Manuel Ugarte has issued a warning to Erik ten Hag who may be considering instituting the midfielder’s recent positional change at Old Trafford.
The former PSG star has made a steady start to life in Manchester following his £51million move from Paris in the summer, starting one of the Red Devils last four league matches.
The 23-year-old’s transition to English football has not been aided by United’s struggles. Ten Hag’s side sit 14th in the top-flight with just eight points from their first seven games.
The Dutchman appears to have survived his latest close shave with the chop during an international break that saw Ugarte deployed in a defensive back-three for Uruguay during their 1-0 defeat by Peru.
Marco Bielsa’s move clearly did not sit well with combative midfielder who made it clear that he does not believe he possess the requisite skillset to play there regularly.
Manuel Ugarte was played in a back-three during Uruguay’s 1-0 defeat by Peru on Friday
Erik ten Hag ha started the midfielder just once since his late summer transfer from French giants PSG
Ugarte’s transition to English football has not been aided by United’s poor start to the season
‘It was not a good match,’ he told ESPN. ‘We did not play well, it was a shame because I still believe that we are much better, but the match was ugly for us. The dressing room was strong before the match, the atmosphere was nice, but little by little we faded and we did not show good things in the match.
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‘Everyone can play and has the conditions to do so, but many times, when changing players it takes a little [time] to adapt. It is not an excuse either, the team’s performance dropped. We need to go deeper, as we saw against Peru, we have to keep working.
‘Honestly, I felt good with the ball, but I lack certain things as a defender. These are things that always enrich a player.’
The chances of Ten Hag fielding the midfielder in defence is remote given the summer purchases of Matthijs de Ligt and Leny Yoro, though the latter is yet to make his debut for the cub following an injury in pre-season.
Ugarte’s only start for United came alongside Kobbie Mainoo in the 3-0 defeat by Tottenham last month. The home side’s gameplan was scuppered by the break following the sending off of Bruno Fernandes but frailties with the system had already been ruthlessly exploited before the dismissal.
United minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has so far opted against sacking the Dutchman
United return to action on Saturday when they welcome Brentford to Old Trafford before they go in search of their first win in Europe against Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce.
Ten Hag remains under pressure following the poor start with reports in recent days linking former Borussia Dortmund manager Edin Terzic with his job.
