Shinji Kagawa upon signing for Man United
A little over a year ago, it was the German Cup Final, Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund. Borussia Dortmund won the game 5-2. With a Japanese player Shinji Kagawa winning Man of the match with a goal and 2 assists. He was on fire. And this was not just one game, Shinji had managed to score 17 goals for "Der BVB" in 2011/12. Naturally, when it was announced that Shinji Kagawa would be signing for Manchester United on a sub-£20 million deal, I was excited like many other United fans. However, it is possible that things have not worked out for Kagawa at United...
Kagawa after scoring for Dortmund
When Kagawa was signed, Alex Ferguson announced that United would change their style to suit him. Possibly to a more European 4-2-3-1, which had been so successful at the World Cup 2 years ago. However, Ferguson went back on his words with the signing of Robin Van Persie on a £24 million deal. Van Persie is and was a world-class striker. United now had two strikers of this standard, Rooney and Van Persie. This would be dire to Kagawa, as his abilities were clearly better used in a Central position, rather than out wide on the left.
Once the season of 2012/13 began, Kagawa found it hard to even get many games of the left side of midfield. His signature position of CAM was not to be his, as Rooney took his role, accommodating for Van Persie. His performances were mediocre, and he only managed to score 6 goals all season, albeit a hat-trick against Norwich.
Kagawa after scoring a hat-trick against Norwich
Recently, a problem with United has been a lack of creativity and a main question asked is, Is Kagawa the answer? But sadly, Kagawa cannot get into the team for a prolonged period of time. Does he deserve to play more games? Maybe he does not fit in with United's system, where 4-4-2, 4-3-3 and often 4-4-1-1 are the more common formations, rather than Dortmund's usual 4-2-3-1, which Kagawa flourished under.
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