What the neglect of Kagawa & Mata says about their coaches & league
season ahead
On Monday night we were fortunate to have a major clash
between two of the best sides in the league. These kinds of games don’t often
happen so early in the season and with the changes in managers this summer this would be an
early and important test for both Moyes and Mourinho. As The Whitehouse
Address discusses, the game brought up some interesting thoughts for the season
and of the futures of both sides playmakers, Kagawa and Mata.
You could argue that being at Old Trafford the pressure was
seemingly on United’s new manager, with worries that losing his first home game
of his United career to Chelsea would be extremely costly. However, the pressure was
actually more so on Mourinho, where expectations (rightly or wrongly) are on him
to win the title. Therefore it was not surprising to see a cautious and nervous
approach befitting the magnitude of the game. Quite frankly both coaches could
not lose, and so a 0-0 stalemate was the result.
A more European approach returns
For many the game was an anti-climax which bordered on the
mundane. Granted there were very few chances at goal and those that did occur
were half chances at best. Although the die hard MOTD highlight fans will see that as boring and negative, for others this was actually a fascinating tactical battle between two astute coaches.The truth is that this game was more in line with a European tie than
a Premier League one.
You see the issue the past several years in the Premier
League has been to play with a philosophy of attacking football, a la Kevin
Keegan. This has resulted in some ludicrous scorelines between the top sides which has
pointed not so much to great attacking play but to a neglect of
defending.
This approach has coincided with a decline in the performances of
English sides in the Champions League, which is no coincidence at all.
Defending as a team is essential for success, especially at the top levels of
football and quite frankly the top English sides forgot about this (Chelsea’s
Champions League success came from a incredibly strong and disciplined
defensive block, not expansive attacking football.)
Perhaps some fans enjoyed these Keegan-esque years yet for
me personally I have missed the quality of defensive organisation which was
seen under the tutelage of Mourinho, Benitez and Quieroz in their time at
Chelsea, Liverpool and United respectively. These coaches were world class
European tacticians who understood the importance of defending and being
organised and it was no surprise that during the 2000’s their sides were
dominating Europe. When all three left English football changed.
You may argue that Barcelona go against my theory but it was
their defensive pressing which was the key to their success. Bayern and
Dortmund have also built their success on their counter-pressing philosophy
(Gegenpressing). Defending is the foundation for success, something which Mourinho & Moyes seem more than aware of.
Therefore when I watched Monday’s game I felt that I was
watching a game from six years ago. It was organised and compact, it was
cautious and conservative. And it was the kind of performance which can enable
a team to succeed not just in the league but in Europe.
Why Mourinho distrusts the trequartista
This was a game of
chess yet both coaches preferred not to gamble and take risks but instead allow
this first battle to be stalemate. Disappointingly the mentality of the coaches denied us the chance of seeing the Juan Mata and Shinji Kagawa introduced.
Ever since Juan Mata arrived in English football he has been
a revelation. Chelsea’s player of the season for the past two years highlights
how important he has been for the club and the team. He has helped them win the
Champions League and Europa League too in that time and arguably should have
won the Player of the Year award last year over Bale. He has become Chelsea’s ‘key’
man.
And yet since Mourinho has arrived the rumours have constantly linked Mata
with a move away from the Bridge. Apparently Mourinho does not see him as part
of his plans.
Now when we watch Monday’s game you see that Chelsea needed
a playmaker like Mata to unlock United’s strong defence. The tactic to get
Schurrle in from deep with passes from Ramires didn’t work and it required a
player who was able to perform higher up the pitch. Mata was ideal yet he did
not play.
Instead Oscar was the man given the role and although a talented
player he is not as good as Mata. However you can see why Mourinho prefers him.
Mata is a classic trequartista, a player who excels as the classic ’10’. He
drifts wide, often to the right regularly but enjoys the space between the
oppositions defence and midfield.
Now Mourinho has used this type of player
before in Sneijder when at Inter and Ozil at Madrid and has brought out the
best in them and being successful with it. Yet I feel that he no longer trusts
this player in top games, the reason is that they often neglect their defensive
duties and fail to drop back to make a three man midfield.
This is why I felt
Madrid bought Modric. You can see more similarities with Oscar and Modric and
it may be that Mourinho wishes to use a three man midfield and use the speed of
Hazard and Schurrle rather than rely on a classic 10 in the ‘hole’.
The problem regarding this philosophical change in Mourinho is
that using Modric in that role did not work last season and by attempting to ostracise
Mata from the team will only have a negative effect on Chelsea’s performances
this season.
Moyes fails to see value in Kagawa
A similar situation is occurring with Shinji Kagawa at United.
When he signed for United last summer I could not believe they landed him at
£17m. It was a steal of a deal (the fact Dortmund replaced him with £17m Reus
was also incredible – highlighting that value can be found in today’s market)
and it pointed towards a change in United’s approach and style.
United had not
had a classic playmaking '10' since Scholes was in his prime. Since then they had
moved towards a fluid front line consisting of Rooney, Ronaldo and Berbatov and
then to a more old fashioned wide play approach with Young, Valencia and
Rooney. With Van Persie in the side United now had a centre forward who could
excel with a playmaker behind him and Kagawa seemed ideal.
However the problem
for Ferguson was Wayne Rooney and the issue of trying to fit him and Kagawa in
the same team. What happened was that Kagawa was put on the left for most of
the season and Rooney played behind Van Persie.
One of the only times when
Kagawa played in his ideal position was in the first leg against Madrid at the
Bernabeu where he actually played very well but Van Persie played terribly
(when we consider what Kagawa did at Dortmund and the link he had with
Lewandowski you see how he excelled with a forward who could hold the ball up
for him to make runs behind the defence – Van Persie struggled to offer that
support and although Kagawa made the runs he failed to make the impact because
the balls didn’t come).
Therefore the Rooney situation this summer has highlighted a
possible change for United where Kagawa could excel in the 10 position without
the issue of Rooney and him fighting over the role. A Rooney exit could have
made things easier. Yet it now seems he is staying and judging by his performance
Monday he is motivated to fight for that position.
The problem is that although
Rooney performed well Monday as an individual, he actually offered very little
to United in his role. What was he? A playmaker? Well he didn’t provide any
chances for anyone, he proved incapable of finding those gaps to penetrate.
Rooney's problem is that he is second behind Van Persie in the nine role and is more
suited to being a midfielder behind a 10 than being the actual playmaker.
United and Van Persie were crying out for Kagawa in the game to unlock Chelsea yet Moyes decided not to
bring him on.
Was it a sign of content to walk away with a draw or was it
something more concerning, perhaps that he does not realise the quality of
Kagawa, in the same way Mourinho fails to see how important Mata could be for
Chelsea?
The fact that players like Fabregas and Ozil have been
sought after this summer points towards a feeling that Rooney’s exit was
possible and that a playmaker was required. For many the pursuit of this type
of player is baffling when you consider the greatness of Kagawa in that role.
Yes some have said that Kagawa is still not fit enough to play yet something else
tells me that Moyes considers him nothing more than a marketing tool for the
Asian market, instead of one of the best playmakers in Europe.
Jurgen Klopp has
already expressed his disappointment with how Kagawa was utilised last season and
he surely must have felt the same as many when he watched Monday’s game and
could see how valuable and necessary Kagawa could have been.
New coaches don't see the value in their 10's
The neglect of these playmakers does point towards the theme
mentioned earlier and a move back to the mid-2000’s of the Premier League. The
little playmaker was not what brought United, Chelsea and Liverpool success and
it appears that just as this type of player has come in to the English game,
coaches like Mourinho and Moyes are looking to move them on.
These coaches want
more defensive stability and clearly worry that players like Mata and Kagawa
don’t give the team enough strength out of possession. It does appear that their new coaches don’t
see their value in terms of creating chances and instead see them as a potential
problem for the team’s defensive balance.
For fans it is a shame to not see
these players perform week in week out because they are wonderful to watch, yet
they are being managed by two men who have a defensive first approach to the
game. This approach may lead to more success, yet will probably produce less
quality football wise.
As footballers however they should seek a move away from
their clubs and find coaches who wish to revolve the team around them. Both
players are too good to be wasted on the benches of their current sides, even
if those sides do well in the league and Europe this year. With Simeone eager to land Mata and Klopp salivating at the
prospect of having Kagawa return ‘home’ these players won’t be short of
suitors.
What Monday’s game highlighted was that even in a game where both
sides are crying out for a playmaker to get a goal, both coaches decided not to lose instead of seeking to win, a mentality which may become the norm in the big games this season.
Those decisions pointed to a new era for English football,
one in which we will see less of the attacking playmakers and more of the
physical defensive set-ups of Mourinho’s last era in England. The question for English football is,
is that good or bad?
The Whitehouse Address @The_W_Address
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