Blogger #18
“Football is a simple game, complicated by idiots” – Bill Shankly
“Football is a simple game, complicated by idiots” – Bill Shankly
This
quote sums up football in a nutshell. For all its tactics, formations, diagrams
and complicated analysis, football is a very simple game. While there isn’t
exactly a ‘right’ way to play it, the teams hailed for their style of football
usually do the simple things right. Pass, control, pass, and move. Repeat.
Which is
why I love Shinji Kagawa.
His
beauty is his simplicity. Blessed with a great touch and fantastic ability to
read the game, he’s wonderfully efficient at everything he does. He won’t take
three or four touches when one or none will suffice. His decision making is up
there with the best. He’s pleasing on the eye, but that’s because he makes it
all seem so effortless. But that’s not to say that he’s a ‘luxury player’, someone
reluctant to run around and close down. In his time at BvB, Kagawa set the pace
for all Bundesliga players by running an average of 12.36 km per 90 minutes.
But with
all that said, he hasn’t made anywhere near as much impact as was expected when
he came in for that ridiculously cheap €16m. Of course, the reaction to this
among fan groups has been ridiculous in the extreme. So many United fans have
taken to social media sites and other message boards to berate Moyes for his
decisions and Kagawa’s disappointing form, not to mention a ludicrous “Free
Shinji” campaign started by Dortmund fans in a futile attempt to get the player
to abandon his United adventure just one year in.
So,
what’s the matter with Shinji?
Staunch
supporters have pointed out the need for time in order to adapt to the physical
nature of the English League, and fairly so. But after having had a full year
to adapt and improve on his physical conditioning, there hasn’t been much
change in his fortunes. So one begins to wonder whether his problem is adapting
to the culture of the English League, or, when we look more closely, to the
Manchester United system.
A
bedding-in period was always going to be required, not just for the player, but
for the club as well. Manchester United have rarely played with an ‘attacking
midfielder’ over the past two decades, the role usually being fulfilled by
withdrawn forwards (a la Yorke, Rooney). The closest they went to playing an
attacking midfielder was Paul Scholes for a brief period between 2002-2004. But
that looked to have changed at the beginning of the 2012-13 season. After
having painfully missed out on the title by the slimmest of margins, Fergie
seems to have realised it was about time he bought a playmaker of genuine
quality. With Kagawa coming in, it was only a matter of time before he struck a
partnership with Rooney and set the league alight. But the sudden availability
of Van Persie complicated things, and Fergie couldn’t resist buying one of the
best strikers in the world. This summer was no less different. With Ferguson
seemingly falling out with Rooney, it seemed certain Rooney was going to be
shown the door, and Kagawa would be given a shot at playing in the hole behind
Van Persie. But Kagawa’s fortunes were struck a blow once again with Fergie’s
retirement. Moyes came in, and was determined to retain Rooney. You have to
question Rooney's decisions when it comes to contracts and his fitness (I certainly
do) but under Moyes he has come back in great shape and has performed from the
word go. With Rooney starting the season in good form, Kagawa was once again
‘accommodated’ into the side. If and when he was to play, he was pushed to the
left, from where he has struggled to influence the game.
But
playing from the left wing isn’t exactly new territory for Kagawa. Even during
his time at Dortmund, Kagawa was forced to play out wide when on national duty,
as Honda was given the central role. This is where the Manchester United system
of play suffocates Kagawa.
A winger
in a 4-4-2 (or 4-4-1-1) formation needs to be pacy, aggressive, good at taking
on players, individualistic, and partly good at defending. None of these
qualities describe Kagawa as a player. A trait which Japan and Dortmund
have in common is that there's a lot of off-the-ball movement. Even if Kagawa
plays on the left for Japan (though not nearly enough to be called a winger),
he still has several players making lung-busting runs around him. Kagawa
greatly benefited from Dortmund's (and to an extent, Japan’s) sophisticated
passing game and would create play in all sorts of subtle ways, from quick
turns to dummies to one-two passes. In most cases he played with only one or
two touches.
While
United’s system doesn’t exactly discourage such clever off the ball movement or
short passing play, United’s way of retaining defensive stability leaves little
room for such movement. It's not that the PL is too physical that makes things
hard for Kagawa. It's the fact that United play with too little movement. We've
seen some moments where the players will move around but not a lot and
that's where it becomes harder for Kagawa to influence. And he is not of the
build to be able to chase down long, high passes. Combine this with the roles
given to the wingers at United (dribble, run at defenders and cross) and you
have what looks like a square peg in a round hole.
I’m
loathe to mention Man City at this point, but it is worthwhile. David Silva
provides an excellent (light) blue-print for how Kagawa can make it work even
with Rooney in the side. When he features, Silva is nominally played on the
wide-left of City’s midfield but in reality his role is far less restrictive
than that. Starting from the left, he is allowed to roam across the pitch,
affecting the game in central areas, supporting the strikers, and finding
pockets of space in between the opposition’s defensive set-up. Predominantly
played behind the striker at Valencia, Siva has beautifully adapted to the
system at Man City.
All that
said, his fans have been brilliant. A few
over-reactions aside, they have been wonderfully supportive and hopeful. The
diminutive Japanese attacker has often been hailed as an invaluable talent upon
which the club has failed to capitalize fully, especially when taken in the
context of the Red’s usual lack of creativity should our wingers or Michael
Carrick fail to produce in a game. One thing is clear. Shinji Kagawa is a
player quite unlike any other player in United's squad. Clever and creative with a
fantastic eye for goal. These qualities, combined with the club’s continued
failure to sign any real creative force in midfield, means Shinji has become of
more value to the team in the eyes of the fans than his performances to date
have measured up to. He is hailed as much for the type of player he is and the
style of play he represents than for any consistency of performance in his
maiden season in Manchester. People are actively looking for the slightest
thing to praise him for.
Though I
want him to succeed here, I cannot shake the small bad feeling that he will be
a (skilful) misfit to our side a la Berbatov. Brilliant player for the wrong team. He would slot
in perfectly at somewhere like Arsenal. Of course, the eternally optimistic
ones will call for patience after a workmanlike yet effective performance
against Arsenal. It
was pretty far from being Kagawa's best performance for United (I'd give him 6-6.5).
But his defensive display looked better than ever. I'm not too excited about
this, but if it awards him more playing time, then I guess it's for the better.
Even so, there were enough
fleeting glimpses of his creative brilliance to ensure expectations remain high
for Kagawa. He is a different type of player to the rest of the team, shorn of
power and pace, but bursting with inventiveness, clever movement, and deft
passing. The problem he faces now is similar to last season: Wayne Rooney.
Now I
don't think Rooney is as inventive as Kagawa, nor as good at link-up play.
However, Rooney is more of a talisman. That said, I think Rooney has burned his
bridges with many fans. Another problem is that Moyes has backed Rooney
so publicly that he cannot drop him. If
Rooney signs an extension, Kagawa’s chances look pretty slim. Unless he
actually manages to make more of an impact from the left. Of course,
there's still a chance he'll come good with regular time in that LW-ish role. The
chances of him taking over from Rooney in the middle, however, look extremely
slim at the moment. Rooney will have to leave to make room for him - or so I
think right now. But God knows, things change fast sometimes in football.
But in
the meantime, as we wait for a definitive answer to our little Japanese’s future, patience
looks the only way forward. Put the pitchforks and torches away and pray in
silent hope. For fitness has come, can form be far behind?
