I'm really looking forward to having Shinji back in our side. Lots of questions have been asked about how Kagawa can force his way back into the starting XI with Fergie increasingly looking like he has settled on a shape and personnel post-City. With the form Valencia is in though I see plenty of room for Kagawa to come in and work off the flank as he did during the second half of our game against Tottenham earlier this season. Kagawa may prefer to play down the middle but there is plenty of scope at Man Utd to come in off the flank, as he did to score against Spurs, especially if we play him (notionally) on the right with the rampaging Rafael who offers plenty of width on the overlap. Valencia's dip in form means most of our width down the right is coming from the full back anyway. Starting from wide right Kagawa's technical gifts and ability to give and go and play intricate passes could add another dimension to our attack David Silva style.
Shinji Kagawa
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Get fit please Shinji, we could do with something different.
#07, kagawa should start wide left and move young to the right. It fits our tactics better.
Potentially might make the bench for Newcastle in next week's mid-week game I'd say.
I wouldn't be too surprised to see him on the bench against Swansea to be honest.
I wouldn't be too surprised to see him on the bench against Swansea to be honest.
'Kagawa is one funny guy! Made my night last night with the song he sang for the lads! Classic!' - Rio
Hope there's a video
Hope there's a video
Code phrase for he sang a song in Japanese......
I fear that leaping to the top of the table and opening up a six-point gap in his absence might have killed off the All We Need Is Shinji Kagawa song 
I'm not concerned about him being unable to fit back into the team, though. That outcome would mean not having any further injuries. Lol, as if.
I'm not concerned about him being unable to fit back into the team, though. That outcome would mean not having any further injuries. Lol, as if.
Hopefully he's back for the Newcastle or West Brom matches. We'll need to rotate in CM and he played well on the left of the diamond, so we should probably bring that back out against Newcastle.
Naah, i'd rather see him drifting in from the right on his stronger foot. His movement, dribbling and passing in tight spaces is fantastic and would be better utilized when he's on his stronger foot.
I want to see him play on the left, not as a winger but much more infield getting directly involved in the play. Him and Rooney can swap around all game.
I've got to say, we've missed him, and I can't wait for him to be back, but to be honest, there isn't much room for him at the moment. He linked up midfield and attack brilliantly when he played, Rooney does that a bit more now, but in a more advanced position. You couldn't play both in the same role. I wouldn't want him on the right. He's not a right-sided player IMO, and at the moment I wouldn't want to take Young out while he's playing well.
With Rooney and Van Persie finding a fantastic wave-length between them, it would be absolutely incredible if Kagawa can join in on that once he returns. I wanted to sign this guy for a good year before we did - so he's actually the first signing I wanted that actually happened. He was an absolute genius for the past 2 years at Dortmund - I have no doubt in my mind that he can better the form he showed in Germany with us. He could quite easily fit in nicely in a 3 of Young, Rooney and himself, all interchanging behind Van Persie.
I may sound like an absolute tool when I say this but I'm quite confident - If Kagawa can settle in perfectly in the team, then I'd say we have an outstanding chance in Europe this season, especially now that our defence has improved since the start of the season and the return of Vidic.
Am I over-rating him? I don't think I am. I watched him enough over the past 2 seasons to believe that he can actually become as effective as Van Persie is right now.
I may sound like an absolute tool when I say this but I'm quite confident - If Kagawa can settle in perfectly in the team, then I'd say we have an outstanding chance in Europe this season, especially now that our defence has improved since the start of the season and the return of Vidic.
Am I over-rating him? I don't think I am. I watched him enough over the past 2 seasons to believe that he can actually become as effective as Van Persie is right now.
I fear that leaping to the top of the table and opening up a six-point gap in his absence might have killed off the All We Need Is Shinji Kagawa song
I'm not concerned about him being unable to fit back into the team, though. That outcome would mean not having any further injuries. Lol, as if.
lol ROFL!
Agreed. We have seen the effect of having the class of Van Persie around. It's time we give Kagawa a chance to do the same. Fantastic player. We will score more goals through the middle because of him.
Tbh regardless of where kagawa fits in our first 11 right now he can just give us an option in the hole as you'd expect we're gonna want to rest rvp/Rooney at some point and so his return will give us some option there. Plus with Valencia not at his best and potentially carrying an injury he can come in out wide even if its not his best position.
Cringeeeeeeeeee
Provided we keep Nani I'd absolutely love to see Kagawa, Nani, Rooney and RvP up front.
In any case, I've a good feeling about him fitting in well with RvP & Rooney (hopefully from the left).
In the "worst case scenario" being Nani is injured and Valencia out of form (as is currently the case), you could always put him in on the left and shift Young out right.
Not completely sure but wasn't he a right winger at one point?
He's playing well enough to deserve a start over Valencia right now (although I wouldn't generaly pick him over Valencia in any case).
And Hernandez BFA has a point.
I think if we can tighten up at the back (having Vidič, Smalling and Jones back should help a lot), and get atleast Kagawa back healthy as well, we should definitely stand a good chance in Europe as well as obviously the Premier League.
In any case, I've a good feeling about him fitting in well with RvP & Rooney (hopefully from the left).
In the "worst case scenario" being Nani is injured and Valencia out of form (as is currently the case), you could always put him in on the left and shift Young out right.
Not completely sure but wasn't he a right winger at one point?
He's playing well enough to deserve a start over Valencia right now (although I wouldn't generaly pick him over Valencia in any case).
And Hernandez BFA has a point.
I think if we can tighten up at the back (having Vidič, Smalling and Jones back should help a lot), and get atleast Kagawa back healthy as well, we should definitely stand a good chance in Europe as well as obviously the Premier League.
Amazing
Found a great picture;
That guy on the left in the suit has the face shape of one of those 'American Dad' cartoon characters. The main character I believe.
The more videos I watch, the more I miss him...
If he settles in the left, we'd have 3 players who can play as left wingers and 3 players who can play as right wingers.
If he settles in the left, we'd have 3 players who can play as left wingers and 3 players who can play as right wingers.
Not to mention 2 genuinely world class AMs! Whenever Rooney is injured or needs to be rested, Kagawa will be ready to take the AM role.
any news on when he will be back?
he's back baby, he's back
Oh yes he's back. On the bench for Swans I reckon
I really hope we get to see the best of him here, hes a special player
He's quiete tricky and skillful, hope to see more of that
Hopefully he'll get games. I reckon he'd do well behind Rooney and RVP but that would involve dropping Valencia, which would hardly be a bad thing given how shit he's been.
i would like to see us try that Cina, but you know, Fergie and wingers.
His obsession with playing wide teams including orthodox wingers (due to the balance of the team) didn't exactly fare badly against City. We won the game thanks to our wing play after all, but let's keep on overlooking that. It hasn't cost us this season so far as well (look at the table). I would like to have Kagawa in the first team week in week out though. He's a brilliant little player.
Fergie must find the best place to accommodate him, there's no way he thought he was buying a typical Premiership winger in Kagawa.
It doesn't mean our wingers haven't overall been poor though, and have cost us at times. We are where we are in the league thanks to our strikers (in terms of goals and attacking play) far more than our wingers.
I am so excited to see him back.
All you've highlighted is that for certain games, it's advisable to use the wide game. Other games not so much. However playing wingers when they're in poor form and expecting the same results is ridiculous. We didn't win the game thanks to our wide play. We won the game because we attacked as a team and RVP's freekick. The wingers played their part, as did the strikers. But yes let's act as if wing play is the be all end all here.
There's a reason we don't play the 4-4-2 all the time.
We play 4-4-2 more often than not, hence why my point is perfectly valid.
And yes, bar few games our wingers have been poor this season. By our standards of course cause they have been contributing.
EDIT all of our 3 goals against City were results of great wing play. The flanks were doing great defensively as well.
You're not appreciating the nuances though. Against Chelsea and Arsenal, we fluctuated from a 4-5-1 to a 4-2-3-1 throughout both matches. Also, our wingers have been poor for more than a few matches. If it was just a few matches, there wouldn't have been so much talk about it. It just feels like that because of how we've improved.
Depends what you mean by wing play. You would hope the flanks were doing a job defensively. You have to not only think of what formation we're using but also how we're using it. You only focus on wide play. There's more to it than that. We need variety in the way we attack. Buying RVP and Kagawa is a step in the right direction. We've already seen it with RVP. Now it's Kagawa's turn.
We have done well with using wingers over the years but there's a reason why we bought Kagawa. You need that variety. Otherwise we become overly reliant on one part of the team. That's why I said there are times when it's good to use the wings more and other times where we need a slightly different approach.
I dispute this point a little. Ronaldo was far from an orthodox winger in his last few seasons for us, and Park was hardly a flank-hugging type for us either. He obviously favours a 4-4-2 or some variant of it most of the time but Fergie's shown a willingness to experiment with very different types of players in the wide positions. I see no reason why Kagawa couldn't comfortably slot into a left wing role similar to the one Park played for us, drifting infield and allowing Evra to provide alot of the width.
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