I think he's been very good, and that's without watching him at Dortmund or really expecting anything.
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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Yes, because when you sign a Bundesliga star it automatically means that he's gonna glide smoothly into a different team in a different league and continue to perform at the exact same level
The injury and the signing of RVP has definitely played it's part as well. Kagawa, while decent in that position, is not a winger. He's a pure AM. Period.
If you really don't think that Kagawa has done well despite getting into a new team, in a new league, playing out of position half the time, and getting an annoying injury, then you have delusionally high expectations. Also, we can't ignore the fact that he's pretty much our best passer in terms of accuracy and through balls, and that he has a decent amount of goals and assists. And now I haven't even mentioned his general talent..
He has been decent no more, no less, no matter what the reasons. Period
Get of your high horse and stop being a fecking fanboy. 'He is our best passer in terms of accuracy and through balls'. What in the feck is this actually based on? The only one being delusional is you.
Playing on the left isn't that much of an issue seeing as he spends most of his time drifting and playing centrally anyway. He's not asked to play on the left and provide us width like Young and Nani are asked.
I've only found Kagawa underwhelming when he's played on the left in a 4-4-2. That's just not where he should be played. When he's played behind Rooney or RvP, he's looked very useful. A constant threat, always an outlet to receive the ball. To get the best out of him, he has to play centrally, or we should be playing a very narrow 4-2-3-1 and he should be part of that bank of 3. It's a little harsh to criticise a player for not lighting up our attack when he's played in a position which doesn't utilise his strengths.
My recent posts are based on facts provided by the official Norwegian Manchester United fanclub and Transfermarkt. Way to embarrass yourself.
Playing on the left is an issue, seeing as all his best games have come from the AM position, There's a reason for why Kagawa himself keep stressing in interviews that he wants to fight for the AM spot, because that is where he truly belongs.
Except one can easily argue that when Kagawa plays it's never a 4-4-2 seeing as he very rarely sticks to the left and it's Evra who provides all the width on the left. People act like Kagawa plays like a traditional winger or is being asked to play as one when he played on the left - neither of which are true.
Saying he has a decent season is not being critical, it's just saying it as it is and the Kagawa fanboys seem to have a problem with it.
He certainly does drift, but he's still expected to retreat to that left hand side, so he will go back to the left wing more often than he would if he was playing in a central role with an actual left winger and left back marshalling the left hand side. I'm not suggesting he's had a terrific season and he's going to be better than Zidane, but I do believe we won't see the best from him until we either play a narrower formation with more central players, or he is given a more regular central role behind the centre forward. He [retty much can't get into the game as much on the left, and the days where we come here and say he's had a fine game are the days he's played in the middle, it's no coincidence. It's the same when we put Rooney out there. He does an ok job and he will drift in plenty, but we know he plays much better in the middle.
He can actually improve here. Like I said in my previous post, his score ratio at Dortmund is influenced by his poor form in the first half of the last season. A Kagawa in top form can score nearly every game (scorer/minute ratio of 100 or even less) and in the end this is the basis of judging him.
His position does play a big role here. There is a reason, why Klopp did play him exclusively in the AM role. For all his strengths he is not as versatile as some other offensive midfielders.
He works the best in crowded places, where he can use his enourmous flexibility and good quick thinking to make plays. His goals and assists made him valuable, but outside of his scores his influence on the game is limited. That is also why he interpreted his AM role at Dortmund as somewhat of a second striker rather than a classic 10 like Götze does now. He is not someone, who makes a team tick or even a leader. He is a finisher, who either plays the final pass or scores a goal himself. A man for the final third.
His habit of fading in a game for a lengthy time, just to come out of nowhere with a streak of genius is nothing new. He already did that in Dortmund.
Berbatov could do that though. In fact, from what I've seen, Berbatov is much better at being Kagawa than Kagawa is.
Kagawa has had some good games on the left.. Liverpool and Southampton iirc
"There is a physicality to our game which is different from Germany, but next year he’ll be better."
Sir Alex Ferguson
Sir Alex Ferguson
"I’m not satisfied what I have done here at all".
"It is a big and really famous club in the world, but I need to overcome lots of pressures and be mentally stronger"
Shinji Kagawa
"It is a big and really famous club in the world, but I need to overcome lots of pressures and be mentally stronger"
Shinji Kagawa
Let's see how he fares next season
I think he'll be a great asset to the squad. I love the way he floats around the park, making the game look so simple and easy, much like Silva.
The game was crying out for this little fella. You see the amount of space between our midfield and our attack and you wonder why Fergie didn't bring him on. Would have been perfect to exploit that bit of space and playmake for us.
I think the choice was Kagawa or Giggs, Fergie went for Giggs as you would probably expect from him.
Didn't fancy kagawa against these today. Too physical.
Indeed. Some people just can't handle it when one of their favourite players get criticised.
What was the point in signing a player of his quality if we're not going to use him in the last 10 minutes of a crucial FA cup tie? Ashley Young didn't do bad, but Kagawa is the type of player that could have done something really special. SAF loves his wingers too much.
He should have played today. I'm starting to doubt whether Sir Alex is going to be able to fit him in, it might be another Berbatov situation.
yep was a bit disappoint not to see him coming on but you can see the reasoning behind the other subs. Just a shame as he flourishes in the final third which was where we mostly were playing in the last 15 minutes.
Agreed. It's already looking as if Fergie is going to f**k him over.
Kagawa plays a certain role very well. If Fergie didn't want that type of player, why waste the player's time and United's money?
Ayee, agree with this.
His season was always going to be a bit shite due to signing Van Persie, it was obvious he would be moved over to the left and would struggle to get a game in his best position.
Today though it makes no sense. Rooney injured and Van Persie rested, it was the perfect opportunity to play him in his best role. Welbeck clearly deserved to start but he could have played on the left instead of Cleverly, with Kagawa taking that central role behind Chich.
I could understand why he didn't start, him playing on Saturday and all. But surely Fergie had to bring him on when we were down. The game was perfect for him. The amount of space between our midfielders and attackers was crazy. And the amount of static players not willing to come on to the ball to try to break their defence up.
Fergie got it wrong today. It happens. Criminal that Kagawa didn't play.
The physicality thing is nonsense. Oscar, Mata and Hazard aren't physical players at all and are not big either. They all played because they are good with the ball, good dribblers etc.
Kagawa is probably our best dribbling and close control player.
The physicality thing is nonsense. Oscar, Mata and Hazard aren't physical players at all and are not big either. They all played because they are good with the ball, good dribblers etc.
Kagawa is probably our best dribbling and close control player.
I was going to add that at the end of my post, 'the only reason I can think is that he was tired from the Sunderland game'. But then I thought about it and it doesn't seem a good explanation IMO. He obviously didn't play the whole game, but more importantly he's only played 17 games all season, so should be able to manage two games in three days this once, especially when the game was crying out for him. I mean Cleverley on the left makes no sense to me with Kagawa sitting on the bench.
Yeah I would have played Kagawa.
We kept getting space in between their defence and midfield. A few times in the first half we wasted it, and again in the second.
Those are the areas he excels in too.
We kept getting space in between their defence and midfield. A few times in the first half we wasted it, and again in the second.
Those are the areas he excels in too.
Kagawa often fades physically in second halves, the Sunderland game as well as the International break contributed to him not starting today. Not much to see here to be honest.
They're not but Kagawa is ridiculously weak.
Nobody is saying that he should have started though, are they? he could have easily been used in the last 10 minutes, that's what people are getting at.
How much travelling did he do during internationals? I was surprised to see him vs Sunderland to be honest, might have been better using him today.
Theon insinuated as much. No point bringing Kagawa on to chase the game unless he's going to be central. That width was needed with Young, as well as Giggs' directness and fresh legs.
After starting the Sunderland game it was obvious he wouldn't be starting today, but yes he should definitely have been brought on. It's a shame really, and I don't see how it's going to change much next season.
I actually dont think Kagawa is the best to bring on when chasing the game though, I may be wrong seeing as he hasn't had a chance to prove it either way but he doesn't strike me as a type to impact the last ten mins, more of the type to come on at half time and competely change how fluid we look.
The ideas behind our subs were right but they didn't come off.
The ideas behind our subs were right but they didn't come off.
I would have started him if Van Persie wasn't playing and switched Welbeck to left wing, Cleverley on the left was never going to be as effective. It's an FA cup quarter final so we should be playing our best team and that wasn't close to being it. Playing 70 odd minutes on Saturday isn't an automatic reason to be dropped, Carrick seemed to cope fine and he's played twice as much football as Kagawa this season.
Today was a perfect game to start him to be fair. Our wingers were non-existent apart from bottling every move, Welbeck and Hernandez were good and could have used creative presence behind their back. We were never going to get anything down the wings today and we had a decent chance to make something happen down the middle.
I only feel it's a shame we are not using him even when we don't have Rooney playing in his favourite position.
I only feel it's a shame we are not using him even when we don't have Rooney playing in his favourite position.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...ester-uniteds-breakthrough-player-next-season
Nice article about Kagawa. I'm really looking forward to seeing him play next season. He would have settled by then and would have developed a good understanding with the rest of the team (and vice versa).
Nice article about Kagawa. I'm really looking forward to seeing him play next season. He would have settled by then and would have developed a good understanding with the rest of the team (and vice versa).
Should be starting games instead of the dross on the wings.
I also share the same view, the player has to adapt to the English Premier League. That needs time, i think in some of the games played he has shown glimpses of what he can do. So i am excited at the prospect of seeing him playing more games next season.
I'm very hopeful of Kagawa having a David Silva style second season for us.
Calm down dear! There are parallels between Kagawa's debut season and Silva's & Mata's. it's been a settling in season, disrupted more by injury than being played out of position. I keep saying it, but very few players at United play their 'preferred' position week in, week out. If Kagawa possesses the quality that he's reported to, he'll adapt fine.
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