Manuel Ugarte has just returned to Man United's base camp after returning to the national team during FIFA Days in September. It has been just 48 hours since the Uruguayan midfielder returned to Carrington until the match against Southampton. Starting Ugarte seems impossible for Erik ten Hag but with the current urgency of his midfield, the Dutchman may have to take the risk.
At this time, Man United still has 2 main stars, Rasmus Hojlund and Luke Shaw, who are still injured. The recovery progress of this pair is quite good but they cannot play at the weekend. Therefore, the current force in Ten Hag's hands is still quite thin.
Manuel Ugarte played the full 90 minutes of Uruguay's draw with Venezuela in midweek. He returned to base a day later than his European teammates. It is likely that the midfielder will have just one training session before being included in the Red Devils' squad for the trip to St. Mary's.
"Rasmus Hojlund and Luke Shaw are progressing well but they won't be ready for the weekend. We saw Manuel Ugarte's performance on Tuesday. He's back and he's the only one who's joined up on Thursday. The rest of the players arrived on Wednesday," Erik ten Hag said in a pre-match press conference.
Also in the pre-match press conference, Ten Hag did not say much about how he could use his new student or whether Ugarte would start or not. The Dutch captain is considering because if Casemiro is still bad, he will be forced to replace him and vice versa. Everything will be decided in the last training session before the team leaves for St. Mary.
In the loss to Liverpool, Man United's "number 6" position was so weak that it was pathetically weak. Casemiro was replaced after the first 45 minutes when the Real Madrid legend made 2 mistakes, indirectly leading to 2 goals conceded by the home team. In the second half, when young talent Toby Collyer came in as a replacement, things only became less dangerous for Man United's defense, without any positive signs.
After losing two consecutive matches, especially against Brighton, Man United finished round 3 in 14th place on the rankings, 6 points behind the leader Man City. The championship race has been erased from Man United's name for many years now, but with such a bad start, they may not have a chance to grab a ticket to the Champions League at the end of the season.
Ten Hag’s future is on Southampton, and looking at the next seven games in 22 days in all competitions, this is the time to ditch the overly safe thinking and go all-in. Throwing Ugarte in to avoid conceding an early goal is an option that can be considered. If Casemiro is used again and makes another mistake, Man United may not be able to recover.
"The rumors out there cannot affect me. My colleagues and I know where things stand.
The team is still in transition and needs a lot of young players to integrate. Man United must now deal with the injury storm and get players back into the first team as soon as possible.
Nobody likes to hear excuses. We have to win every game. I understand this and so do the players" - Ten Hag shared.
