I hope Moyes gives Shinji a lot of opportunities playing behind the striker while Rooney is out and then see how it goes. It could end up with us playing better with Kagawa in the hole and either of Rooney, RVP or Welbeck playing as the striker. I find a team plays more fluidly if an attacking midfielder is used in the number 10 role rather than a striker.
Shinji Kagawa
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) is joined by CEO Duncan Drasdo and Financial Director Andy Green from the Manchester United Supporters Trust for a special episode on all things behind the scenes at Old Trafford including a brief history of MUST and their aims today, views on INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe so far, and the Old Trafford regeneration.
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Ok given the teams scouted, we should be announcing Pogba, Vidal, Cristiano, Matic, and [insert a name from Rayo or Getafe] in the next few days.
More seriously, nice article by Andy. Liked the 'magnificent' part!
However he talks about Smalling's effort that went above the bar from a Kagawa cross, wasn't it Januzaj who crossed that ball?
Do you really believe he said that?
Dortmund and keeping the ball for 60 minutes and Klopp allowing his players to give only 60 percent . Have you watched them play in the last 3 years?It doesn't make sense anyway, because Dortmund clearly struggled to perform in Europe and in the league at the same time. Only after Dortmund didn't have to play 2 games a week anymore, Kagawa performed on a worldclass level for 5 months and Dortmund gave 100% in each of those games while Bayern lost a lot of points against those small teams.
Thought this was a slightly odd line:
Moyes... wanted to give every player a chance and, Wilfried Zaha aside, he feels he’s done that.
So he's consciously not given Zaha a chance? Does that mean the runours are true?
Moyes... wanted to give every player a chance and, Wilfried Zaha aside, he feels he’s done that.
So he's consciously not given Zaha a chance? Does that mean the runours are true?
Well there are rumours over his training attitude so maybe that has something to do with it. Also, several posters have mentioned that he doesn't look ready for first team football at United.
Well if he's aware of what he's doing, which I hope he is, he's consciously not given him a chance, it's not like circumstances (Zaha being injured or something) have dictated not giving him a chance. If you mean consciously but with some kind of malicious intent (as some rumours seemed to imply), I really don't think that's what the article is implying. He probably set out to give everyone a chance but factors relating to Zaha have meant that he was the only one missing out.
I've heard I think it was Neil Curtis from the Sun that had an interview with David Moyes suggest that Moyes still doesn't trust Zaha in the spotlight because he's not mature enough to handle being there and this is why he doesn't want him to go to London on loan.
No way in hell are these direct quotes. Kagawa would never be so stupid to say something like this in public.
It is not even in the slightest accurate. Klopp always banged on giving everything, resulting in them having the by far highest work rate in the league (this did cost them in Europe btw) in the two years he was there. They also had a very low amount of possesion in most of their games (so much for keeping the ball for 60 minutes).
What is even funnier is, that Dortmund actually was not that successful against smaller sides, which parked the bus and had to be broken down. In 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 they had a worse record vs. the bottom six than vs. the rest of the top 6. Dortmund won the two titles in the big games, not by beating "60 percent" teams..
Ok given the teams scouted, we should be announcing Pogba, Vidal, Cristiano, Matic, and [insert a name from Rayo or Getafe] in the next few days.
More seriously, nice article by Andy. Liked the 'magnificent' part!
However he talks about Smalling's effort that went above the bar from a Kagawa cross, wasn't it Januzaj who crossed that ball?
No, definitely Kagawa.
I read it as Moyes has been true to his word in that pretty much everyone has had games/minutes except Zaha (and Fabio).
Yep sorry about that, just rewatched the highlights, as it was from the left my mind must've blanked it was from Kagawa!
No winger then?....Fan-fecking-tastic.
On the plus side, it'd suggest that he has faith in, and is keeping Nani.
Plus side if you think Nani can get back to playing like he did from 2010-12, that is. Which I do.
Nani will be fine...Not as if the guy is doing an Anderson. Can't wait to see him back
An attacking midfielder? We need two centre midfielders.
It's the other two spanners I'm more worried about.
I'm hoping (praying) that he means an attacking centre mid, in the sense that its a centre mid with attacking instincts.
Given that Japan's center midfield are obviously vastly more creative than United's and do more than just play the ball to the wings, which gives more freedom to the front attacking midfielders to play free roles, it should be expected.
Very reasonably too. But for some unknown reason, Nani is the one we're constantly told is on the verge of a transfer.
When we have the likes of Kagawa and Janujaz in the same team why do we play Kagawa on the left and position Janujaz in the middle?
The 1st half against Swansea exposed stupidity. After they swapped positions we looked more dangerous and scored 2 goals. Kagawa also had 2 seperate opportunities to score.
We should set our team to play to their strength. Hopefully Moyes has learned by now.
The 1st half against Swansea exposed stupidity. After they swapped positions we looked more dangerous and scored 2 goals. Kagawa also had 2 seperate opportunities to score.
We should set our team to play to their strength. Hopefully Moyes has learned by now.
Real question is why do we persist with playing Kagawa on the left at all regardless of who else is on the field. He's played enough games out there IMO to see that we could probably play Cleverley out there and he'd be better than Kagawa on the left - at least in the way we want our wide players to play. Playing him on the left would be fine if we stop trying to get him into situations where he is playing as a winger trying to beat his man 1 on 1 or for pace and then get crosses in. Play with him working with others, quick passing and movement then yeah otherwise stick Buttner out there instead, he'd probably be better.
I don't see why that's a surprise. I'd be happy to see Lingaard or Zaha being given chances like Januzaj next season, and with our fullbacks providing width.
Because a) Kagawa has been underwhelming for the most part, and b) Januzaj looked really dangerous there against Sunderland. Moyes has already explain this.
We already bought a winger for 12m but he hasnt started a single game.
We should be seriously looking at a versatile attacker. Zaha should get a full season on loan and Young should be sold. Ideally, we'd be going into the new season with Januzaj, Nani, Valencia plus one other. A player like Reus, for example. Then you consider we can play both Kagawa and Welbeck out wide, we'd be in a position of strength. Of course, without an improvement in terms of movement the guys out wide will still struggle a little.
Yeah, I agree. I don't disagree with signing an attacking player actually. But if we only can get 2/3 out of a leftback, a creative type centre midfielder and a winger, I'd pick the first two positions. I think we already have options in our current squad if we want wingers or wide men.
Januzaj is a no 10 too, and was the best player on the pitch v Sunderland in that position so he merited a start in his favourite position. In truth, Kagawa should be contributing more from the left. He has the license to roam inside and should be more difficult to pick up doing so, it's not like he's being expected to play as a proper winger when he is selected there.
It's easy to say that now. But vs Sunderland Januzaj was mightily impressive when he went from the left to the number 10 role. Kagawa hasn't exactly been good too, even when playing as a number 10, especially in recent games.
Where'd you get that from? And why the feck would we think that a central defender or striker is more necessary then a winger? Unless Rooney/RVP are leaving...
For defence we just need to give them a few years to see if they can form a very good partnership (our young defenders). Don't think we're lacking in numbers really.
Agreed. Andy's words on that matter seem to suggest that Moyes and co like the defensive contributions they are seeing from Shinji on the left. Perhaps their line of thought is that while Ashley Young can provide as much defensive solidity as Shinji does on the left, Kagawa is more likely to produce something on the attacking end due to his productivity.
It's true though, some of Kagawa's work on the left does go unnoticed. At the same time, he's still not making enough attacking contributions from that position.
It's fine playing Januzaj at the 10 position every now and then. What I dont agree with is the idea that you have to play well in another position before getting a start in your favored position. That's not how it panned out for Danny. He was struggling on the left. Then he got a game in his favored position, took his chance, and got a run of games in his best position. It had nothing to do with proving himself on the left which led him to playing as a striker. These positions have their respective responsibilities.
It's clear Moyes' staff like Shinji on the left for reasons we are not completely sure about. What we can all agree on is that Shinji needs to be more consistent when played as a number 10. Unfortunately, at United, unless you're one of the favored players like Valencia, you have take your chance immediately or expect to be shifted around or chillin on the bench.
It's clear Moyes' staff like Shinji on the left for reasons we are not completely sure about. What we can all agree on is that Shinji needs to be more consistent when played as a number 10. Unfortunately, at United, unless you're one of the favored players like Valencia, you have take your chance immediately or expect to be shifted around or chillin on the bench.
The difference beteen him and Kagawa is he is versatile enough to shine in more than one role in the final third. Bottom line Kagawa has no business being used out wide in a team that plays like United. He simply doesn't have the speed nor the game to survive on the flank unless we totally change our center midfield.
http://www.manutd.com/en/News-And-F...n-strength-at-manchester-united.aspx?pageNo=2
Hope he uses his body better in the upcoming games. That's been another area where's he fallen short.
Hope he uses his body better in the upcoming games. That's been another area where's he fallen short.
His improvement in performance in the 2nd half was more down to increase in tempo than a positional change. He's looked poor even when he's played as an AM because our build up is horrendously slow most of the time.
It's good that he is admitting his weakness and is trying to address it.
I have faith that the coaching squad have pointed this out, and hopefully he will start to evolve like Mata, Silva and Nasri have done. Small player's can definitely make it in this league, he just needs to toughen up a little.
I have faith that the coaching squad have pointed this out, and hopefully he will start to evolve like Mata, Silva and Nasri have done. Small player's can definitely make it in this league, he just needs to toughen up a little.
Perhaps though this means he is going to try to adopt a more 4-3-3 shape making the need for more wingers redundant. This could be a decent idea as it would get the best out of out best players. (Kagawa could play as an attacking mid behind Rooney, Januzaj and RvP for example)
However, it might be the type of thing that looks better on paper than in practice. I'd absolutely love to know Moyes' plans for the direction of this team. I can't work it out at all yet. Maybe his next couple of signings will give us a better idea
It seems the present coaches and manager do rate him which is fantastic to see. I badly want him to succeed. I think we just look better and more fluid when he's in the team
I still think he's only a consistent run of games playing well as a #10 away from being a world beater again. He's too good not to be.
The reason we are slow, that even when we play a player like Kagawa in a #10 role, we often persist with playing with with width, which ends up with the team so spread apart that there is little opportunity to play the quick passing between players. There are so few options that the player with the ball has to search and search for something. For players like Kagawa, they need a team that is working on movement and there being at least more than 1 option to pass to, something we have lacked so often. 2nd half I think due to the higher tempo / activity, the whole team benefited from it.
It should be a lesson to the manager, coaching staff and players that we can be a lot better as a team if we are not spread apart with often the only option is to hit the ball out wide or to try and play a long ball into the forwards. The wide players and fullbacks probably can get more joy if they are being released via quick interplay which puts the defenders on the back foot and our forwards are not trying to take long balls against big defenders but, instead can use skill / quickness to create more opportunities.
Kagawa and Adnan might both benefit from interchanging freely rather than occupying relatively fixed positions. Kagawa, Rooney and Januzaj as the three AMs in behind RvP or Welbeck could be a brilliant combination as all three can interchange and play anywhere. I think our play would be less rigid and predictable with a good blend of crossing from wide areas (mainly from Evra and Rafa) and also playing between the lines more centrally, which we've struggled with this season because imo of the almost obsessive focus on width and the inflexibility of Valencia.
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