Shinji Kagawa

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Varun

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We should stop fecking around with him and play him behind the striker. Regardless of how good a job he does from the left, he'l truly shine as a no 10.
 

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We should stop fecking around with him and play him behind the striker. Regardless of how good a job he does from the left, he'l truly shine as a no 10.

That's the point I'm making though, Varun. More established players of a similar type have thrived in the PL playing a variety of positions. Even if Kagawa nominally starts from the left, I'd expect United to develop a fluid system that allows the attackers to roam.

Kagawa's problems last year *did not* stem from his starting position, he just didn't get a run of games because of injuries.
 

Varun

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That's the point I'm making though, Varun. More established players of a similar type have thrived in the PL playing a variety of positions. Even if Kagawa nominally starts from the left, I'd expect United to develop a fluid system that allows the attackers to roam.

Kagawa's problems last year *did not* stem from his starting position, he just didn't get a run of games because of injuries.

Ofcourse. Even last season, he was hardly restricted to sticking on the left. He roamed infield and will do so in the future as well if he starts out wide. I dont think he has any problems last season anyways. I was just making a general point. I'd rather see him play predominantly through the middle with someone like Nani out on the left and both interchanging during the game.
 

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Ofcourse. Even last season, he was hardly restricted to sticking on the left. He roamed infield and will do so in the future as well if he starts out wide. I dont think he has any problems last season anyways. I was just making a general point. I'd rather see him play predominantly through the middle with someone like Nani out on the left and both interchanging during the game.

Agreed.
 

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Kneejerk reaction maybe. But I have the impression that Moyes doesn't really rate him. Lets just hope the reason he isn't really playing is because he isn't match fit.
 

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Kneejerk reaction maybe. But I have the impression that Moyes doesn't really rate him. Lets just hope the reason he isn't really playing is because he isn't match fit.
I wouldn't be worried to much at this point, he only really played in japan on the tour because of sponsorship. If it was anywhere else he would have still been on holidays and then come back a couple of weeks before the season started. But with those matches, his preseason has basically been stop start and left him rathre behind the rest of the team in terms of being ready for the season. I'd wouldn't expect to see him to much in the first few games as a result, but he should start getting plenty of game time after that
 

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Kneejerk reaction maybe. But I have the impression that Moyes doesn't really rate him. Lets just hope the reason he isn't really playing is because he isn't match fit.
Odd thing to say. I don't think there's any suggestion Moyes doesn't rate him. He's not been involved in pre-season because he hasn't been available (for the most part) and I suspect he didn't start yesterday because he's flying to the other side of the planet for an international match this week.
 

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Had to play against Sevilla because he was a mile behind the rest of the squad, couldn't really start against Wigan because he just played against Sevilla and is flying out to play for Japan in midweek, which likely means he won't start against Swansea. That's all there is to it really.
 

manusteve

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Had to play against Sevilla because he was a mile behind the rest of the squad, couldn't really start against Wigan because he just played against Sevilla and is flying out to play for Japan in midweek, which likely means he won't start against Swansea. That's all there is to it really.
Yes, I was concerned that he played on Friday as then I knew he wouldn't start vs Wigan. But you are right, more will be known when the league campaign commences (albeit Kagawa will be jet-lagged and Rafael is injured) about who Moyes prefers and what formation he prefers. For me, only DDG, Carrick, RVP, Evra and Rafael (when fit) are guaranteed starters.
 

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Yes, I was concerned that he played on Friday as then I knew he wouldn't start vs Wigan. But you are right, more will be known when the league campaign commences (albeit Kagawa will be jet-lagged and Rafael is injured) about who Moyes prefers and what formation he prefers. For me, only DDG, Carrick, RVP, Evra and Rafael (when fit) are guaranteed starters.
Surely Vidic as well when fully fit.
 

manusteve

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Surely Vidic as well when fully fit.
No argument there. I declined to state this because the centre-halves are a bit of a mess at the moment in terms of what Moyes would prefer. But hey, if he was fit, Vidic would be guaranteed for me.
 

Cina

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I'm not sure how Moyes couldn't rate him, he's an excellent young player who just had a bit of an underwhelming debut season here due to injuries and fitness.
 

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Shame for Kagawa, it's really not been the start that he needed to this season.

His talent is there for all to see but he needs to be match fit - I cannot see him starting a game until fully match fit/sharp.

Think we will end up seeing the same first 11 at Swansea.
 

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Moyes must not rate Hernandez either - he hasn't even made the pitch in a friendly game yet!

Also, he must really hate Rafael too. He was so disgusted with his performance yesterday that he subbed him off in the first half!!
 

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Awesome news. The more minutes, he'll have on the pitch, the closer it will get him to his Borussia form.
 

manusteve

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I hope Moyes rates him as highly as SAF
If Moyes plays "1-1" and Rooney stays, it'll be Rooney-RVP I suppose (partly just because if Rooney stays, one would expect some kind of commitment from Moyes). If SAF was still around I think Kagawa would have been given more opportunity to play No.10 position, but Moyes? Dunno.
 

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Could be a bit of a tough start for him. Started training late, went to Japan, we've won well without him. I doubt we'll be seeing him starting on Sunday. He's got some work to do to get into the team.
 

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Could be a bit of a tough start for him. Started training late, went to Japan, we've won well without him. I doubt we'll be seeing him starting on Sunday. He's got some work to do to get into the team.
Depends how the Rooney situation ends up; he'll be in easily if Rooney still wants to go.
 

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I'm not expecting Kagawa to get a chance at regular starts for a few weeks yet. He's had a very busy summer and it's not a bad time for him to get a break... Fergie certainly used to do it with players who'd had a heavy summer.
 

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Craig Gardner is Phil Jones, and the Zaha picture looks a bit like Emanuele Giaccherini. Don't recognise the others.
 

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If Moyes plays "1-1" and Rooney stays, it'll be Rooney-RVP I suppose (partly just because if Rooney stays, one would expect some kind of commitment from Moyes). If SAF was still around I think Kagawa would have been given more opportunity to play No.10 position, but Moyes? Dunno.

Why would you say that given Kagawa played from a nominal wide position most of the time last year? Until he's shown he can be an essential player for this United side he won't be starting in arguably the most important position on the pitch. You could say that he'll never show he can be an essential player for us if he isn't given a consistent run in his best position but I don't think that's true. They'll have been judging him on what he's shown in training on a daily basis and so far they've decided Rooney's the more useful player in such a key role up until now. Based on Kagawa's views on his season last year I'd say they made the right call.
 

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Why would you say that given Kagawa played from a nominal wide position most of the time last year? Until he's shown he can be an essential player for this United side he won't be starting in arguably the most important position on the pitch. You could say that he'll never show he can be an essential player for us if he isn't given a consistent run in his best position but I don't think that's true. They'll have been judging him on what he's shown in training on a daily basis and so far they've decided Rooney's the more useful player in such a key role up until now. Based on Kagawa's views on his season last year I'd say they made the right call.
Tend to agree. Kagawa has it all to do if he's to become first choice in the position behind RVP. Even if Rooney left, Welbeck is no slouch.
 

manusteve

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Why would you say that given Kagawa played from a nominal wide position most of the time last year? Until he's shown he can be an essential player for this United side he won't be starting in arguably the most important position on the pitch. You could say that he'll never show he can be an essential player for us if he isn't given a consistent run in his best position but I don't think that's true. They'll have been judging him on what he's shown in training on a daily basis and so far they've decided Rooney's the more useful player in such a key role up until now. Based on Kagawa's views on his season last year I'd say they made the right call.
I don't know what you're getting at. SAF was beginning to try out Kagawa more often in the No 10 position (especially when Rooney was substituted).

I think Kagawa is an excellent player so don't mind him playing an advanced left (where he plays for Japan anyway).

Anyway, it looks like Rooney doesn't wanna play for United anyway.
 

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Am I the only one that feels like he hasn't really settled into our style of play yet?

He felt like a bit of a square peg in a round hole during his first season. Dortmund were a lot more direct and seemed to move the ball quicker than we do. And he had a really good understanding with their forwards and he doesn't seem to have developed that yet with our players. It just seems like to me we signed him for his ability to open defences up with his intelligent movement and incisive passing but we haven't really seen him do that here. I'm fully confident we will see the best of him providing he stays fit, its just a matter of time.
 

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Am I the only one that feels like he hasn't really settled into our style of play yet?

He felt like a bit of a square peg in a round hole during his first season. Dortmund were a lot more direct and seemed to move the ball quicker than we do. And he had a really good understanding with their forwards and he doesn't seem to have developed that yet with our players. It just seems like to me we signed him for his ability to open defences up with his intelligent movement and incisive passing but we haven't really seen him do that here. I'm fully confident we will see the best of him providing he stays fit, its just a matter of time.
My time machine works! It's Christmas 2012 again!
 
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