That leaves Manuel Ugarte as the last option for United, which sums up how bleak the situation is. With Casemiro and Mainoo out, Amorim was forced to start Ugarte at Villa, but the Uruguayan blew his big chance to prove himself.
Ugarte lost half of his ground duels, gave away possession seven times and didn’t attempt a single clearance in the match. He also completed just 27 passes in his 77 minutes on the pitch, and went viral for an awfully misjudged one that floated out for a goal-kick.
United have not won any of the last nine matches that Ugarte has started, a club record only ‘bettered’ by much-maligned World Cup-winner Kleberson between January 2004 and May 2005, and that is no coincidence. The former Sporting and Paris Saint-Germain ace works hard, but his style of play is ugly and ineffective, and he has no positional sense to speak of.
The step up to the Premier League has been too great for Ugarte, which even Amorim has acknowledged after previously working with him in Portugal. “I know that Ugarte is struggling in the moment, and my job is trying to help him to feel as a player, like I felt when he was a Sporting player,” Amorim said last month. “But it is a different world, and he needs to adapt, and he needs to improve, especially in training.”
There has been no visible improvement since those comments, and United’s struggles will worsen if he continues to get the nod. In the short-term, Amorim should stick with Martinez, who is a composed, progressive passer who channels his aggression far more wisely than Ugarte.