This isn't something that I want to talk about and unfortunately, it isn't the first time this has happened.
I'm not sure where or why this Manuel Ugarte hate began and why it's continued but it is there for all to see.
The United midfielder was seen on holiday after posting pictures on his Instagram. He will return to Man Utd pre-season training soon as it began yesterday with several others in the squad making their way back to Carrington.
Ugarte was enjoying the sun and his rest before what is going to be an important season for all especially for him considering that it's his second season which is usually when most players are judged.
However, rather than discuss where or even if he will play, 'fans' were quick to display their dissent towards the player when looking at the replies to a post of his on X which actually revealed his relationship with Georgia May Heath, a British influencer.
Tbh, to pull a girl like that, bro should be given a statue outside Old Trafford because Lord! is she gorgeous 🔥.
Fair play Manu. Fair play 👏.
But for some reason, some supporters took this as an opportunity to let the player know that he was unwanted at the club, at least from their perspective.
The thing is, by the time I viewed this post, I couldn't actually see any of these negative comments, however, there were multiple people talking about all the hate comments and how Ugarte should ignore them which would suggest that such comments were/are in the comment's section.
As I said though, this isn't the first time we've seen such comments put towards him. If you remember, during the early stages of his career at United the 23 year old faced harsh criticism. Pundits and fans alike were on his back after they had high expectations for him paired with United's poor form and league position (14th at the time). Not all fans and pundits were negative like this but those who were, were certainly louder than those who weren't.
The guy had only been here a short time and people were already getting on his back. He's also only been at United for one season which again, makes all of this unnecessary criticism foolish. People need time.
I can't understand this sort of thing from supporters. Ugarte hasn't been amazing but nor has he been so bad so as to warrant such abuse. He's done nothing to be treated this way.
We knew that when we signed him he wasn't going to be like prime Casemiro who would solve most if not all of our midfield problems. PSG signed him, hardly used him and then sold him after a year not because he was a bad player but because he didn't really suit what Luis Enrique wanted.
However, when looking at what United needed in their midfield, that old school destroyer of a CDM (i.e. prime Casemiro) was an absolute must as a player who would come in break up the play, put in a tackle or three, cover ground well and quickly, and then give the ball to a more progressive player was something that was lacking from our side.
Casemiro gave us that (and more although how good he was in possession and in the final third was completely unforeseen) in the 22/23 season but when he fell of the next and for majority of last, we could see that United's midfield was clearly missing a player of that sort.
Ugarte was a slow burner when playing in the Premier League which is exactly what most players are when they come to the hardest league in the world for the first time. Once he got up to speed though, I believe he was one of our better players let alone midfielders. We started to see the best of him from the turn of the year until Ruben Amorim decided to wierdly drop him.
People might use this omission from the team towards the latter stages of the campaign as an example of Ugarte not being good enough but I think it was more the manager who made the mistake rather than the player being of poor quality. Ugarte was not only solid in midfield but also contributing going forward - 5 of his 8 goals and assists came in April and May. I said many times that he and Casemiro developed a good partnership before Amorim dropped the man who played for him at Sporting.
United's midfield never looked the same as we were a little all over the place and taken advantage of with Casemiro and skipper Bruno Fernandes in there, Fernandes a player who isn't the best no 8.
Even if Ugarte isn't the best either and was poor throughout the season, why the hate or negativity towards him? It seems that every other post of his must have these type of remarks.
Whether you like the player or not, this seems to have gone beyond his footballing ability and is almost an attack on who he is. Whilst he's on holiday people are saying 'get out of my club.' What is wrong with them?
And this is part of the reason as to why we fail as a fan base and club. To have 'supporters' post hate comments on a player's social media when they've done nothing wrong to deserve it tells you a lot about these people.
Why Ugarte as well? I don't understand what he's done to receive all of this negativity. We've had so many players in the past and some who are still at the club (Sancho) who have done much worse than simply being a footballer for Man Utd, which is all Ugarte has done.
There has been nothing from his side to suggest he has been negative towards the club, manager or fans.
It's really disappointing to see this and at a time when we need to be more together than ever. I'm not saying that we should love and support everything Ugarte or anyone else does but at least give us a reason to understand why you would feel a certain way towards a specific person.
We have to stop this as a fan base. This is the least we can do. Showing hate towards a player who's done nothing wrong is seriously low from those who did it and shame on them.
Ugarte has been good. He needs to improve but he's by far the least of our problems at United. Perhaps this hate or negativity should be targeted towards those who deserve it like the board considering they don't seem to grasp the fact that we are crap yet have signed just one player and made no sales.
This is a bad start to what is going to be a massive campaign.
Manuel Ugarte receives negative comments (again) after revealing relationship with British influencer | Manuel Ugarte: Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)