Kagawa - United's Shin(j)ing Star. Or Not?

Blogger #18


“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United have rarely played with an ‘attacking midfielder’ over the past two decades, the role usually being fulfilled by withdrawn forwards (a la Yorke, Rooney).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?