veryfatchocobo
New member
He wins more 50-50s than Kagawa at CAM and is even a better dribbler with the running speed, but once Kagawa was at his normal position, it was like they had both a 3rd midfielder and a second striker at the same time. Even Ozil doesn't have that type of contribution with Real Madrid and Arsenal, though he's much more of a game changer than Kagawa will ever be... They were never outnumbered at any part of the field once Kagawa was there. Januzaj didn't have that same impact in the middle, though maybe it's because Kagawa had no intention to keep the width of the formation at LW. He has to be protesting with his lousy LW play...... Januzaj really helped Kagawa though since his brilliance at LW got the Swansea defense to watch out for his side instead of the center. His spacing and distribution in the middle was smarter than Januzaj's in the same position, even if Januzaj was consistently dancing through defenders in the hole and keeping the ball well. Ball retention and positive movement isn't determined by the person's ability raw ability to dribble the ball. It's all about how he uses the ball, and Januzaj is much better with it out wide while at the same time Kagawa just understands what do with it more than Januzaj does at CAM. I just feel if there were two Januzaj's at CAM and LW, the game would've ended at 0-0...
I'm kinda biased though since I've followed Kagawa since the Borussia Dortmund days, but honestly he seriously doesn't get the credit he deserves, even during his BvB days. Kagawa at CAM is plays like Iniesta... except near the striker. He was the main playmaker in the final third for Borussia Dortmund (I thought at least), and watching the Swansea match with him at CAM was like watching his old brilliant self at BvB (he played the CAM role better than he did when he was there in the CL too...) except he wouldn't miss his chances then... It's no coincidence that Man U were pretty decent in the CL this year... Kagawa pretty much started CAM in those games, and the CL scorelines have been better than the RvP-Rooney combo this year. Though I guess their group wasn't strong though........ Also note that Moyes has hardly started him CAM in the EPL. Though we're also talking about the guy who made Fellaini a CAM.......
I know I keep saying this, but he'd be the perfect candidate in the Barcelona 4-3-3 CM roles. Hard presser, first instinct is to pass the ball, and spaces himself extremely well with the vision too. I honestly think he'll be a smart signing for us if we ever do need extra CMs (we don't though.... though Cesc is meh atm there and Xavi's pretty much going to be done after the WC), and he can definitely even play the false nine role (maybe better than Cesc too....). Gotze wouldn't have fit the bill since to me in terms of versatility because he's much more of a forward than Kagawa ever is, though he'd probably be the perfect false 9 with Messi. Also, I feel that the only reason why Kagawa got his goals at BvB wasn't because he's a forward player in the BvB system, I just think his positional sense is on a really high level. Mikhtaryan's not getting the same amount of goals, though Gotze did. Remember also that Kagawa was the guy that kept Gotze out wide.
His old team kinda need him though. Mikhtaryan is a really good player, but his presence isn't as good as Kagawa's or Gotze's since he just doesn't release the ball as well as they do. Instead, Mikhtaryan prefers to run with it, and he's a really fast runner, too. But obviously, as we all know since we're on a Barcelona forum, passing is more important than running speed in the technical positions. They just don't do the same fast bullseye accurate intricate passes like they used to and obviously Mikhtaryan's part of the blame, but most of it is also because of the loss of Gundogan and Lewandowski's commitment to Bayern Munich....
And even in the off-chance that he plays against Chelsea at the CAM role and sucks (Moyes starting Kagawa at CAM in succession? Blasphemy!), I'll still hold my high regard for Kagawa unless someone can convince me otherwise......
