Manchester United strolled to a 4-0 victory away at St. James’ Park yesterday, and once again at the heart of it was the magical duo of Shinji Kagawa and Juan Mata. Traditionally, United opt for wingers with pace such as Antonio Valencia and Ashley Young, however this could be the season where our tactics change.
The Premier League has moved on. You look at David Silva, Samir Nasri, Coutinho and Oscar. All these players aren’t like traditional wingers with speed, but instead are clever footballers. Juan Mata and Shinji Kagawa can be our attacking duo, and recent performances suggest these two are the perfect match.
Juan Mata and Shinji Kagawa compliment each other perfectly. One creates space whilst the other relies on movement around him. Both very intelligent players who are more than capable of playing on the same pitch. Mata ended the game yesterday with two goals and an assist to his name, whereas Kagawa bagged one assist for himself but was unlucky not to have had two after playing Javier Hernandez in with an inch-perfect pass.
The pair aren’t afraid to run ahead of our strikers either, which is something we haven’t seen anywhere near enough of in recent years. If the movement in and around these players is up to scratch, they can both destroy some of the best defences in world football as both have already proved.
Kagawa, 25, won back-to-back league titles with his Borussia Dortmund side a couple of years ago, and was at the heart of everything good about the Bundesliga Champions. Juan Mata also 25 has already won the Champions League and Europa League with Chelsea, scoring 20 goals and adding 35 assists in his last full year at Stamford Bridge.
Both players have the pedigree playing at the highest level and doing it on the biggest stage. Is it really any surprise that both put in a performance as good as they did yesterday? The pair are certainly capable of leading United to glory once again, and hopefully David Moyes will stick with the pair and continue to utilise them in the manner he did yesterday.
Imagine if we had a proper midfield in behind these two? If we can somehow lure Ilkay Gundogan and Toni Kroos to Old Trafford, with Mata and Kagawa in front of them, we’ll be a real force sooner than we thought.
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Totally agree. There are a few ithers waiting in the wings and ready to break into the first team. Nick powell, jess lindgard, Michael keane, pettrucci, andreas periera.. All great talent. We need three players.. Midfield, winger and left back..we also have two great south American teenagers, a right back and a striker.. Get them into the club fabric. Man u has always been about developing talent and presenting them.. Maybe moyes needs to rethink ant his rebuilding plans.
You had me until the point where you think Ilkay Gundogan will play behind Kagawa and Mata. That’s not happening because he plays Mata’s role at Dortmund. I’d prefer Toni Kroos paired with Carrick and in future, someone like Carvalho who is defensive and protects the back 4! I think Moyes should b careful and avoid overloading the team with surplus, EXPENSIVE surplus ala Fellaini who will b on the bench just soaking up a large chunk of United’s money in wages! Nick Powell, Jessie Lingard, Andreas Perreira and already Januzaj are all plausible prospects! He can avoid over-spending like Money-bags City who have the backing of a Billionaire. Just stick to good old talent and permanent class rather than trying to buy the league back. What United need urgently is a reliable and stable left-back but again one who is practical- buying Luke Shaw and giving a teenager almost £100k-a-week is just insane! What will happen at his contract extension negotiations? Next United’ll have Rooney type wages to pay up before we even win anything! Coentrao is a decent option plus he’s got both title winning and European experience plus he’s a flair player which will no doubt add to United’s attacking options. Money can’t solve everything Moyes, so go easy on the summer shopping spree!
I know he’s a better CAM than CM (Gundogan), but he’s played CM very well for Dortmund on many occasions.