It has emerged that manager Ruben Amorim had strong words for Manchester United’s £120,000-a-week star in front of the rest of the team at Carrington training ground.
Amorim says Manchester United have ‘a lot of work to do’ after Tottenham draw
The Red Devils manager lamented United’s failure to beat Tottenham after a dramatic 2-2 draw in the Premier League, insisting they still have “many problems”.
Matthijs de Ligt’s deep stoppage-time goal saved United a point, but goals from Matthijs Tell and Richarlison handed Spurs their first defeat since a difficult September.
“We have a lot of problems. We are just getting started. I know that sometimes the results show people that we are improving. We are improving, but there is a lot of work to do,” Amorim candidly reflected.
“You can divide the game into the last 10 minutes and when you have to beat Harry Maguire and then you give up two goals and lose Ben. It’s good that we came through everything and managed to score.”
“If you look at the rest of the game, I think we were comfortable, but we need to be better. We were more aggressive, the three points were there, we felt the environment in the stadium, there was space, and I think we were too comfortable during the game.”
“You have to expect that one play can make something happen and change the atmosphere in the stadium. That was the case today. I think we controlled the game well, but the game was to win, so we need to do better.”
United will play Spurs for the first time since the Europa League final, and it was revealed that Amorim was furious with one of his players after the defeat to Bilbao.
Manchester United slams Ugarte in front of team-mates during meeting in Carrington
The Athletic’s Rory Whitwell wrote a detailed article about Amorim’s first year at Old Trafford.
After the 1-0 defeat to Tottenham, Amorim revealed that he was not happy with Manuel Ugarte and made this known in front of his Man United team-mates during a meeting at Carrington.
Amorim felt that Ugarte is “working at a slower pace than when we were together at Sporting”, adding that the midfielder “has become more comfortable and said that he does not recognize him as the same player from their first time together”.
“Criticizing a former player in front of his teammates certainly caused a ripple of reaction within the team,” Whitwell said, adding: “It showed them that Amorim is tough but largely fair when it comes to assessing adaptability.”
Ugarte’s Manchester United stats | total |
|---|---|
game | 55 |
the goal | 2 |
assist | 6 |
yellow card | 15 |
red card | 0 |
Play time (minutes) | 3,239 |
The Uruguay international, who earns £120,000-a-week in Manchester, is yet to be fully trusted by Amorim during the 2025/26 season, given he has started just two Premier League games so far.
Ugarte, who has played less than 350 minutes in all competitions, is preferred in central midfield over Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes, so by the looks of things, there is still a lot of work to do to get back to Amorim’s form.
