What a fantastic start Manchester United have had to 2025. The Red Devils are yet to lose, with Ruben Amorim’s side getting a huge 2-2 draw away to Liverpool in their first game of the new calendar year.
Next up for the 2023/24 FA Cup winners was the first defence of their crown away to Arsenal, a tough task in North London. However, the Red Devils won on penalties despite playing with ten men for an hour or so.
Most recently came a 3-1 win at Old Trafford against Southampton. Despite being 1-0 down with 81 minutes on the clock, Amad scored a hat-trick in 12 minutes to secure all three points for the home side.
Amorim has rotated his side well so far, and the next player who could be the victim of that is Manuel Ugarte, despite his brilliant performances in the past few months.
Ugarte’s recent performances
To clarify, a situation where Ugarte gets dropped from the starting 11 would not be a reflection of his recent performances. He has been superb in recent weeks, described as a “big game player” by football statistician Statman Dave.
The defensive midfielder is not one to shy away from any challenges, and his stats on FBref from the Premier League highlight his ball-winning ability. He currently averages six tackles and interceptions per game in the top flight this term, ranking him in the top 2% of Premier League midfielders for that metric.
However, against Southampton, the United number 25 struggled. He looked tired and played just over half of the game before being replaced. He received a 5/10 for his performance from the Manchester Evening News journalist Samuel Luckhurst. He explained Ugarte “failed to provide any control” in the middle of the park.
So, despite his brilliant work over the past few weeks, the Uruguayan could fall victim to Amorim’s rotation policy and get some much-needed rest against Brighton and Hove Albion. The man who could replace him is the impressive young midfielder Toby Collyer.
Why Collyer could start against Brighton
At the beginning of the season, Collyer was described as former manager Erik ten Hag’s “next youth project” by football analyst and The Overlap: The Breakdown host H. Well, the Dutchman didn’t survive much of the season, but Collyer has certainly stepped up in recent weeks.
He has played five times this season for the Red Devils, featuring in back-to-back games against Arsenal and Southampton, coming on for Ugarte in the centre of midfield in the most recent game.
He has certainly been a good replacement, with H explaining he has “energy in abundance”, exactly like his Uruguayan teammate. Ugarte showed his appreciation for Collyer’s performance against the Saints on Instagram after the game.
As the stats on Sofascore suggest, Collyer was fantastic against Arsenal and Southampton. He played 39 minutes at the Emirates Stadium, winning four duels, and showing his hard work off the ball. Against the South Coast side, his 37-minute cameo demonstrated his excellent ball-playing ability, as he completed 95% of his passes.
Stat
vs. Arsenal
vs. Southampton
Touches
16
25
Passes completed
4/7
20/21
Pass accuracy
57%
95%
Duels won
4
3
Tackles won
1/1
2/3
Those are encouraging performances where he showed two different sides of the 21-year-old’s game, and what was on show is what Amorim can expect from him. Quality when in possession and hard work to continuously work hard off the ball.
Even though he is far less experienced than Ugarte, there might not be too much of a drop-off in his performance compared to the United number 25. Collyer has already proved he can be an apt replacement for him over the past few weeks.
Starting the former Brighton academy star against his former club not only continues his exposure and increases his opportunities at the highest level, but also allows for some rest for Ugarte.
Having quality squad depth is a crucial thing in football, and with Collyer, United certainly have that. It will be an exciting moment if Amorim chooses to use him on Sunday afternoon.
