Neville says Amorim’s started a player who’s ‘not very good on the ball’ – he’s shown why inside 10 minutes

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·21 December 2025

Neville says Amorim’s started a player who’s ‘not very good on the ball’ – he’s shown why inside 10 minutes

Gary Neville has just claimed Manuel Ugarte is ‘not very good on the ball’ after he conceded possession in a dangerous area.

The midfielder dordling outside Senne Lammens’ penalty area allowed Youri Tielemans to come in and steal the ball before creating a threatening attack for his Aston Villa teammates.

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Neville subsequently reacted on Sky Sports’ commentary, saying: “The problem with having Ugarte in that deep-lying position is he’s not very good on the ball – and he’s just proven it.”

Manuel Ugarte makes first start in 12 weeks

(Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Ugarte being included in Ruben Amorim’s starting XI this afternoon means he has been granted his first start since the end of September, when he was deployed from the off in the eventual 3-1 defeat to Brentford.

Since then, he has been utilised sparingly by Amorim and has been restricted to off-the-bench cameos on five occasions. What’s more, the Uruguayan has been an unused substitute for six matches already this campaign.

He has only been restored to the squad today due to Casemiro’s suspension; the senior Red was shown his fifth yellow card of the term in Monday’s draw with Bournemouth.

Kobbie Mainoo misses out vs Villa through injury

(Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Fans had speculated whether it would pave the way for Kobbie Mainoo to make his first start of 2025/2026, but the youngster was ruled out before kick-off with an injury that he sustained in training, meaning Ugarte had a clear run to deputise for his veteran counterpart.

It’s certainly not ideal to have to make changes when mainstay players are unavailable, which Amorim is being forced to do this afternoon, and for the foreseeable few weeks, whilst Amad Diallo, Bryan Mbeumo and Noussair Mazraoui are at the African Cup of Nations.