I have an inkling: Having a Daily Fit, very very costly Angel di Maria and Marcus Rojos and their teammates might all bow out of Europa League contention, of course yielding to upstarts like Aston Villa, while the new coach is nearing an irreversible flood stage of "River of Talent" Blindness in the wake (get it?) of seeing Shinji Kagawa's return debut in Germany yesterday.
Okay, enough stream-of-consciusness. The plain facts.
After a two-year walk through the wilderness with the very occasional oasis, the services of long-suffering Shinji Kagawa were finally re-acquired by BVB and the Japanese national made his home stadium debut yesterday at Borussia
Park to neatly slot in a goal for the traditional coal-mining region club. He also added a butter-soft, beautifully timed and deftly executed assist in the Dortmund club's 3-1 win over Freiburg. Kagawa had demonstrated that kind of presence and brilliant passing on the ManU summer US tour http://tinyurl.com/qywfarb and in the Premiere League but only when given an unqualified, no strings attached chance to. Short-term memory: his pass late in the Real Madrid game on August 2 to Chicharito was fabulous, and Hernandez knew it, giving Shinji all the credit. For one thing: ManU only needed to play and integrate Kagawa for more than 2 matches in a row (shortsightedness) and they would have never finished in that now deserved "only" 7th place spot - leaving them fuming that they have only "two shots at silver" after only a few weeks of their 2014-2015 campaign.
ManU fans are constantly harping on their prayer wheel that Rooney gives it everything he has for the team. Hmm. That is too undifferentiated. He also gives it less when it would help the team, but - ahem - strengthen a player vying for a deserved No. 10 spot, even if his team suffers for it. Just analyze the video when Valencia was on the pitch with Kagawa: how often did the two hook up and give the ball back and forth?
How many times not?
Neutral voice: "Kagawa could be open all day right in front of Rooney and more times than not Rooney will attempt a much more difficult pass." http://tinyurl.com/o4xmo88
With a little team support and endurance on the part of the trainer team, he would be a headline player sometimes, and a deserved regular almost all the time.
Change to the Continent: Now all signs so far indicate he will be a valuable marquee player, a substitute sometimes, too, no doubt, but will have the space to fulfill his promise and expectations in the right context - in the good hands of Jürgen Klopp, master trainer. If this doesn't happen, it would surprise me.
Of course you can say the mix was wrong, or you can say Manchester United were profligate or hanging onto old stars, or favoring Rooney, as always, or whatever. Rebuilding? Or you could just watch for a few hours and comment like Lucille Ball: "Ricky, they play like a bunch of ballerinas, they dive and cheat their way to victory, and the coach hasn't got that kind of behavior under control. Ricky, if the captain, doesn't get, how should the team get it - it's just like your band, right?" Wonder when that culture will change.
If you see Max Kruse and his playing style, you might also wonder, despite all that he does, whether he will ever mix in with a team like the Nationalelf. He was the dominant player on a star-studded Borrussia Mönchengladbach http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borussia_M%C3%B6nchengladbach#Current_squad side yesterday, but nevertheless, somehow it is the chemistry which counts. With Lucien Favre, Max Kruse is in good hands and a threat with his mobility, selfless passing and good scorring. Will he be given a twin-attacking role by Joachim Löw, like the beautiful pairing he now is with Raffael? One would hope this is possible.
With Moyes and with Alex Ferguson, Shinji Kagawa was without a doubt in less than good hands.
