Talking Tactics: How Moyes left Fellaini exposed vs Sociedad

The Positive Return of Shinji Kagawa

While there were several negatives for Moyes to take away from the scoreless draw, there was one positive takeaway, and it was the return of Shinji Kagawa once more. The Japanese star is quietly having a very impressive Champions League campaign, and his free-flowing role against Sociedad here almost saw United walk away with all three points in tow.

What was perhaps most interesting was the fact that Moyes used Kagawa effectively in a wide position.

Much has been made about his need to play in the No. 10 role and not be used as a winger, but what United did in this match was give Kagawa full reign of the left flank and the space inside of it. In essence, it was very similar to what Andre Villas-Boas did with Gareth Bale last year—allowing him to cut inside and play as a central winger from time to time.

Shinji Kagawa Action Areas v Sociedad

For that to happen, though, there needs to be space for him to cut-in, and Fellaini and Rooney did their job perfectly here in allowing that to happen. When Fellaini was more like a regulation central midfielder (or even a defensive central mid) and Rooney was like a true No. 10 (pushing up on to the centre-backs with Hernandez), space started to appear in midfield.

As a result, Kagawa—usually unmarked—would fill that space and be in a great position to launch an attack. Perhaps the clearest example of this was Hernandez’s woeful miss.

The finish (or lack of it) has been the biggest talking point in this movement, but rewind the tape back a bit and you’ll see the Rooney-Fellaini movement the cruical creates space.

With Rooney sitting deep on the field, right-back Carlos Martinez looks to pick him up and stop him being an option for the free-running Fellaini at this point. Hernandez is being double-teamed (as per usual), which makes the run of Rooney the most dangerous at this point. The Englishman is defended well, so Fellaini passes wide out to a fast-arriving Antonio Valencia.

The winger then attacks Alberto de la Bella on the right wing, and draws in another defender alongside him. Fellaini has dropped off into the space vacated by Sociedad’s midfielders; Rooney has pressed up into the box alongside Hernandez. And what that does, is give Kagawa a mountain of space at the top of the penalty box—which Valencia picks out perfectly.

The finish wasn’t there from Hernandez to cap off the move, but this showed just how deadly Kagawa can be in this “late-arriving No. 10 role. He’s still playing as winger given that he’s outside the right-back at the point when he receives the pass, but he has the freedom to cut in and utilise his attacking strengths from a central position when necessary—thanks to the movement and understanding of both Rooney and Fellaini.

It’ll be interesting to see whether Moyes sees the importance of other players around Kagawa when he next uses the former Borussia Dortmund star, and whether he can create the same “free-running” role for him as a result. Kagawa isn’t a dribbler or all that good in traffic, which have led to some struggles in the Premier League, but if he can play a similar role to what Bale did, he’ll certainly find great success this season—even if he’s not categorically in a No. 10 role.

Definitely something to watch out for.