Time to trust in Shinji?
In the Summer Manchester United signed a player to take them to another level, a player who’d dazzled football fans all over the world who’d been fortunate enough to see him play a major role in his sides success. A player who would play just behind Robin Van Persie.
Shinji Kagawa arrived at United with a reputation as one of the brightest young players in world football, following an inspiring season for Borussia Dortmund which not only saw the Germans do the double but also the diminutive attacking midfielder bag 17 goals in the process.
Kagawa may have been able to play in a number of positions but it was widely accepted that the best role for United’s new signing was just off the striker, where he’d been so effective for the record breaking German side.
Since he arrived at Old Trafford Kagawa has been used in a number of roles, around the midfield area, but not often enough has he been deployed as a ‘false 10’ for the duration of the game and not often enough has he been handed a start. Kagawa is a player who can elevate us to another level, but more often than not Sir Alex Ferguson prefers Wayne Rooney in the role best suited for the Japanese playmaker.
Rooney has had a productive season in terms of assists and a decent amount of goals but more often than not his performances have frustrated. Rooney may be a great striker who can drop deep but is he really a traditional ‘false 10’ in the way Kagawa is? Part of me feels that in order to accommodate Rooney, United have sacrificed the chance to take the team to another level by trusting Kagawa to form the partnership with RVP that could bring us even more than title number 20.
The solution would be to drop Rooney in favour of Kagawa, bringing him in to replace RVP when the striker needs a rest or even the former Dortmund player when the games are catching up with him.
It may sound crackers to drop a player of Rooney’s talents but if we’re to get the best out of Kagawa and let him form a gel with RVP maybe it’s for the best of the team?
Do you agree or is this all completely bonkers? Feel free to comment suggest and abuse below:
I think Kagawa should go in that position as rooney has not been performing, he is not world class and we would have won without rooney against real madrid
football is different from the way united plays(4-4-2), shingi should play more behind the striker,
Like many others, I was at first very critical of SAF’s decision to bench Rooney against Real…but after the Chelsea FAcup “performance”, I understand he did it. You could see how sluggish and out of shape Rooney is. Not to mention he couldn’t even complete the simplest of ground passes to collegues less than 10yards away from him; giving away possession and killing counterattacks single handedly.
I love Kagawa! When we were courting Hazard and the Samurai, I preferred Kagawa and was very happy when we signed him…although I wasn’t particularly happy to see Hazard goto one of our big league rivals. Kagawa has a great touch and runs with the ball very close to his feet with great technical ability, things Rooney definitely does not possess anymore. I saw Kagawa as our future Messi-esque player. Low center of gravity, quick, agile, great ball control, good distribution and scoring skills. I saw Kagawa as a way to transform our style of play from the stereotypical English long-ball forward style and get away from our dependency of using the wings and crossing into the box…I want to see us play short, accurate, fast paced passing; similar to how teams like Barca, Real, ManShitty, and even Chelsea have been using.
If we have to sacrifice Rooney to get Kagawa to be THAT player, so be it. I’m not seeing enough commitment from Rooney, evident in his fitness and lifestyle. You’re a PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE for f**k sake! It’s your JOB to be fit and committed to the game! I wish I was good enough to play professionally for ANY club, my life would be committed to the lifestyle required of a footballer.
I think kagawa is gud as he can dribble beta than rooney who cant beat his marker so ithink yo right
we never signed him to play behind RVP, we signed him to play behind Rooney. then RVP became available and we had to go for him and got him which meant, unfortunately for Kagawa, he was not seen as 1st choice
I dont think we need soft midfida lyk Kagawa in middle bcos we dont hav strong defensive midfida,though is a gud player,but,i think he shuld be playing frm the wing&be helping the midfid as wel.
Rooney murs stay at devil
Straight talk Red Flag. I would like to see what Kagawa’s eagle vision can do with Hernandez’s positioning and RvP’s precision and felt that over indulgence in Rooney was making SAF lose out on something that should have been obvious.
I think Kagawa is a terrific player and has potential to be a superstar at Old Trafford. The boy has intelligence and terrific technique. The fans and the manager craves a certain style of football and Kagawa represents that style.
I was surprised to see Rooney on the bench against Madrid, but was more disappointed to see Kagawa not starting. I thought we signed him for nights like those in the Champions League.
I’ve mentioned using Kagawa wide left, in a similar role to David Silva, and I do believe he can excel in that role. However truthfully that is just to fit him into the team with Rooney. The guys best role is the number 10 position, which he showed in Germany.
The question that needs to be answered is does Rooney, RVP and Kagawa work together. At this point I would say no. Its not bringing the best out of anyway. Kagawa at 23, and for me, represents the future. I said it before, the fans craved a player like him, and his style of football.
There has been a lot of speculation about Rooney and I wouldn’t be surprised if Ferguson was open to selling him. The guy is a top player, but he isn’t going to win Man Utd the Champions League. Rooney has not reached that level and he won’t get there now. Real Madrid paid £80 million for Ronaldo, but knew they were getting a player that can win them titles. Rooney is a great team player and selfless, but he won’t win us a match against Real Madrid or Barcelona.
If a PSG or even AS Monaco(also flushed with a lot of cash and Ranieri as manager) offered Man Utd around £30-35 million, then I would expect that to be accepted. Rooney has done wonderfully in his time, although never reached the heights we thought he would. I do feel sometimes the end of the road does come for a player, and Rooney might be at that point.
Ferguson might see £30 million for Rooney as, not only a chance to reinvest in the midfield, but a chance to liberate Kagawa and Welbeck. These two guys are 23 and 22 respectively and the future is in their hands now. Rooney is not old at 27 but, like Beckham, we might just be seeing the end.
@John above ruthless, but might just have a point. I could see Rooney being sold to PSG or Bayern Munich. If get £30 million then I could see that being given to Real Madrid for Luka Modric. There has been speculation that Modric wants to return to England and join Man Utd. I would be very much in support of such a move.
Kagawa is a top player and maybe should be given the number 10 role. We could then have Modric alongside Carrick, with the option of Phil Jones for a more defensive midfielder.
……..Carrick…..Modric……
….Zaha…..Kagawa….Welbeck…
………..Van Persie