Star's in Archie's Eyes!

Shinji Kagawa - Dortmund's Lethal Weapon

Shinji Kagawa is only 22 years of age and currently wears the number 23 jersey at Borussia Dortmund. Kagawa was born on St. Patrick's Day 1989. He played a huge role in Borussia Dortmund winning the Bundesliga title last season and I expect we shall see some more sublime football this season. I would very much like to see him playing in the English Premier League. At one stage he was a target that Manchester United were interested in luring to Old Trafford, however, talks did not go in United's favour and Dortmund held on to their super attacking midfielder. Kagawa is capable of playing across the entire midfield area and will perform above and beyond in any of the positions. He only signed for Borussia Dortmund in June 2010 after playing in his home country. To have a look at this promising youngster with bags of potential just watch the video below.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBsAyVWVRcs&feature=related]

I believe that Kagawa is a very similar player to Arsenal's Samir Nasri. Both have a similar style of play and both never give up, they will continue to chase a ball until it is gone. Kagawa has great movement on and off the ball, he is always looking to get in to space to recieve a pass. He is never afraid to take on a player or to have a pop from long range. Kagawa seems to have a great read of the game, he knows when to pass the ball and when to take it on himself. Once Dortmund are on an attack, if the ball is out on the wings you can be certain that he will be already heading in to the box to get on the recieving end of a cross (granted he is not the one out on the wing making the cross of course). I am going to rate the main abilities that a player should not be without for Kagawa and over the coming weeks, readers can expect more of these sort of posts from me and can compare and contrast some of the exciting youngsters in the world of football.

Shinji Kagawa - Stats:

Passing: 8/10
Dribbling: 8/10
Shooting: 7/10
Crossing: 7/10
Tackling: 6/10
Positioning: 9/10
Intelligence: 9/10
Team Work: 7/10
Work Rate: 8/10

Just let me explain what I mean by "Intelligence" - every world class player needs to be able to plain intelligent football, the right runs to make, the correct pass, the ability to read and predict the game. A world class footballer has to be able to not just play the game physically but also mentally.
I can see Kagawa having the potential to be a world class player, his talent just has to be nursed correctly. I would very much like to see him playing in the Premier League in the near future. I believe he would be best suited to Arsenal's manner of playing. However, only if they lose Nasri. If they have Nasri I would fear that Kagawa one of them would not start as much as they both would like,as their styles of play are far to similar to play them alongside each other. I would also like to see him at Old Trafford for Manchester United as they urgently need a central midfielder and I think Shinji has the ability and drive to fill the big boots of Paul Scholes. Although, if Tottenham Hotspur were to sell Luka Modric any time soon, I could also see Kagawa being a more than suitable replacement for him at Spurs.

There you have it folks, I hope you will agree with me on Kagawas potential and the clubs I would very much like to see him playing for in the English Premier League. So until my next talent scouting post, continue enjoying football and more importantly this blog!

Archie