Shinji Kagawa: the journey and the road ahead

An important thing that needs to be noted is that Kagawa hasn’t featured yet for United because the fitness staff and Moyes believe that he is still not match-fit and needs some more time to compensate for missing much of the pre-season. David Moyes has actually stated that Kagawa features within his plans, and that he is looking forward to him getting match-fit. How big are the plans exactly? Moyes chose to be coy about that.

However, Moyes needs to realize that Kagawa might actually hold the key to United’s fortunes this season. In the two games so far, Moyes has deployed the 40-year old Giggs and Welbeck on the left wing, and neither of the two has looked convincing.

Shinji Kagawa

Other than the obvious lack of depth in central midfield, the left wing for United sure looks like a priority. Zaha and Valencia can share the responsibilities on the right wing, and Moyes also chose to use Young on the right wing against Chelsea. Now, Young can also operate on the left, and so can Nani, but both of these players have been too injury-ridden and inconsistent to claim the left wing.

Kagawa, on the other hand, can slot in easily into the role, and maybe play similar to how his idol Iniesta plays at Barcelona, linking up with the overlap runs of Evra and also cutting in to hit banana drives with his right-foot, or play one-twos with Rooney and van Persie.

He may not have the pace to beat players and get to the touchline and pepper crosses into the box, but with Evra more than happy to get forward, he may be better served in finding him on easy openings and providing him the space to stretch the defence.

This also allows him to get more of a free role, get some touches in the box, drop down deep to help pull the strings in midfield and swap places with the centre forward to stretch defensive lines and open up stringent defensive teams with his vision and creativity.

Add to that his almost 91% pass completion rate with 29% of his passes featuring in the final attacking third, and United’s attack can become far more incisive and much better than the sloppy display that they exhibited in the final third against Chelsea.

While Kagawa may still wish to play the role of a trequartista, his commitment to the club remains unshaken and he has stated that he is ready to play in any position that the manager wants him to play.

The problem with deploying Kagawa on the left wing is maybe the fact that Kagawa is not known for his back-tracking and defensive abilities. He averages one tackle every 90 minutes, and surely lacks the pace or the strength to bother rival players, qualities that Moyes reveres and demands from his players. That’s perhaps the greatest reason why he chose Welbeck and Valencia to start against Chelsea.

So despite all the skills that Kagawa possesses, his lack of defensive intensity may actually be tilting the tide against him.

Now, Moyes would be asinine to expect Kagawa to transform into a James Milner kind of a player, but he certainly won’t like Kagawa to be lackadaisical or languid. This is something that Kagawa for sure needs to work on.

Moyes can tweak his plans and force the central midfield combination of Carrick and Cleverley to rotate and plug the gaps on the left wing when Kagawa features in the team, but despite all their industriousness, they are no Makeleles or Gattusos and thus it is imperative that Kagawa works harder and tracks back on defence.

The noise may be getting louder for Kagawa to look at his options, but for now the player remains committed, and his manager sees him as an integral part of his plans.

The season might be a make-or-break deal for Kagawa, but one can be assured that if given a chance, the hard working Oriental wizard will do all he can to prove his worth.

As a believer and a fan, I can only hope that the chance comes sooner rather than later.