Shinji Kagawa

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Much better second half performance.

I think he'll work well with Evra who can provide width as Shinji drifts inside. Certainly better than Young, even if he doesn't prefer the LM role.
 
Started off badly, got better as the game went on which suggests he probably needs more minutes.
 
ha_rooney said:
Much better second half performance.

I think he'll work well with Evra who can provide width as Shinji drifts inside. Certainly better than Young, even if he doesn't prefer the LM role.
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Not too sure. I think the Rafael combo worked because Rafael is a threat in his own right and can pretty much patrol that wing single-handed going forwards and back - allowing him to drift in without harming our width... either way much better in second half but he needs to knuckle down and play at a high intensity if he wants to make it here.
 
The boy has class in abundance give him games Moyes!!
 
Much better in the second half. Hopefully he starts again at the weekend.
 
A mixed bag to be honest. Still doesnt look match sharp. Does expose the leftback when he is caught out position but offers so much more in attack than Young or Valencia.
 
Bad first half, good second half. He's got the potential to be a fine player for us. Hope it happens.
 
Please Moyes start him and Nani ahead of Young and Valencia next game. Thanks.
 
Even if he had played badly today it's still fair to say he needs to play far more often. He has more potential to play at a top quality level for a sustained period than any of our other wide players. That potential is clearly worth pursuing more than whatever we're trying to get from Young.
 
After seeing his second half performance: imagine how good he'll be if he gets a good run of games and gets to play with the first XI!
 
I do feel that it has become if rather than when with him, though the second half was definitely encouraging.
 
It's tough for him, when he does play he's forced into a completely different role than when he was at Dortmund. He's a player that thrives on confidence and being one of the main men in the team and he has neither of those available to him under Moyes so far.
 
Grew into the game and showed some real class in patches - still blatantly rusty though.

Should start at the weekend
 
Anyone else think we'll be better off playing Rooney on the left and Kagawa in behind the striker? Or at least have them rotate a bit during the game. Rooney in this sort of form will still be a huge threat from the left while Kagawa will be far more useful closer to goal.
 
Commadus said:
A mixed bag to be honest. Still doesnt look match sharp. Does expose the leftback when he is caught out position but offers so much more in attack than Young or Valencia.
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I actually think sometimes he's more dangerous when he's back defending outside the box than when he goes walkabouts. He must be the worst player in the team when defending 1v1. Slips quite a lot, outpaced pretty easily, overpowered pretty easily and generally looks completely lost when he's left isolated. And in every game he's played so far he's played a couple of horrific passes to the opposition just outside our box and even struggled when just trying to clear the ball. Bit of a liability in that sense unfortunately. He has most of the same issues when facing a player 1v1 with the ball. It happens so often with our style of play but he really struggles to really be effective in that position.
 
Think he's much more comfortable with the ball at his feet in central areas. Sure, he can play off the left but he naturally wants to come inside. First half he was more inclined to stay wide without offering a proper threat, second half he, Nani and Rooney were all over the place and that's how they should operate.

Work rate is for chumps, let the boys attack!
 
Thought he showed enough flashes to show he can bring something. It will take a while to get the understanding of how much to come inside and when to hold but I liked seeing him, Rooney, hernandez and nani all playing off each other and swapping positions. Again with more time to gel then you can get a better understanding there.

Still had some sloppy bits though but not surprising as he hasn't played much.
 
From what I've seen of him I think he's the kind of player that thrives on partnerships and building understandings with other players. He's not a Ronaldo type of player that you can put into any team and he'll instantly make an impact. He's more of suitable player, the kind that needs to integrate into a team and build up understandings with other players, and if he does, he'll flourish.

I really hope we stick with him, and give him plenty of games, and give him time to build those partnerships. Because he's shown plenty of glimpses and moments of real class.
 
Grew into the game in the 2nd half when he switched to the right. He needs a strong wingback to perform well on the wings.
 
kps88 said:
Anyone else think we'll be better off playing Rooney on the left and Kagawa in behind the striker? Or at least have them rotate a bit during the game. Rooney in this sort of form will still be a huge threat from the left while Kagawa will be far more useful closer to goal.
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If we have the confidence to trust Kagawa in that role then yes I think that would make sense. Rooney is more versatile than Kagawa and would be more than able to play well drifting in from a wider position.

The only problem with that is the fact that Rooney wants to play centrally and, having managed to keep him and get him playing well, do we want to risk alienating him further? Even handing him the captaincy today struck me as an attempt to convince him he's central to the side. He may not feel that way if we move him out of his favoured position for the benfit of Kagawa.
 
He played very well in the second half after a mixed first half. He needs a run of games to get to the expected level. Hopefully he won't be consigned to the bench this weekend - let's be honest, Valencia and Young have produced less than that on occasion and still played the next game.
 
Encouraging that he grew into the game but needs to offer more from the start.

He gets a bit of an easy ride, because we all know his quality, but it matters not if he isn't doing it on the pitch.

Still think he did he enough to get the nod over Young.
 
Kraftwerker said:
Encouraging that he grew into the game but needs to offer more from the start.

He gets a bit of an easy ride, because we all know his quality, but it matters not if he isn't doing it on the pitch.

Still think he did he enough to get the nod over Young.
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The more talented players will always get more patience because of their potential.
 
Thought he was very poor in the first half, but improved to some extent in the second. He seemed to just drift around aimlessly in the first half without any real purpose or conviction.

Under normal circumstances I'd say his performances do not even close to warrant a starting place. At the moment I'd say he should start.

If he was signed from obscurity with no prior knowledge of his quality he'd have been written off by most by now.
 
finneh said:
Thought he was very poor in the first half, but improved to some extent in the second. He seemed to just drift around aimlessly in the first half without any real purpose or conviction.

Under normal circumstances I'd say his performances do not even close to warrant a starting place. At the moment I'd say he should start.
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First half was very strange. He just seemed lost,as if he wasn't sure of what his role was or what he was supposed to be doing.
 
Bit of a shit first half but was great in the second I thought. Definitely better then anything young has ever shown, and deserves a start in the next game IMO, along with nani. He'll only get better with more time.
 
Shinji had a good 10-15 minutes then faded, quite badly really, until the 10 or so minutes until he got subbed off. The worry for Kagawa will be Januzaj looked better and more composed playing from the left when he came on. Based on showings so far Januzaj deserves the chance more than Shinji does. I hope Kagawa gets over his obvious nerves and desperation to make a mark and starts playing with freedom, when he does he's dynamite.
 
I wouldn't say it was a poor first half, he showed a number of nice touches when balls were fizzed at him and it wasn't always his fault if a move didn't come off. I think we slightly struggled with their system as well with the full backs and the wingers seemingly uncertain of who should be picking up the wingbacks they had.
 
The first half performance was no where near good enough. Marginally better in the second half but based on his performance tonight he is a long way off becoming a starter for the first team. Remember that Sahin was a big flop at Liverpool and the way is going for Shinji he may be going the same way.
 
I just don't think he's a wide man. He's done all his best work for Dortmund and Japan in something largely akin to a no10 role, and as much discussed that does make him tricky to fit into our team.
 
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