Manuel Ugarte had three options in the final throes of this instant Premier League classic at Anfield.
With 39 seconds left on the clock, Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk thumped the ball into the snowy Merseyside stratosphere. Ugarte pulled it out the sky, took a touch and looked around.
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| Manuel Ugarte has been a driving force in United's midfield |
United's kindred spirit shines
He could have safely shunted the ball back to goalkeeper Andre Onana. He could have put into touch or flicked to Amad, in space and available for a pass. Each option was at the lower end of the risk scale. But unusually for a player in his position, that of the archetypal destroyer whom makes a career out of the safe and the steady, Ugarte chose an option not available to order. One not on the menu. One that players tasked with his own, niche, very specific job barely ever even attempt, never mind execute effectively.
With his back to goal and on the half turn, Ugarte hooked the ball into the path of Bruno Fernandes and United had turned defence into attack in an instant.
The ball was threaded through the eye of the proverbial needle, between Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez, spinning behind Alexis Mac Allister into the path of our buccaneering captain. It was the breakaway chance which would culminate in Joshua Zirkzee's square ball to Harry Maguire with the last kick of the game. Maguire got under the ball and sent it high into the stands, missing his chance of a place in United folklore like his defensive cohort John O'Shea with THAT winner in front of the Kop in 2007.
Reds strike gold with transfer gem
It was a moment encapsulating everything good about United and Ugarte - the Uruguayan's final act in a metronomic man of the match performance. The summer signing from PSG, as per BBC Sport, mixed grit and guile, devilment and quality, to provide a platform for a much better performance than we expected. If anyone still doubted Ugarte's importance, this was a match in which he silenced those critics. There were a number of eye-catching individual showings in this thrill-a-minute draw, notably Lisandro Martinez, Amad and Fernandes. But Ugarte was above them all, a totemic, man of the match performance in the face of Liverpool's fierce and feted engine room triumvirate.
Ugarte seemed to tip every 50/50 into a 60/40 in his favour, winning three of his four tackles with a pass completion rate of 87%. This was his best display in the Red (or white, on this occasion) of United so far. Coming as it did in the pressure cooker of Anfield was a feather in the cap of a player who was widely criticised for a shaky start to life at Old Trafford. But he has looked every inch the player we hoped we were getting. United's recruitment has rightly been criticised during the dark days of the post-Ferguson existential, but INEOS have got this one right. Ugarte and Noussair Mazraoui represent our best pair of signings for many a year.
It's true he was at fault for Liverpool's leveller when he lost the ball to Ryan Gravenberch who then set up Cody Gakpo, but that was his only blemish. He balanced defensive diligence with attacking intent to brilliant effect, putting out fires everywhere one moment then popping up on the edge of the Liverpool penalty area the next. He dropped into the back three when needed, too, allowing Maguire and Martinez to push forward and stride into the attacking third.
Ruben Amorim deserves credit, too, for stiffening United's midfield. Ugarte and the youthful zest and vigour of Kobbie Mainoo offered an instant upgrade on ageing veterans Casemiro and Christian Eriksen - whose lack of legs and energy were so brutally exposed in the abhorrent surrender against Newcastle United. Save for the occasional deployment when rotation is required, Casemiro and Eriksen have no future at United now. How we missed the suspended Ugarte against the Magpies.
Ugarte and Mainoo pointing the way to a brighter future
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| Casemiro's days at United are numbered |
He is still easing into his United career, still adapting to the fire and ferocity of the English game. This was only the fourth time he has completed 90 minutes since that £41m move from Paris. The now departed Erik ten Hag was very cautious when it came to Ugarte, to the point where you almost wondered if he had wanted him at all. Maybe it was because we had to sell one of ten Hag's most loyal lieutenants, Scott McTominay, to be able to afford the purchase. Either way, the decision to bring him in now looks inspired and will have long term benefits for both the team and a player still only in his early 20s.
His persistence with the ill-fitting Casemiro and Eriksen was one of the main reasons why the Dutchman lost his job at Old Trafford. But in Ugarte, ten Hag has left United with a very welcome parting gift.
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