Shinji Kagawa has vowed to come back stronger ahead of his second season in English football. The United midfielder endured mixed fortunes in his first season at Old Trafford, after arriving from Borussia Dortmund amid much fanfare and the Japanese international has revealed he wasn’t happy with his efforts over his first 12 months at the club.
Kagawa told Sky Sports: “It was a tough time for me, with a lot going on in my head.
“I am not happy with my performance for the team at all. I didn’t score that much and I also had my (knee) injury.
“Despite that, it was great we won the league, but I just don’t feel that I achieved everything that I wanted.
“For me personally, it wasn’t a good season.”
Kagawa played only 23 games in all competitions last season, but still managed to notch seven goals and six assists which made him United’s fourth-best league goalscorer behind Robin Van Persie, Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez and continued his fine form by scoring against Italy in the Confederations Cup last week.
With the rumour mill in full swing and United linked with Thiago Alcantara and with Wayne Rooney potentially on his way out of the club, next season could see a very different United side, one in which Kagawa is keen to secure a starting spot as he hopes to impress new manager David Moyes.
“Whenever there is a tough time, whenever it gets difficult for me, I just train and look ahead to the future,” Kagawa told premierleague.com.
“I always think that I must play well and I always have an image in my mind of how I want to play, wherever the position.”
Kagawa’s first season might not have been as satisfying on a personal level as he had hoped for, but the Japanese won many fans among the United supporters and, should he produce the sort of performances that helped Dortmund to back-to-back Bundesliga titles, the Japanese could well become one of the first names on David Moyes’ teamsheet, particularly if the former Everton manager was to play Kagawa in his preferred position.
