someone to break up play. For all his weaknesses in possession, he is still very good at breaking up play and just keeping it simple, but you need more than that to play for United. His level is higher than what we've seen of him recently, but this is what lack of confidence does to players.

Ah okay, yeah I’m kind of sick of people exaggerating fees to then crap on the club they support.

 

[soapythecat]

It’s a real shame he is not the Sporting version at United. Just the player we need to sit next to Fernandes and sweep up his errors.
Not sure if he’s ever really shown anything consistent in a United shirt - always felt like a liability and walking yellow card.

 

[Marcus]

It’s a real shame he is not the Sporting version at United. Just the player we need to sit next to Fernandes and sweep up his errors.
Not sure if he’s ever really shown anything consistent in a United shirt - always felt like a liability and walking yellow card.

Yeah, we need automatic version. Maybe his passing will be smoother and better in transmission.

 

[Berbasbullet]

It’s a real shame he is not the Sporting version at United. Just the player we need to sit next to Fernandes and sweep up his errors.
Not sure if he’s ever really shown anything consistent in a United shirt - always felt like a liability and walking yellow card.

He’s just never show the ability to receive the ball in the half turn under any pressure, which makes him a liability and harder to play through the midfield.

Basically we didn’t upgrade on Fred, a very annoying transfer (albeit he’s had some decent games here and there).

 

[aeh1991]

£42m + performance related bonuses. I think it is safe to say those bonuses have not been accomplished, so it is not as bad, and the fee isn't close to 60m like the other poster claimed. We should still be able to get a decent fee for him because he could still be a good fit in another league or a lower PL team that needs someone to break up play. For all his weaknesses in possession, he is still very good at breaking up play and just keeping it simple, but you need more than that to play for United. His level is higher than what we've seen of him recently, but this is what lack of confidence does to players.

That's still way too much for what he's shown. Safe to say he's been a flop.

 

[MadDogg]

He’s just never show the ability to receive the ball in the half turn under any pressure, which makes him a liability and harder to play through the midfield.

Basically we didn’t upgrade on Fred, a very annoying transfer (albeit he’s had some decent games here and there).

He's a clear downgrade on Fred so far. Even the one thing I did think he was better at (the ability to receive the ball under pressure and keep it) has been a real problem after some early promise.

 

[Sarni]

He’s an extremely limited player and even things he’s good at he doesn’t truly excel at. As your fifth or sixth midfielder you only bring on to shore up the defense while holding on to a lead he might be of use but he’s very hard to seriously fit into an XI trying to play football.

 

[Trex]

When he's in the team he creates problems on the ball, because his passing lacks any invention it so easy to utilize it as a pressing trigger. The sloppy sideways pass, I can see why Enrique wasn't a fan.

 

[pocco]

For me he’s not as good as Fred. Fred got a hard time for making a fraction of the mistakes that he does, but Fred was more mobile and energetic, a better passer and just a more assured player despite the mistakes.

It wouldn’t surprise be if there was some truth in Ratcliffe being annoyed that we focused on stats that a lower PL team would be looking at, and less on how good he actually is on the ball. The signs were there when we signed him and the circumstances of his sale at PSG - somebody in our transfer team made a big misjudgement on this one. Thankfully I think we could sell him for a decent bit of money to a lower team if we’re lucky.

 

[Gandalf]

For me he’s not as good as Fred. Fred got a hard time for making a fraction of the mistakes that he does, but Fred was more mobile and energetic, a better passer and just a more assured player despite the mistakes.

It wouldn’t surprise be if there was some truth in Ratcliffe being annoyed that we focused on stats that a lower PL team would be looking at, and less on how good he actually is on the ball. The signs were there when we signed him and the circumstances of his sale at PSG - somebody in our transfer team made a big misjudgement on this one. Thankfully I think we could sell him for a decent bit of money to a lower team if we’re lucky.

Totally agree. If Fenerbache offered us a straight swap of Fred for Ugarte in January I would bite their hand off.

 

[RuudTom83]

He is in his second year now, so it's up to him to convince the club to keep him for a 3rd season.

Needs to step it up for sure, been a disappointment so far.

 

[sullydnl]

I was fine with signing him as a young B-list midfielder who would improve us in the short term and be moved on or into a squad role in three or four seasons when the team was back at regular CL football level.

But given he has failed to even displace Casemiro in the short term, he has certainly been a poor signing unless something changes.

His limitations on the ball were obvious, but while they made him unsuited to Enrique's football they don't automatically preclude him from being useful in other set-ups. Especially when you consider that he actually played well until the latter part of his season at PSG anyway, and we were at best years away from being at PSG's level.

For me the bigger disappointment is how lightweight he's been at times, despite some strong defensive output stats. For someone for whom aggression should be a key strength, he has often seemed very bully-able against other PL midfielders. I was hoping this was something that would improve as he adapted to the physicality of the league, but little sign of that so far.

 

[Trigestis]

That's still way too much for what he's shown. Safe to say he's been a flop.

To be honest, I wouldn't even call him a flop. You can't sign a player with clear deficiencies and lack of quality, and label him a flop for not being better than he is. We got exactly what we knew we would get - a midfielder that breaks up play, plays simple sideways passes, barely contributes offensively and poor in possession.

A flop would be Sancho, a young player on the rise with excellent attacking output who utterly failed in this league and for us. We thought we would be getting a superstar, a world class winger that could score and assist for fun, and he simply didn't.

 

[Adnan]

Any club that wants to play proactive attacking football requires players who can thread the lines from deeper positions. And I'm not sure why people keep bringing data analytics up when it was clear to see that Ugarte wasn't a player who had the ability to thread the lines. The system or setup has to revolve around high level progression from deeper positions if the aim is to control games. You can possibly get away with a lack of forward passing if the player is physically and athletically of a high level, but Ugarte failed in that regard as well. I provided the evidence of his lack of ability to manage space in a higher line against AC Milan and Newcastle in the Champions league where he was at times ripped to shreds and physically dominated. It's absolutely astounding how Wilcox advocated for this signing.

Bruno Fernandes in the quotes below quite simply states what is required from players playing in deeper roles and the ability to thread the lines is extremely important as a basic requirement.