Manuel Ugarte: Rio Ferdinand reveals Carrick’s biggest challenge

Manchester United will begin a new era under Michael Carrick from Saturday, with the Manchester derby the first game to navigate. Fans are eager to see the kind of lineup the caretaker head coach puts out, especially in midfield. Casemiro looks likely to be on his way out, with the new head coach unlikely to start him in every game for fear of triggering his contract extension. Manuel Ugarte was brought in to eventually replace the ageing Brazilian, but safe to say, the Uruguayan has been a major disappointment. Manuel Ugarte has been a huge disappointment The ex-PSG ace has struggled to deal with the pace and physicality of the Premier League, and even his former Sporting CP mentor Ruben Amorim failed to help him adjust to the rigours of the league. Whether Carrick opts for the 24-year-old against Pep Guardiola’s side remains to be seen, but his former teammate and club legend Rio Ferdinand has made his thoughts clear on the South American. “I’ve got to be honest, I have been disappointed with Ugarte. He is one player who, when he came in, everybody said he’s got legs, he can tackle, he can move. “The description I was getting was that he was the right type of player we needed,” the legendary centre-back explained on his YouTube channel. “It just hasn’t materialised, it hasn’t come to the fore. I haven’t seen the player that everybody was talking about before in terms of being able to get up against people quickly and tackle. Carrick’s biggest challenge “That’s meant to be a big part of his game, being aggressive. He hasn’t put a marker down in a game that’s made me think, ‘This guy could be one of our midfield dogs or controllers who is really going to get things going in the midfield.’ He hasn’t got anywhere near that.” Manuel Ugarte has shown signs of a mini-resurgence, which explains why the new head coach shot down January exit rumours. With reinforcements unlikely this month, Carrick has quite the challenge on his hands to get the midfield destroyer back to his best. Being a former midfielder, Ugarte could not have asked for a better teacher to get his career back on  track. Feature image Carl Recine via Getty Images The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Ayantan Chowdhury After failing to become a professional footballer, Ayantan switched to the next best thing: writing about the greatest football club in the world. He has extensive sports journalism experience, having worked for over 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25