Good piece;

The Rooney/Kagawa relationship will be very interesting, especially considering how Sir Alex will fit them both in.

As mentioned both like playing just behind the main forward but while it’s likely that Kagawa will be shunted to the left, it’s nevertheless hard to see Rooney moving away from the No.10 position. That saying, Kagawa alongside Rooney should be positive because it takes the creative reliance off Rooney (which I’ll explain below) but also because Sir Alex wants speed – lots of it – and Kagawa gives that, often playing with devastating intensity for BvB.

But I can’t see Rooney moving away from the No.10 role because it’s a unique role – perhaps there’s niggling doubts about his loyalty – but this, after many years of being moved around different positions, should be the making of him. In 2011, he played a more free role; last season, he was instructed to stick to a central area in between midfield and attack although unlike a playmaking No.10, he wasn’t tasked with dictating play. Instead, from that position, he was the main goalscorer.

So what that essentially meant was that not only did Wayne Rooney contribute at the start of moves, instigating them from the centre of the opponent’s half, but he was ending them too: Everything that was created was essentially for him, by him. And indeed, that might indicate why Danny Welbeck was preferred ahead of Javier Hernandez for much of the season because his work-rate opens up space for Rooney. 

 ” Manchester United announced earlier this month that an
agreement with Borussia Dortmund had been reached for the transfer of Shinji
Kagawa for an undisclosed fee.

The 23-year-old Japanese midfielder has now passed a medical, obtained a UK
work permit and has agreed a four-year contract commencing 1 July 2012.

Sir Alex Ferguson is delighted to be bringing the midfielder to Old Trafford.
He told ManUtd.com: “Shinji is an exciting young midfielder
with great skill, vision and a good eye for goal. I am delighted he has chosen
to come to United. I believe he will make an impact upon the team very quickly
as he is suited to United’s style of play. We are all looking forward to working
with him.”

Kagawa himself can’t wait to get started as a Red. He told us: “This is a
challenge I am really looking forward to. The Premier League is the best league
in the world and Manchester United is such a massive club. This is a really
exciting time for me and I can’t wait to meet the team and start playing.”  Source Man United .com.
Absoloutely fantastic news , he is going to be a smash at Manchester United . Brilliant news.

Rob, what is the difference between the Rooney of 04 and 12. I see someone who can’t create that extra yard but anyone who sees him live tells me he has more time than any other player on the pitch. Is it just that people now know he is very strong and therefore are ready for him?

I think Wellbeck is going to be a force for the next 10 years (fergie was just 2 years ahead of time with his comments re 2010 WC) is Hernandez just going to be the Solskjaer of this generation?

To doubt the validity of Asian players at the highest level exposes the limited vision which has so long restricted English football. The technical skills demonstrated by the Asian teams who come to Austrlalia is usually sublime. English fans and its media need to take a world view rather than an anglocentric view. The current Japan team is full of technically gifted players who match discipline with intelligence. Kagawa demonstrates the vision and technique that has long been lacking in my home country of Scotland. It would not be a suprise if they were the first Asian team to seriously challenge at the highest level.
Football exists beyond the uk and it is rapidly moving forward

Good piece. I could see United playing something like Italy’s midfield diamond or a 4 1 3 2 with Kagawa at the tip sitting behind Rooney and Welbeck/Chico.

What we clearly don’t need now is Modric, far better would be an enforcer who can sit deep on their own and cover the defence. Carrick is a possibility but he seems more comfortable as part of a duo. Jones could do it in the long term or maybe Strootman if we do sign him.

Hopefully United will be far more attacking, like the beginning of last season, while staying defensively strong.

Kagawa is at his best in the hole behind the striker, but he has also been extremely effective playing from the left in a 4-2-3-1 formation. He will introduce pace, penetration and urgency to a Manchester United attack that was startlingly ponderous at times last season, although there is much more to his game than blistering speed.

René Meulensteen, the United first-team coach, says Kagawa has the “complete package” for an attacking midfielder. He is two-footed and has an excellent one-touch game; he has impressive awareness, peripheral vision and imagination, and invariably chooses the right option in possession, with a particular eye for a devastating through-pass; he can beat players with a body swerve or a rapid change of pace.

You could be describing Nedved at his peak. *rubs hands*

digger

It may be a tired cliche to question the economic motives of signing an Asian player, but no more a wearily trodden path than the premature hype that always surrounds a United signing.

Remember last season when when, after 2 games, Phil Jones was anointed as the future of English football and a lock for England captain? Maybe he is, but no one could have reasonably made those claims objectively based on the evidence available.

Have you looked at the Premier League  36% home grown. Thats 64% of players from all over the world Numpty. You don’t know what your talking about isolated out there. See if the old bush radio can pick up the World Service you might crawl out of the stoneage.

Thats about right Phil. Jones was billed but soon forgotten. Only in the England squad through injury to key players.

Sell a few shirts. Not enough though as he will rarely start. Not quite the Eden Hazard you were looking for.

seen eden hazard play much have you? watch much bundesliga last season did you? its widely (if not universally by, y’know, people who actually WATCH rather than play football manager and FIFA) that Kagawa was significantly more effective a player for his team last season in a significantly tougher league. Hazard is currently 85-90% unfulfilled promise, he hasnt won anything. Kagawa was instrumental in Dortmund winning a league and cup double in a very competitive league. Ergo you really havent got a clue what you’re on about.

 Simply a retard.

The thing is with signing BVB players, it seems they don’t always translate well into other systems. Goetze and Grosskreutzs relative failures with the German national side are a good example of this.

 Nice retort. Jshwell I think made an excellent point. That point being that Euro and South Ameri-centric views are the norm in England, Spain, Italy and Germany. That is, for you, in plain speak, people don’t think players are that good unless they are from Europe, South America or Africa. Asian players are still for some strange reason not regarded as highly as players from elsewhere, and for no reason really. As football derives from military conflict and several Asian nations have contributed massively to tactical and individual forms of warfare(tangent). Kagawa will go further to prove that these attitudes are bollocks, as Park Ji-Sung and others have done already.

Great signing, could be the catalyst for a really exciting new United team next season: http://footballingbrain.wordpress.com/2012/07/10/how-kagawa-could-trigger-a-new-dawn-at-united/

UP MANCHESTER