Manuel Ugarte – The Art of Central Solidity – Breaking The Lines

Abraham Smith

A nation fueled by fighting spirit and inspired to risk their lives for victory. Nobody does it like Uruguay. The national psyche of “Garra Charrúa” depicts Uruguay as a perpetual outsider in a near-impossible struggle against others attempting to achieve the impossible, a concept taken from the nation’s stoic resistance to its territory against the larger and more powerful Spanish forces To defend.

“Garras” means claws and “Charrúa” refers to the indigenous people who lived in the area that is now Uruguay, hence the nickname “claw of the Charrúa”. It’s a nickname given to the Uruguay national football team, inspired by the wild and warlike nature of the Charrúa people. This tribe, which had fought a resilient if unsuccessful struggle against the Spanish invaders, was known for its bravery, strength and tenacity, qualities often associated with Uruguayan football.

This moniker has become a symbol of the team’s fighting spirit and never-say-never mentality, both on and off the field, and has become synonymous with several of the nation’s rising footballers, including Sporting CP’s 21-year-old Der old central midfielder Manuel Ugarte.

Born on April 11, 2001 in Montevideo, Uruguay, Ugarte began his development at local club City Park before joining Fénix where he made his professional debut at 15 years and 233 days, becoming the youngest player of the 21st century , who played professionally in Uruguay top notch. Ugarte moved to Portugal aged 19 and quickly became a regular in midfield for the Famalicão, who went from being a relegation contender to the European Cup.

Ugarte only played at Famalicão for seven months before joining Sporting in the summer of 2021. The Uruguayan quickly secured a spot, replacing the injured João Palhinha, who made 25 league appearances. Following the departures of Palhinha and Matheus Nunes, Ugarte has become a vital cog in midfield for Rúben Amorim’s side this season, establishing himself as one of Portugal’s finest midfielders.

The 21-year-old midfielder has shown great potential since joining the club, impressing fans and critics alike with his technical ability, pace of work and versatility on the pitch. Usually used as a defensive midfielder, Ugarte is very aggressive and persistent. He also has a great technical ability to thrive in all phases of the pitch.

This SofaScore heatmap shows how active the midfielder really is. A player who drives across the playing field with a large motor. Defensively, Ugarte makes a very big name for himself. Ask any Uruguayan midfielder like ‘Federico Valverde’ or ‘Rodrigo Bentancur’ if they love tackling and most likely their faces will light up. Manuel Ugarte is certainly no different.

This is an excerpt of his defensive stats for the 22-23 Primeira Liga season. As we can see, Ugarte is a defensive monster who isn’t afraid to put his leg in a challenge and win the ball. Ugarte wins more tackles than anyone in the league and also ranks best in fighting dribblers. This makes him a must-have mid-court asset as a 6 or even as an 8. He doesn’t often go down and usually shoulder-butts a player off. Ugarte only goes down when necessary.

Ugarte is supported by his big engine. If you watch him, you’ll see the willingness and tenacity to come back and make a tackle or retrieve the ball, even if it’s not near the player at first. A resemblance to this type of resilient running and tackling is N’Golo Kante. He will bounce back when his team is threatened with a quick transition, and will also aggressively pressurize any opposing player to regain possession and keep the pressure on in the middle or last third of the pitch.

These stats also show his ability to push the pitch higher and win the ball when needed. This is a brilliant addition in a key area when a coach wants their team to push the opponent back and create a physical or numerical superiority when called upon to do so. As we can see, he’s a player who doesn’t bother to engage in tackles wherever they are on the pitch.

This snippet from SofaScore shows his willingness to get involved and not afraid to take on challenges when they come. Ugarte wins more than half of his duels, an exceptional number considering how many he challenges per 90.

In the last Europa League game against Arsenal we saw how incredibly aware he is of recycling the game and helping to keep his team’s defensive structure. He also completed most of the dribbles on the pitch. Those stats sit at over 118 minutes when he was sent off by Arsenal for a very reckless slide challenge against Bukayo Saka, which comes with such personality.

(Pictures from @EverydayUnited2 on Twitter)

These graphics show his ability to stop fast transitions and safely recycle the ball. This play sequence underscores the importance of his defensive traits for a team that wants to sustain attacks while holding a high line.

Again, we see his importance and the confidence the coach has in him. In this sequence, Sporting attacks with a 3-1-6 structure, with the “1” being Ugarte himself. This is because he is trusted to regain the ball when lost, stop transitions, recover when the ball has fallen behind and also retain the ball when in possession.

Manuel Ugarte’s demonstrated defensive qualities make it effective for a manager to use him as a lone defensive midfielder given his ability to cover a lot of ground. This allows other players to push into more offensive zones and worry less about defensive coverage, which Jordan Henderson has done well for Trent-Alexander Arnold in years past.

Statistics from the end of the group stage of the Champions League [WhoScored]

Now for overtaking. These stats show how neat Ugarte is at recycling the ball and not forcing the game. He’s average at moving the ball forward with his pass and the distance traveled with his passports. This is an area where he could improve. However, since this is not one of his strengths, he is not tasked with it.

The short and middle passing stats show how well he can recycle the game. Again very valuable for a high pressure system to not make the game like a ping pong game. Recycling the game is a valuable attribute and at 21, Ugarte is one of the best at it, showing composure and maturity.

Ugarte isn’t exactly an elite progressive passer, but his progressive carrying certainly is. This is due to his athleticism and quick feet coupled with a ton of stamina and strength. As we can see, Ugarte takes a lot of touches as Sporting trust him on the ball. This again demonstrates his ability to retain possession. Most of these touches occur in the middle third of the field. An area where a team must maintain dominance or they will lose control of the game.

Ugarte is a fabulous porter. He drives ahead quickly and also likes to carry into the last third. He is more successful more than half the time and only gets attacked 34% of the time. This shows that more than half of its acquisitions are successful.

Ball security paired with dribbling and carrying dynamics enable Sporting CP to advance to the Final 3 on the pitchapprox without relying on elite passes to break the lines. This helps when the opponent is well trained and manages to close all available passing lanes.

Image by @EverydayUnited2 on Twitter

All of the above is presented in this graph. All lanes are closed and a pass would be intercepted. Ugarte shows tremendous dribbling ability and an awareness to dodge the pressure and carry the ball forward. This is incredibly useful for a manager who wants his central midfielders to drop deep and keep the ball under pressure.

Ugarte’s recent display against Arsenal shows his well-rounded game and underscores the importance of an all-action midfielder. In that game he attacked well, converted the ball very well and showed his ability to turn and dodge pressure against one of the best teams in the world.

Manuel Ugarte’s development will be exciting to watch. Primeira Liga has graced our eyes with very talented players lately. This man is no different. He can be used as a lone defensive midfielder or as a box-to-box machine.

Chelsea need a defensive partner for Enzo Fernandez, Manchester United suffer enormously when Casemiro is unavailable and Jurgen Klopp looks on in dismay as goals lick from a broken back. No fear anymore. This Uruguayan is action-packed and no-nonsense and with a €60m release clause it seems only a matter of time before he follows in the footsteps of Bruno Fernandes, Ruben Dias, Luis Diaz and more and becomes the latest player to swap the Primeira Liga against the Premier League.

By: @ftblhassan

Featured Image: @GabFoligno / MB Media – Getty Images

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