Kagawa's enduring link to Man United's Mata
From Dortmund dynamo to Old Trafford outcast and back, Shinji Kagawa's seven-year European adventure has been an eventful rollercoaster ride for the creative, yet fragile, playmaker.
While his two-season stint with Manchester United provided few positives -- a hat trick against Norwich in his Premier League-winning season aside -- the enduring friendship struck up with Juan Mata has at least yielded something of note that could have a much greater long-term impact.
Kagawa's decision to sign up for the Common Goal initiative was sparked by the relationship formed with the Spaniard after he joined United from Chelsea midway through the Japan midfielder's second season with the club.
It was a difficult time for Kagawa, with Mata essentially coming in to replace a player in whom new manager David Moyes had shown little faith from the earliest days after his arrival as Sir Alex Ferguson's successor.
United were in a state of flux under the ex-Everton manager that would spiral further out of control. The lack of confidence shown in the Japan international by Moyes during his one and only preseason tour was clearly weighing heavily on Kagawa, as evidenced by his performances on the pitch.
Shinji Kagawa and Common Goal athletes Common Goal
The effervescence, energy and guile on show at Dortmund, glimpsed occasionally in his injury-hit debut year at United, and during the Confederations' Cup in Brazil for Japan, were absent in his second season.
It was all a far cry from the player Ferguson had signed in the summer of 2012 -- potentially to fill the void left by the retirement of Paul Scholes.
Kagawa had kicked off his journey to the top of the Asian game with Cerezo Osaka in the J-League. After impressing for the club in Japan's second division, he was snapped up by Dortmund in the summer of 2010 as a little-known 21-year-old.
He made an immediate impact in the Bundesliga in an injury-curtailed first season. He scored regularly for his new club before joining Japan in Qatar at the 2011 Asian Cup finals, where a broken bone in his foot forced him return to Germany early from a tournament that the Samurai Blue went on to win.
Kagawa picked up where he left off on his return to action. By the end of his second season with Dortmund, he had done enough to seal a high-profile move to Old Trafford.
Michael Regan/Getty Images
The arrival of Moyes and his staid brand of football, however, stifled any hope of Kagawa being trusted to establish himself as a Manchester United regular, and he took his lack of form into the World Cup in Brazil.
There, both he and Japan failed to match the expectations built up by those eye-catching displays at the Confederations Cup 12 months earlier. By the time Louis van Gaal had his feet under the manager's desk at United's Carrington training complex, Kagawa was on his way back to Germany at the start of his third season at Old Trafford.
Those two years had seen Kagawa's confidence suffer. And, despite being back in familiar surroundings, he took his time to return to his previous form.
While shining occasionally, there were setbacks, not least his missed penalty in Japan's shootout loss to the United Arab Emirates in the quarterfinals of the Asian Cup in 2015. His tame effort was symptomatic of a player who was struggling psychologically.
Since the start of 2017, however, Kagawa looks to have returned to his best, with Dortmund reaping the benefits of his rehabilitation.
Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Images
He scored an eye-catching winner against Augsburg in late September in a strong start to the 2017-18 campaign for both player and club, as Dortmund sit at the summit of the Bundesliga.
That stunning chip earlier this month -- his 38th goal for the club -- made him the highest-scoring Japanese player in the history of the Bundesliga, surpassing Samurai Blue teammate Shinji Okazaki, now with Leicester City.
Kagawa will hope he can carry that kind of touch through until the end of the Bundesliga season to ensure he reclaims his place in the Japan squad that heads to the World Cup in Russia next June.
With a new generation pushing their way through the door for Japan, led by the likes Takashi Inui and Genki Haraguchi, coach Vahid Halilhodzic will surely be in no mood to be as charitable as his Spanish friend, Mata.
Source: espn.co.uk
Comments
This article has 0 comment(s) , give your comment