How to solve a conundrum like Kagawa

According to Jurgen Klopp “Shinji Kagawa is one of the best players in the world and he now plays 20 minute at Manchester United… ‘My heart breaks. Really I have tears in my eyes.” Those tears are shared by many Man Utd fans who rate Kagawa’s abilities to the same high standards as Klopp. So why has Kagawa, who is undoubtedly one of the most talented No10’s in the game, not yet secured his place in the united side?

Even the neutrals seem baffled, highlighted by the success of a parody twitter account called ‘Evil Kagawa’. The account has over 242,000 followers at the time of writing, with the most high profile follower being Rio Ferdinand.

Discount Football Kits will look to provide some answers to what is being known as the ‘Kagawa conundrum’.

The first factor to consider would be the injuries that the Japanese playmaker has picked up in his time at United. The most bizarre injury was having to have his stomach pumped due to eating too much, thus missing out on United’s defeat to Everton. This comical episode raised eye brows about the professionalism of Kagawa and his general fitness and conditioning standards. Moyes, who puts a big emphasis on fitness was not impressed.

Kagawa’s late return from confederations cup also stopped a full pre-season with Moyes, and may therefore have also hindered his use in the side. With Moyes concerned about the freshness of players who competed at the competition.

Another aspect of Kagawa’s downfall includes where the No10 fits into the Utd system. Although he has played out on the wing Kagawa’s best position is undoubtedly behind the striker. Rooney also tends to drop deep and occupy the No10 role.

Playing Kagawa behind the striker will almost certainly limit Rooney’s freedom. Therefore if he becomes the No10 and Rooney and RVP are both fit, only one of them can realistically play. This is because Kagawa struggles to adapt to the physicality of a 4-4-2 system, as one of only two central midfielders.

Kagawa has showed flashes of brilliance such as his performance against Norwich last season. Kagawa was operating from left midfield in that match, but the team will only get the most out of his abilities in the No10 role.

In the future Moyes may have even more dilemmas on how to fit Kagawa into his system. Adnan Januzaj will develop into a natural, and world class No10 rather than a winger. Nick Powell is also a promising attacking midfielder, who is tipped to come up through the ranks.

The solution is simple, either Moyes moulds the team, formation, and tactics around Kagawa, or the player is likely to leave Manchester very soon. Sky bet give 5/1 odds on Kagawa returning to BVD before the January transfer window slams shut.

Moyes is in a difficult position. If Kagawa stays how will he solve the tactical dilemma? Or perhaps most importantly is he willing to give the Japanese playmaker the game time he needs? If Kagawa leaves and reproduces the kind of form he had while at BVD before moving to Manchester then Moyes will Utd fans will question why the player was allowed to leave. As bad as Kagawa’s time in Manchester has been, whatever happens to him it could end up causing a bigger headache for United’s manager.

Discount Football Kits are the UK’s leading supplier of football accessories and football kits. We love to talk about all things football on our blog, you can also keep up to date on Twitter @UKFootballKits.