Kagawa could be Chicharito’s missing link

Last season Chicharito seemed just too quick for his own good. Teetering dangerously alongside the last defender, he always looked hungry for a speedily played through ball which, more often than not, never arrived. His off-side stats are evidence of this tendency. Always looking forward to the break, Chicharito’s propensity to tear open defences often put him a step ahead of his team mates, resulting in what looked like careless positioning, but was really evidence of the lack of conviction in midfield. To see how explosive he can be, think back to Old Trafford in May of 2011, when after a well-timed pass from Park Ji-Sung, Chicharito put Manchester United one nil up against Chelsea thirty-six seconds after kick-off. These passes have been too far and few between since.

With the arrival of Kagawa, Chicharito now has the incisive midfield creativity he needs to feed off in order to do what he does best: score really fast goals and hopefully Kagawa will be looking to Chicharito to complement his sleek and penetrating style of play.

This is all well and good but will the two players be given enough opportunity to foster an understanding with each-other? If this relationship is to develop I feel it will be towards the latter half of the season. Right now, Sir Alex Ferguson’s priority seems to be encouraging a partnership between Kagawa and van Persie and I think we’ve seen the fruits of this already. But Kagawa’s considerable creative prowess is what strikers like Chicharito dream about—it would make his job that much easier to find the ball landing gently at his feet when he has only a split-second to get a shot away.

I’m guessing the season will take its toll on van Persie, who Sir Alex will be keen to keep fresh and hopefully if Kagawa stays fit, Chicharito can show us once again how prolific a goal-scorer he can truly become with the right service. We could be lucky and get a glimpse of this on Sunday against Liverpool if Chicharito is introduced later on. I predict a match-winner from him myself.