Manuel Ugarte’s Manchester United tackles at Liverpool, Raul Jimenez’s record penalty in The Debrief | Football News

“I thought they were outplayed,” he said Sky Sports’ His Gary Neville midfield battle with Liverpool at Anfield. “I thought United controlled the midfield, which I haven’t seen many Manchester United midfielders do here.” Manuel Ugarte was key in this.

The Uruguayan has had a relatively underwhelming start to his career at Old Trafford since moving from Paris Saint-Germain for a fee that could rise north of £50m – and not just because United are currently enjoying their worst season in the Premier League.

Erik ten Hag had to ease him due to fitness concerns and even took time to show his best form under Ruben Amorim, a manager who knows him well from his time at Sporting. But he was excellent at Anfield, a combative presence throughout.

Data via Genius IQ shows that Ugarte made 12 sprint tackles against Liverpool, defined as tackles where the player exceeds 25km/h. Crystal Palace’s Jefferson Lerma with 13 was the only player to surpass that total at the weekend.

There was an intensity to Ugarte’s work that United have missed.

Casemiro and Christian Eriksen came on in the opening half-hour against Newcastle, but Ugarte and Kobi Maino rose to the challenge of dealing with Liverpool’s much-vaunted midfield. As Amorim said afterwards, it was a matter of mindset.

The pair made four tackles each, more than anyone else on the pitch. There were some wicked fouls from Ugarte too, who broke up attacks without being punished. He looked more like the player fans thought they were signing in the summer.

The simple use of the ball was exactly what was needed, frustrating Liverpool, but there was also that stuck pass to Bruno Fernandes in the build-up to what would have been the winner if Harry Maguire had managed to keep his shot late on. below.

This was the first of five occasions Ugarte and Mainoo started together that United secured a positive result, so it may be too early to get too carried away. But with Ugarte just 23 and Mainoo still a teenager, their partnership in the middle clearly has huge potential.

Jimenez’s perfect penalty record

Raul Jimenez converted two penalties Fulham draw 2-2 with Ipswich at Craven Cottage on Sunday, taking his Premier League spot-kick tally to 10. He is yet to miss, only the third player now in double figures to boast a perfect penalty record.

Yaya Toure is one ahead with 11, while Cole Palmer currently holds the record with 12. Jimenez’s technique is masterful, he walks up to the ball, looks at the keeper as he then pushes the ball to both sides of the net, pressing them unfairly enough to score.

Four of the Mexican forward’s penalties have gone to one side of the keeper and six to the other. His conversions against Ipswich were typical of this unpredictability. The first went low to Christian Walton’s right, the second beat him high to his left.

All of which only makes it more surprising that Jimenez wasn’t even Fulham’s penalty taker at the start of this season. When he scored against Nottingham Forest in September, he was criticized by his manager because Andrea Pereira was the designated player.

“It’s clearly Raul’s fault,” Fulham manager Marco Silva said. “It’s not going to happen again.” Three weeks later, Pereira took a penalty against Aston Villa by the same scoreline, his poor effort saved and Fulham lost the match 3–1 at Craven Cottage.

Jimenez is clearly the player now. As it should have been all along.

Forward pass by Van Hecke

Jan Paul van Hecke recently revealed he felt the eyes of his Brighton teammates on him after former boss Roberto De Zerbi described him as one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League. But his performances continue to highlight his rare quality.

It is his passing from the back that marks Van Hecke out from the rest. At 1-1 draw against Arsenal on Saturday, he completed four passes that bypassed six or more opposition players, more than any other Premier League player at the weekend.

This is not unusual. It is the eighth time he has done so this season. Again, more than any outfielder. He also holds the record this season for most in a game – 12 such passes past six or more defenders in the win over Manchester City.

In total, Van Hecke’s passes have bypassed 2360 opponents in the Premier League this season, the most of any player.

He ranks among the top 10 players in the Premier League for completed passes, but tracking data shows that those passes had a lower expected completion rate than the other nine men on the list. Van Hecke makes more difficult passes than normal.

Against the Gunners, those passes tended to be long switches from right to left. But Van Hecke can also play those clever passes between the lines that cut teams off. The Netherlands international, now 24, is developing into an elite ball-playing central defender.