Manchester United began their 2025-26 Premier League campaign with a 1-0 defeat to Arsenal at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Arsenal scored an early goal from a corner set-piece after goalkeeper Altay Bayindir made a poor punching clearance.
The Red Devils dominated the possession and gave enough indications for the supporters to be optimistic about the new campaign.
Manager Ruben Amorim has a better squad than last season, with the arrivals of Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko injecting freshness and firepower into the attack.
It is clear that Amorim rates a few of his players very highly but seems a bit conservative about others.
Manuel Ugarte is a part of the latter group.
Two moments of madness from Ugarte
The 33-year-old Casemiro was given the nod ahead of Ugarte to partner Bruno Fernandes in midfield.
Amorim swapped Casemiro for Ugarte in the 65th minute, hoping that the presence of the Uruguay international could help Fernandes contribute more in attack.
Unfortunately, the 24-year-old lacked the discipline required of a holding midfielder.
His decision-making in two specific moments let Amorim and his teammates down.
Arsenal were pinned back in the second half with United trying to break their low-block defence.
Kai Havertz was the only Arsenal man forward with their wingers playing almost like full-backs.
In the 80th minute, Ugarte inexplicably rolled the ball straight to Havertz when a simple forward or sideways pass was on.
Harry Maguire, who just came off the bench, had to make a tactical foul to block Havertz’s darting run.
It was not the only brain-fade moment for Ugarte.
Eight minutes later, the former Paris Saint-Germain midfielder found himself in acres of space.
The ball came to his feet and he had easy options to pass to any of the forwards and maintain pressure on the Gunners.
Instead, he unleashed a speculative 30-yard strike that flew harmlessly wide.
There were cries of ‘don’t shoot’ from the crowd, but he followed his instinct and produced a horrendous execution.
Amorim views Casemiro as ahead of him in the pecking order, and these two incidents only solidify his stance.
Despite being a serious ball winner, Ugarte had to improve a lot on the ball if he wants a successful career at Old Trafford.