Ruben Amorim has broken a five-game trend with Manuel Ugarte which has shown his true feelings about two Manchester United players.
Manchester United are heading towards their most important game of the season against Lyon and they have not won a game of football in a month.
Granted, there was an international break during that time but the last four games have left a lot to be desired at Old Trafford.
Ruben Amorim’s side have dropped points in all different ways. Against Nottingham Forest and Manchester City it was the lack of killer instinct which came back to bite them.
Then it was André Onana who took centre stage in the first-leg against Lyon where his two mistakes lead to him being ‘rested’ for the game against Newcastle.
This time it was individual mistakes across the board which cost United the game at St James’ Park and they can’t afford a repeat of any of these issues on Thursday night.
Amorim breaks five-game Ugarte trend
Manuel Ugarte was one player many believed would be immediately trusted by Amorim due to the fact that he played under him at Sporting.
The Uruguayan midfielder started well under the Portuguese boss, especially in games against bigger sides, but he has been unable to keep up those performance levels.
It is quite telling that he had a five-game stretch where he was substituted by Amorim in each of those matches so that United could try and improve their performance.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, he played the entire game against Newcastle – breaking that five-game trend in an unimportant game several days before the Lyon tie, where even Bruno Fernandes was substituted out to get some sort of rest.
Ugarte might have worked under Amorim previously. So did Donny van de Beek with Erik ten Hag and his chances at Old Trafford didn’t come under the Dutchman.
It seems like Amorim doesn’t entirely trust Ugarte and considering he was left on for the entire 90 minutes against Newcastle, it is unlikely that he starts against Lyon.
Amorim’s true feelings on Casemiro shown
That exact decision to keep Ugarte on the field on Sunday also showcases Amorim’s changed feelings about his midfield partner Casemiro.
The Brazilian did not take to the pitch against the Magpies and it was the first time he was an unused substitute since defeat to Crystal Palace at the beginning of February.
However, the reasons could not be more different. Back then, it was because of a lack of trust from the manager, who had barely used the veteran midfielder beforehand. Now, it is because he wants Casemiro ready to start against Lyon.
Casemiro has been one of the standout performers for United since he re-emerged as a consistent starter. He seems to have leapfrogged Ugarte in the pecking order and that was shown by Amorim’s selection in that ‘rotation’ game against Newcastle.
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