Shinji Kagawa continues to impress both on and off the pitch

Will Kagawa able to hold his own at United?

The season continued on Saturday afternoon with a good, albeit slightly jittery, performance from United. With Fulham coming to Old Trafford with a fairly decent record of making us trip-up at times over the last few years, I’m happy to walk away with a 3-2 scoreline and the much needed 3 points. Although we looked far more convincing going forward than at the boring performance at Goodison Park last week, it’s clear that while we suffer numerous injuries at the back we’ll be subject to leaking silly goals. As I wrote last week, with all the changes that have happened over the summer it’ll take a while for us to get in the swing of the things; and in many ways our first two competitive league matches have been largely representative of moments of our rather odd pre-season.

Parts of pre-season saw us playing some excellent football, but at other parts we didn’t look like a proper team, almost as if we were still suffering a hangover from that last day. A few results and performances were a bit underwhelming in the sense that we didn’t play teams off the park like the previous year’s tour in America, and particularly Bebe having to save the game with a late goal against Ajax Cape Town sticks in the mind. With pre-season split in half by players returning from their extended breaks following the European Championships, it was pointless reading anything into it – remembering the fact that the first leg of pre-season was undertaken by a group of reserve and youth players. But away from any of the negatives of pre-season, one player who impressed throughout was new boy Shinji Kagawa – something he’s taken upon himself to carry into the competitive matches.

Numerous links were made between United and Kagawa before the opening of the transfer window, helped by Sir Alex’s appearance at the German Cup Final where Kagawa played magnificently in Dortmund’s win against Bayern Munich. But despite his ability, Kagawa’s arrival was lamented by both journalists and fans as nothing more than a commercial opportunity (to sell shirts). It was only a few people, but the accusation was certainly there. Of course, people who had actually seen Kagawa play before knew this was wrong, but that didn’t stop the tedious links between Kagawa and the likes of Ji Sung-Park and Dong Fangzhuo – who were both given the same tagline despite the former’s impressive United career. Fast forward a few games into the pre-season and it was becoming obvious that, once he’d settled down to the style of the Premier League, Kagawa would be a key player in United’s team. Here we are, two games into the Premier League season, and Kagawa has done exactly that already. A goal already to his name, and an array of impressive passes, runs and touches to help spark attacking movement, Kagawa has easily been our best player of the season so far.

But the impressive player we see on the pitch is only one half of Shinji Kagawa, who has continued to impress at United by speaking honestly in the press about his position at United and his thoughts on how we play. You would expect a new player like Kagawa to just try and settle down with the team at his own pace, but it’s obvious Kagawa’s high level of ambition means he wants to speak his mind. Kagawa sees no problem in being honest, and he obviously feels he’d rather speak his mind than to keep quiet and have the team suffer from what he feels he can see. When asked whether or not he feels he could influence our games more, Kagawa said, “Yes. We seem to pass the ball sideways a lot, but I want teammates to start giving me the ball from all areas and angles. I need to speak to them about this, because I want them to have the trust in me to play the ball forward.” In fairness to him he has a point, and I personally like how he’s not afraid to say it.

Kagawa is clearly a confident youngster, with these quotes adding to previous interviews undertaken at Borussia Dortmund where he wasn’t hesitant to criticise teammate Robert Lewandowski, saying, “His game is purely focused on trying to score himself, rather than playing together with his team-mates. I am convinced that he would score more goals if he made better use of me on the pitch.” Kagawa’s quotes in regards to United’s style clearly aren’t a one-off. You could say that Kagawa comes across as arrogant but there are no hard feelings meant in what he says; he’s just an honest individual. If you think there’s meant to be any malice in the comments he makes, then a quote from later on in the interview should put your fears to bed, the 23-year-old adding “I don’t have a clue what the manager says! I am trying to learn English, but understanding the manager might take a little longer!”

The ability of our squad to play in so many different formations, shapes and styles is largely down to the acquisition of Kagawa – who is almost certain to become a key man, but if he feels United aren’t playing to their new-found strengths – then it’s right for him to tell them. The ability of Kagawa on the pitch is undeniable and with the latest offering of his ambitious and determined personality, he’s got a good opportunity to make a real difference at United. It’s nice to see somebody settle into the team so quickly and seamlessly, especially when he’s such a talent, but seeing Kagawa fully settled down and willing to talk honestly really shows how quickly he’s not only adapting quickly to English football, but to Manchester life and what it’s like to be at United. With his qualities but on and off the pitch, I wouldn’t be surprised if Kagawa becomes a real fan favourite in the months and years to come.