Kagawa Impresses In United Victory Over West Brom

So Manchester United made sure they kept their 7 point lead at the top of the Premier League after defeating Steve Clarke’s West Brom side 2-0 at Old Trafford. It was a game United deservedly won but one which left them relieved at full-time.

West Brom to their credit in the second-half made life difficult for United, despite conceding early on thanks to Gareth McAuley’s unfortunate own-goal. Clarke’s side were never going to roll over but had United been more ruthless up-front they would have gone into the break 2/3-0 up.

They failed to do so thanks to some good defending and several outstanding saves by ex-Red Ben Foster on his return to Old Trafford.

Perhaps if Robin van Persie would have started the game then United wouldn’t have needed to wrap up the game late-on. Of course United won the game so it didn’t matter that RVP didn’t start but it did at least raise that old debate of whether Sir Alex Ferguson disrespects the opposition from time-to-time, at least that’s what the view was on Twitter.

Was Fergie disrespecting West Brom? Far from it, with Danny Welbeck starting up-top with Shinji Kagawa behind him United still had a good attacking-line and it’s not as if RVP was left out of the squad altogether. He was named on the bench to come on if needed and when he came on in the final quarter of the game his freshness was too much for the visitors to handle on, so it was a case of good management after all.

You had to feel a tad sorry for Welbeck who despite scoring 3 times for England this season has only found the net once for United, that goal coming back in September against Stoke City. He has been a victim of RVP’s arrival to the club and Javier Hernandez’s return to form but when he has appeared he has impressed with his work-rate and a willingness to make the most of every minute on the pitch.

He will become a great player for club and country and will be motivated to prove his worth in the second-half of the season in the same way that Hernandez has since his return to form. He probably won’t start against Wigan Athletic on New Year’s Day but you’d be a fool to back against him scoring 8-10 goals before the end of May.

Another forward who you have to feel sorry for is Romelu Lukaku. He has impressed at West Brom scoring 6 times proving to British football fans that the only reason he struggled last year at Chelsea was because he was never given the opportunity to impress.

Chelsea have an outstanding young player on their hands and the Belgian impressed from the bench. Comparisons with the forward’s hero Didier Drogba will always be made, after all they do look alike and for 20 minutes yesterday Lukaku played like his hero causing United problems with his hold-up play and off the ball movement.

Now despite impressing at West Brom, Chelsea are now reported to want Demba Ba from Newcastle and you have to wonder what a move to Stamford Bridge for the Senegal hitman would mean for the future of Lukaku who deserves to be playing games instead of sitting on the bench.  Mind you Chelsea paid at least £13m up front for Lukaku’s signature last summer, so with his potential it’s unlikely that they’d want to sell him.

Back to United and it would only be fair to highlight out Kagawa. In his first appearance since October he showed his class and grew in confidence as the game went on. There may have been some luck involved in his delicate pass that led to Ashley Young’s cross that led to the opening goal, but the Japanese playmaker was always looking to get on the ball and the signs are that United do have a special player on their hands.

The only fear is that, like all players returning from an injury, that he could pick up another knock soon and be out for another month and a half. He will need protecting in games so don’t expect him to last 90 minutes until United play Liverpool at home, a game that Kagawa will look forward to after impressing at Anfield earlier in the season.

By Adam Dennehey @ADennehey87