[EPL] West Ham United 2-2 Manchester United

[troy andreas]

Analysing the Use of Shinji Kagawa in West Ham 2-2 Manchester United



Manchester United traveled to East London looking to seal the title, but met a defiant old rival in the form of West Ham. After a 90-minute battle, the Red Devils will travel back proud of a well-earned point.

But despite the hard-fought nature of the game, the battle between United's central defence and Andy Carroll, and Mohamed Diame's wonder-strike, one of the more interesting talking points was Sir Alex Ferguson's use of Shinji Kagawa.

The former Borussia Dortmund man has rarely been allowed to play in his preferred role as a No. 10 playmaker, and tonight looked like an odd inclusion on paper.

Fergie set out his free-flowing 4-4-2 that's yielded so many goals this season, but Kagawa took up a narrow role on the left-hand side.



He offered little protection against Guy Demel roaming forward and teaming up with Ricardo Vaz Te, exposing Patrice Evra to attacks from all sorts of angles.

The Japanese star has been used incredibly sparingly this season, and Fergie tends to throw him into random games. That said, and considering his slight nature, West Ham away? It's only the second-most physical, and on paper, the second-worst fixture for him to face.

But it worked perfectly, and many will agree Kagawa was one of the best players on the field.

So how did he do it?

Kagawa was deployed on the left on purpose. He negated defensive duties, and when he did filter back it was more aimless pressing than actual tackling, but offensively he was the key cog.

Taking advantage of West Ham's gung-ho attitude—and in particular Ricardo Vaz Te's thirst for goals—was a surefire way to get behind a compact Sam Allardyce side.




Kagawa was brought into play very quickly, or utilised in one-two passing moves. Essentially, Kagawa attacked the space behind Vaz Te.

The Portuguese winger would rarely track the playmaker, and early on the Japanese talent had a decent chance to find a teammate with a pull-back.

Soon after, Kagawa found space, evaded the full-back, hit the byline and set Antonio Valencia up for a tap-in.

Job done? Not quite—there was magic left in the tank.

At 2-1 down, Fergie brought on the age-defying Ryan Giggs and switched to a 4-2-3-1. At last, Kagawa found himself in a No. 10 role.

He somehow found space in an outrageously congested area and fired a shot goalward that led to Robin van Persie's equaliser.

Shinji showed his ability to find space on several different areas on the field at Upton Park and will be credited with two assists for his troubles.

On paper Sir Alex was a mad man; in practice he's a genius.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1608280-analysing-the-use-of-shinji-kagawa-in-west-ham-2-2-manchester-united?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

[goodfron]

Rooney maennya kacau.... entah mengapa sudah punya Kagawa yang terbukti lebih berguna diposisi itu koq memaksakan peran itu buat Rooney. Terbukti Kagawa lebih membahayakan ketika ada diposisi itu. Kagawa gak cocok ditaruh sbg winger kiri, kasihan Evra jatuhnya. Entah apa yg ada dibenak SAF ketika memasukkan Giggs, dan mempertahankan Jones sampe' akhir padahal lawan gak bagus-bagus amat lini tengahnya. IMHO seharusnya kita pasang Cleverly untuk penguasaan bola lebih lama sehingga lawan gak sering2 angkat bola ke area pertahanan kita. Terbukti keberadaan Jones boleh dikata "useless" dini hari tadi, kita tidak sedang menghadapi tim semacam Real Madrid, City ato Chelsea. Masuknya Chicharito juga timingnya kurang tepat, seharusnya Chicharito masuk lebih awal dibanding Giggs.

Hasil yang masih patut disyukuri... hasil yang memberikan kesan dramatis untuk perebuan juara, ditambah fixtures United selanjutnya yg bisa dibilang berat dan City lebih ringan... menunggu drama-drama selanjutnya terutama tuah dari Spurs hari Selasa dini hari minggu depan

[theater of dream]

Menurut gw cuma satu alasan kenapa Jones dimainkan yaitu Physical presence secara mayoritas pemain West Ham fighter dan big man, Rio aja keteran kalo udah duel udara.

[zudomiriku]

dapat 1 poin dari hasil seri gak terlalu jelek lah, malah gw prediksi United kehilangan poin pas lawan Stoke & bisa menang pas lawan WHU, eh ini malah kebalik. tp prediksi seh dapat 4 poin dari 2 partai tandang tsb
yg penting RVP kembali cetak gol, gol yg menyamakan kedudukan. naluri cetak gol nya dah mulai balik lagi disaat perebutan gelar EPL lagi krusial & mendekati garis akhir. moga pas lawan Villa, RVP kembali menambah gol, syukur2 bisa jadi top skor sementara

[dudut]

kenapa semalam g pake vida jones aja di cb,jones sebenarnya lebih cocok di cb.
dan di gelandang pasang carrick clev,, yang jadi pertanyaan si clev kenapa y g dipasang pasang ama opa
sengajakah, lagi ngambek2an ama opa kah
udah lama g bikin rapor pemain hahaha

De Gea 5
habis potong rambut refleknya rada lambat, kayak samson habis dicukur bulu keteknya

Evra 5
kebiasaan habis naek lupa turun ( coba aja masuk si badak buttner semalam )

Rio 4
kecapekan, kurang explosive ( efek adanya roy hodgson mungkin )

Vida 7
berapa x ngawal carrol ampe ribut good job captain

Rafa 6
not bad entah kenapa doi nyetel banget maen nya kalo duet ma 7 ada mau ciptain peluang gol malah

Vale 6
udah lumayan maen nya g lagi dan bisa menyelesaikan umpan matang dari kagawa

Carrick 6
nampak kecapekan, kehabisan energi tapi masih dpaksain

Jones 6
kurang begitu cemerlang posisinya "aneh"

Kagawa 9
He is MOTM this match pergerakan nya gokil, kalo body ball dia udah mantap yakin dah bisa manta banget maen nya

Roo 4

out of perform

Rvp 7
beberapa x dapat peluang tapi gagal dan akhirnya mencetak gol "offside"

Giggs 3
sory to say doi main malah tambah merusak ritme knapa giggs yang lbh dulu dimasukin ya

Chica 5
2 x dapat peluang emas sayang g berending sebuah gol

[ecly_watchaa]

aneh maennya,,,saat tertinggal 1-0 tempo permainan United dikit naik,
gt 1-1 eh kliatan agak santai, tertinggal 2-1 dinaikin lagi, bola cepet2
diberikan buat De Gea saat goal kick, gt imbang 2-2 eh mulai lagi temponya
turun...kaya udah skenario aja pengen seri di game ini...apa sengaja biar
saat ketemu Arsenal biar semua pada ngotot ngeraih 3 poin yak...??

[Oom Panda]

Semuanya salah SAF... Out of Perform Rooney itu karena dia terlalu banyak dipaksakan maen di posisi lain.. giliran udah dapet feelnya dipindah lagi.. dapet lagi dipindah lagi.. jadi ga konsisten...

And tactical tadi malem pun salah SAF...

Kenapa juga masukin Giggs buat gantiin Roo? mending gantiin Jones.. (dia juga ga perform banget - clash position sama Carrick). And with all due respect Sir.. you're not the anwer to speed up the game. Nani is more dangerous than him..

Kenapa ganti Kagawa. He simply the best player in the field. Simple pass, simple football, very mobile...

And why we playing long ball against West Ham? our midfielder is dead.. creativity is dead.. FLAT.

And where's Evra on that second goal? Owh he's marking Caroll.. Whats for?? Buttner should start.. Kasih kesempatan...

And Tony.. Oh Tony... Too predictable... thats all i can say...

Oh and Rio.. too many mistakes on the defence.

And the passes... GOD we're terrible...

[rondwisan]

Rio ama Vidic dipaksain maen bareng lagi
Kliatan maksa banget untuk ngimbangi pemain2 "gedhe" westham, tapi hasilnya malah kliatan keteteran ya
Rio udah 3 kali maen berturut-turut, Vida 2 kali setelah cedera, pdhl Smalling n Evans ready to play

[theater of dream]

Manutd...
- Pass Success -- 88%
- Aerial Success -- 61%
- Possession -- 66%

Passess
Carrick -- 105/117 (90%)
Rio 61/65 (94%)
Rooney -- 55/65 (85%)
Vidic --- 55/57 (97%)
Kagawa --- 52/57 (91%)

Valencia juga beberapa kali melakukan crossing yang sukses ke kotak penalty, klo ngga salah 3-4 kali disambar Persie yang kena blok kiper West Ham..
intinya Passing kita ngga mati kok dan aliran bola lancar..

[azisfirdaus]

seru nih kalo @Oom Panda udah komen saya suka dengan gaya bicaranya yg lantang, ciri khas. Oh iya ngomong2 ciri khas, kata2 saktinya ga keluar om? (Sempak / sempakers)

Jujur ngarepin bgt jones diganti, peran dia ga jelas di tengah, ato ngga dia ditarik ke CB, rio diganti clevz. Kasian bgt dia 3match beruntun ga main
Dan entah knapa malah masukin giggs, yg seperti kebingungan, ga bs berbuat banyak

Untuk gol west ham, itu bola sulit semua, susah buat de gea menghalaunya