Seeing the current height of Son Heung-min, not only reminds people of a Japanese player who was known as the "No. 1 player in Asia" after Park Ji-sung. But if you check his current situation, you can't find any recent game records of his, and then you find out that he has been a "free agent" for several months. The Japanese player who was once the "number one in Asia" and is still "displaced" and has no ball to play with is Shinji Kagawa.
After leaving the Hornets
After leaving Dortmund in the winter of 2018/2019, Kagawa joined the Turkish Super League Besiktas. After half a season, he went to Real Zaragoza of La Liga 2.
Real Zaragoza advanced to the La Liga promotion qualifying round in the final stage. As a result, after two rounds of competition, Real Zaragoza unexpectedly lost to the team that later successfully advanced to the 20/21 La Liga. Elche, the last berth in the league. Because Shinji Kagawa's contract included a clause that would automatically renew if he advanced to La Liga in the second season, so after the promotion failed, people began to think that the team was dealing with Kagawa's contract matters.
After just over a month of offseason, it was first reported that Kagawa had received interest and inquiries from Middle Eastern teams, and Real Zaragoza was also considering whether to Let Kagawa go, because his annual salary of 450,000 euros is indeed a big burden for a Spanish League team. Then local media reported that the team and Kagawa were discussing whether they were willing to cut salaries, but Real Zaragoza decided to sign two non-EU players, Uruguayan player GABRIELFERNANDEZ and Brazilian player RAI. The team was unwilling to sign any more non-EU players, which ultimately led to Kagawa losing his position in the new season. On October 2, 2020, Real Zaragoza announced that Shinji Kagawa's contract had been terminated by mutual consent, and he became a free agent.
When Shinji Kagawa was released during the summer transfer period, there were still many players from the Middle East, North America and Europe who were interested in and invited him. However, after the transfer window closed, as a He can still join any team as a free agent, but after many teams contacted him, discussed and discussed rumors, there is still no news about Kagawa joining any team. For example, Dusseldorf of the Bundesliga 2 considered inviting Kagawa to join, but after internal discussions and evaluations, the management of Dusseldorf gave up the opportunity to invite Kagawa.
So far, Shinji Kagawa still stays in Spain for independent training. In the upcoming winter transfer window, Dezhuan still lists him as one of the notable free agents in this transfer window.
Why no one cares
Recently, Mislinta, the sports director of the Bundesliga Stuttgart team and the former chief scout of Dortmund (2009-2017), was interviewed by the German media "SWR". Asked which player he is most satisfied with, the "diamond eye" that once discovered Lewandowski, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Ousmane Dembele and Christian Pulisic did not reveal the answer. The name of a thigh-level player was named "Shinji Kagawa" instead. Mislinta said that when he first came to report, he faced challenges as a scout because he had never been a player. However, when he was inspecting Kagawa, he flew to Japan six times to edit. More than 10 videos of Kagawa's personal analysis, and finally made "purchasing suggestions" to senior management.
When discussing Kagawa's transfer within Dortmund, he was questioned by then head coach Klopp. Fortunately, Klopp and the management opened a door for Kagawa, allowing him to play at the age of 21. He joined Dortmund with a transfer fee of only 350,000 euros, and the next story is that Kagawa reached the peak of his life in the Hornets. This transfer event also brought an important turning point in Mislinta's scouting career.
However, the Polish media "SPORT" wrote a special article about Kagawa, which mentioned that in 2010 Polish football commentator Roman Kelton said that Kagawa's talents are really enviable, and he hopes that these talents can Give some to Lewandowski. But today, ten years later, the 32-year-old Lewandowski has become one of the best forwards in the world, while the 31-year-old Shinji Kagawa has fallen into a situation where no one cares.
Compared to the 34-year-old Yuto Nagatomo, a good friend of Kagawa who directly joined Marseille in the French Ligue 1 after leaving Turkey during the summer transfer window, why did Kagawa terminate his contract with Real Zaragoza? Then no team invited him to sign and join?
Injuries affect competitive status
The biggest problem affecting Kagawa is that his injuries directly led to his current situation. Looking at his recent injury history, Kagawa, who could fly into the sky and escape before joining Manchester United, suffered from a fracture for three and a half months, but at that time his competitive state still did not face too many challenges. But after he suffered a knee injury during his time at Manchester United and was absent for two months, his body began to change.
After Shinji Kagawa left Manchester United and returned to Dortmund, his performance initially maintained a certain level, but during this time he began to suffer from ankle and knee problems. In the four years since he returned to Dortmund, Kagawa actually missed 237 days and played 35 games due to injury. The most serious one was that he suffered two ankle injuries in one year, which caused him to recuperate for 86 days. It was also because of this "decisive" injury that after Kagawa returned to the first team, he was completely left on the bench. It was tragic that in February 2018, he suffered an ankle injury that resulted in a season-ending injury. Afterwards, he thought he would still have a chance to play at the beginning of the 2018/2019 season. However, he suffered another ankle injury in October. After the injury recovered, he was released in October. His appearance in the German Cup on the 31st was actually his last appearance in Dortmund. After that, he was rented out to the Turkish Super League until January 31, 2019.
He went to the Turkish Super League to participate in the first game. Although Kagawa established the fans' trust in him with two goals, he represented Besiktas in about fourteen games in the Turkish Super League. , he actually only started four games, and he did not play the entire game. In a second-tier European league, he was unable to start and play the entire game, which shows that Kagawa's competitive state no longer allows him to participate in the game easily.
When playing for Real Zaragoza, although Kagawa always played as a starting midfielder, in the 23 games he started, he only played the full game in four games. , and in all games, he was replaced by the coach within 60 to 70 minutes. In 37 games (***1,734 minutes) with the *** representative team, he only scored 4 goals and 1 assist. This is still not satisfactory for a top Japanese player who only works hard in the Spanish Second Division. transcript.
Today's tactics require that positions that are good at are facing elimination
From the founding year of the Premier League (1992) to the present, the early left and right midfielder passing tactics have been replaced by the attacking midfielder and forward. The rise of the position, and now that the dominance is returned to the wing, the great impact of Kagawa's loss also comes from the changes in tactics and requirements. Around 2010, the attacking midfielder position was once again reused and valued by the world. For example, Sneijder, who was soaring that year, led Inter Milan to win the Triple Crown and reach the finals of the World Cup in South Africa. In addition, Ozil also made many great achievements in the systems of Werder Bremen and Real Madrid. Even Messi, who served as a pseudo-forward in Barcelona, ??returned to the attacking midfielder position when he represented Argentina.
When Shinji Kagawa joined Dortmund, he had the qualities and talents needed for a first-class modern attacking midfielder. However, two years later, he truly amazed the world and became the flagpole of Asian football. However, in recent years, TIKITAKA's passing and controlling tactics have been slowly abandoned by the mainstream world, replaced by "bombing tactics" like Liverpool's.
In this kind of fast transition between offense and defense, although Kagawa, who was originally a midfielder, has excellent reactions and running positions, his physical strength and injuries have hindered him from making much difference in the existing tactics. Advantages. Just like Ozil and Wilshere who are also attacking midfielders.
Having a flash of performance is no longer enough to give the team reuse and trust. Only perseverance in physical strength and running are real strength, at least for the talents needed in the current football world, it is like Alphonso Davies, who has just been named the best eleven in the world.