New Manchester United acquisition Shinji Kagawa was set to depart for England on Thursday to undergo a physical.Earlier in the day, the Japan midfielder visited a primary school in Sendai that was damaged in last year's earthquake and tsunami, and played with the students."Do what you can to hold on to a dream and pursue it," the 23-year-old, who played youth soccer in Sendai, told the children.Kagawa was taking part in a three-day project to assist in the rebuilding of the disaster-hit area by meeting primary school children in Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures.He is scheduled to have a medical exam on Friday in Manchester and return to Japan on Saturday.
Showing posts with label Manchester. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Manchester. Show all posts
Friday, June 22, 2012
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Kagawa to join Manchester United
Shinji Kagawa's long-awaited move to Manchester United finally happened after the Premier League giant announced Tuesday it had come to terms with Borussia Dortmund on a transfer for the Japan midfielder.
It is the biggest transfer ever by a Japanese player, and perhaps even by an Asian player. The fee, depending on Kagawa's performance at Old Trafford, could reach as high as ?22 million, according to the latest reports from Germany.The deal is subject to a medical and the issuance of a work permit. Both are expected to be completed by the end of June, United said through a statement."Manchester United is delighted to announce that it has agreed (to) terms with both Borussia Dortmund and Shinji Kagawa for his transfer to the club," United said.However, Kagawa, who is currently on national team duty for the World Cup qualifiers, was not expecting the announcement to be made as he trained for Friday's match at home to Jordan, and refused to go into details.Appearing slightly annoyed by the situation, Kagawa did not take questions. He initially did not want to meet the press, but the Japan Football Association convinced him to at least say something."I haven't put pen to paper yet," Kagawa said. "We still have two more games to play, and the entire team is focused on these qualifiers."I'll talk about all of this once I'm done here. I hope people will understand."His teammates, though, showered him with words of congratulations."Shinji deserves to be playing for a top club. He belongs," CSKA Moscow midfielder Keisuke Honda said. "I hope he does well."Arsenal winger Ryo Miyaichi has no doubt Kagawa will succeed in the Premiership, and will not take a backseat even at Alex Ferguson's star-studded club."Kagawa can keep the ball in the smallest of spaces and is a quick decision-maker," Miyaichi told Kyodo News. "He can play there for sure."He's Japan's No. 10, and I think he'll be able to perform even at a glamorous side like Manchester United."Kagawa had been linked with the world's biggest club like European champions Chelsea, Arsenal and AC Milan, although the Premier League was always his preferred destination.The 23-year-old was instrumental in helping Dortmund win back-to-back Bundesliga titles, and is also an integral part of Alberto Zaccheroni's plans for Asian champion Japan.Kagawa failed to make Takeshi Okada's team for the 2010 World Cup, but his stock took off after transferring from the J. League's Cerezo Osaka to Dortmund, where he scored 21 goals in 49 league appearances.He missed the second half of his first season in Germany after breaking his metatarsal at the 2011 Asian Cup, but returned for 2011-12 to push Dortmund to the Bundesliga and German Cup double.Ferguson scouted Kagawa in person at the German Cup final. The two met afterward, and Kagawa later admitted he was charmed by the legendary Scot.Dortmund wished Kagawa continued success at United, where he will be joined by fellow Asian and former J. League player Park Ji Sung of South Korea."He made huge contributions to the team over what has been a successful two years," sports director Michael Zorc said. "We hope he continues to do well."
It is the biggest transfer ever by a Japanese player, and perhaps even by an Asian player. The fee, depending on Kagawa's performance at Old Trafford, could reach as high as ?22 million, according to the latest reports from Germany.The deal is subject to a medical and the issuance of a work permit. Both are expected to be completed by the end of June, United said through a statement."Manchester United is delighted to announce that it has agreed (to) terms with both Borussia Dortmund and Shinji Kagawa for his transfer to the club," United said.However, Kagawa, who is currently on national team duty for the World Cup qualifiers, was not expecting the announcement to be made as he trained for Friday's match at home to Jordan, and refused to go into details.Appearing slightly annoyed by the situation, Kagawa did not take questions. He initially did not want to meet the press, but the Japan Football Association convinced him to at least say something."I haven't put pen to paper yet," Kagawa said. "We still have two more games to play, and the entire team is focused on these qualifiers."I'll talk about all of this once I'm done here. I hope people will understand."His teammates, though, showered him with words of congratulations."Shinji deserves to be playing for a top club. He belongs," CSKA Moscow midfielder Keisuke Honda said. "I hope he does well."Arsenal winger Ryo Miyaichi has no doubt Kagawa will succeed in the Premiership, and will not take a backseat even at Alex Ferguson's star-studded club."Kagawa can keep the ball in the smallest of spaces and is a quick decision-maker," Miyaichi told Kyodo News. "He can play there for sure."He's Japan's No. 10, and I think he'll be able to perform even at a glamorous side like Manchester United."Kagawa had been linked with the world's biggest club like European champions Chelsea, Arsenal and AC Milan, although the Premier League was always his preferred destination.The 23-year-old was instrumental in helping Dortmund win back-to-back Bundesliga titles, and is also an integral part of Alberto Zaccheroni's plans for Asian champion Japan.Kagawa failed to make Takeshi Okada's team for the 2010 World Cup, but his stock took off after transferring from the J. League's Cerezo Osaka to Dortmund, where he scored 21 goals in 49 league appearances.He missed the second half of his first season in Germany after breaking his metatarsal at the 2011 Asian Cup, but returned for 2011-12 to push Dortmund to the Bundesliga and German Cup double.Ferguson scouted Kagawa in person at the German Cup final. The two met afterward, and Kagawa later admitted he was charmed by the legendary Scot.Dortmund wished Kagawa continued success at United, where he will be joined by fellow Asian and former J. League player Park Ji Sung of South Korea."He made huge contributions to the team over what has been a successful two years," sports director Michael Zorc said. "We hope he continues to do well."Friday, May 11, 2012
Manchester City has title within grasp
LONDON — It has always been what Sir Alex Ferguson considered would be his worst nightmare, losing the title on goal difference.
What he had never envisaged, though, was being pipped by the noisy neighbors who have been kept fairly quiet during Fergie's 25 years in charge at Manchester United. In Ferguson's mind that is as bad as it can possibly get, and he is bracing himself for the reality of a mathematical defeat.Both clubs have 86 points but Manchester City's goal-difference is +8. Yet it would be a fitting finale if a fascinating, unpredictable Premier League season which comes to an end Sunday had the most dramatic of climaxes.Queens Park Rangers, managed by former United icon Mark Hughes, who was fired by City and succeeded by Roberto Mancini, takes his team to Etihad Stadium where the title and QPR's future among English football's elite will be decided.Hughes would do his old club the biggest of favors if he completes the job he was brought in to do by Rangers. It would be a truly wonderful, remarkable story and one that would be spoken about for years to come.The problem is that City have an almost perfect home record in the league with 17 wins and one draw from their 18 matches. For their part Rangers have lost 13 times on their travels.There is also the little matter of United winning at Sunderland, which would love to finish the season with a victory over the reigning champions."You have to think there's hope," said Ferguson, which most would see as no more than an exercise in straw-clutching. "The way I look at it is, Queens Park Rangers have to go there to survive. I just wish Sparky [Hughes] was playing. Of course City are favorites, there's no doubt about that. The crowd will be right behind them. They will be on to the referee as they were doing against us to make sure they win the game."A bit rich coming from ref baiter supreme Fergie, but the title is City's to lose and, yes, there is always hope in football, but United will no doubt be left to look back on the 4-4 draw against Everton at Old Trafford after leading 4-2 until the 83rd minute as the catalyst for giving their neighbors the opportunity to become even noisier.It is not just the title that is up for grabs. Arsenal must beat West Bromwich at the Hawthorns, in what is sure to be an emotional match, as the Baggies bid farewell to Roy Hodgson, who has swapped club for country.Tottenham is ready to take advantage of any Gunners slip, though Fulham manager Martin Jol, making his first return to White Hart Lane after a savage sacking by Spurs five years ago, would love to make a point and come away with three.At the basement end of the table, Bolton can only pray QPR lose at City — probable — and they do the business at Stoke — possible but slim at best.* * *IN ANY OTHER industry the chairman and directors would have been run out of town by angry shareholders who had seen their company ruined by people who knew nothing about the business.But of course football is not like the real world, so different rules apply. In football it is OK for Venky's, an Indian company which specializes in chicken processing, to take over Blackburn Rovers and transform the club from an established member of the Premier League's middle classes to one relegated to the Championship in 18 months.They are able to fire Sam Allardyce, a respected, successful manager with a proven track record and replace him with the untried Steve Kean. Manager perhaps, but Kean was not in charge of transfers because Venky's brought in agent Jerome Anderson to "help."Sir Alex Ferguson, who knows a thing or two about football, said this was proof "the game has gone mad."Having finished 10th and 20 points off the relegation zone under Allardyce the previous season, after six months of the Kean era Rovers' Premier League place was salvaged on the last day of 2010-11 by beating Wolves 3-2.Twelve months later a home defeat by Wigan opened the trap-door to the second tier of English football.When they paid ?23 million for the club Venky's said their target was Champions League football. Next season they will be playing Barnsley not Barcelona.There have been regular protests by fans who, unusually, want both the board and manager sacked.In fact, the only person dismissed is Paul Hunt, the club's deputy chief executive, after a letter he sent to Venky's was printed on the Sporting Intelligence web site though they denied the leak came from Hunt.The letter, sent last December, was highly critical of Kean and Hunt urged the owners to make "significant changes" sooner rather than later.Kean, who has become little more than an apologist for the owners — his claim that Venky's are "100 percent right for Blackburn" would be funny if it were not so sad — remains but as Rovers have become football's Titanic there will indeed be significant changes this summer when there will be the inevitable fire sale.Out will go the likes of Martin Olsson, Junior Hoilett, Yakubu — in fact anyone the club can get a decent fee for will join Chris Samba and Phil Jones out of the Ewood Park departure lounge. Relegation has cost Blackburn a minimum of ?30 (thirty) million so the cost-cutting will be savage.There has been some stiff competition, but there is strong evidence that Blackburn has become the worst run Premier League club ever.Christopher Davies was a longtime Premier League correspondent for the London Daily Telegraph.
What he had never envisaged, though, was being pipped by the noisy neighbors who have been kept fairly quiet during Fergie's 25 years in charge at Manchester United. In Ferguson's mind that is as bad as it can possibly get, and he is bracing himself for the reality of a mathematical defeat.Both clubs have 86 points but Manchester City's goal-difference is +8. Yet it would be a fitting finale if a fascinating, unpredictable Premier League season which comes to an end Sunday had the most dramatic of climaxes.Queens Park Rangers, managed by former United icon Mark Hughes, who was fired by City and succeeded by Roberto Mancini, takes his team to Etihad Stadium where the title and QPR's future among English football's elite will be decided.Hughes would do his old club the biggest of favors if he completes the job he was brought in to do by Rangers. It would be a truly wonderful, remarkable story and one that would be spoken about for years to come.The problem is that City have an almost perfect home record in the league with 17 wins and one draw from their 18 matches. For their part Rangers have lost 13 times on their travels.There is also the little matter of United winning at Sunderland, which would love to finish the season with a victory over the reigning champions."You have to think there's hope," said Ferguson, which most would see as no more than an exercise in straw-clutching. "The way I look at it is, Queens Park Rangers have to go there to survive. I just wish Sparky [Hughes] was playing. Of course City are favorites, there's no doubt about that. The crowd will be right behind them. They will be on to the referee as they were doing against us to make sure they win the game."A bit rich coming from ref baiter supreme Fergie, but the title is City's to lose and, yes, there is always hope in football, but United will no doubt be left to look back on the 4-4 draw against Everton at Old Trafford after leading 4-2 until the 83rd minute as the catalyst for giving their neighbors the opportunity to become even noisier.It is not just the title that is up for grabs. Arsenal must beat West Bromwich at the Hawthorns, in what is sure to be an emotional match, as the Baggies bid farewell to Roy Hodgson, who has swapped club for country.Tottenham is ready to take advantage of any Gunners slip, though Fulham manager Martin Jol, making his first return to White Hart Lane after a savage sacking by Spurs five years ago, would love to make a point and come away with three.At the basement end of the table, Bolton can only pray QPR lose at City — probable — and they do the business at Stoke — possible but slim at best.* * *IN ANY OTHER industry the chairman and directors would have been run out of town by angry shareholders who had seen their company ruined by people who knew nothing about the business.But of course football is not like the real world, so different rules apply. In football it is OK for Venky's, an Indian company which specializes in chicken processing, to take over Blackburn Rovers and transform the club from an established member of the Premier League's middle classes to one relegated to the Championship in 18 months.They are able to fire Sam Allardyce, a respected, successful manager with a proven track record and replace him with the untried Steve Kean. Manager perhaps, but Kean was not in charge of transfers because Venky's brought in agent Jerome Anderson to "help."Sir Alex Ferguson, who knows a thing or two about football, said this was proof "the game has gone mad."Having finished 10th and 20 points off the relegation zone under Allardyce the previous season, after six months of the Kean era Rovers' Premier League place was salvaged on the last day of 2010-11 by beating Wolves 3-2.Twelve months later a home defeat by Wigan opened the trap-door to the second tier of English football.When they paid ?23 million for the club Venky's said their target was Champions League football. Next season they will be playing Barnsley not Barcelona.There have been regular protests by fans who, unusually, want both the board and manager sacked.In fact, the only person dismissed is Paul Hunt, the club's deputy chief executive, after a letter he sent to Venky's was printed on the Sporting Intelligence web site though they denied the leak came from Hunt.The letter, sent last December, was highly critical of Kean and Hunt urged the owners to make "significant changes" sooner rather than later.Kean, who has become little more than an apologist for the owners — his claim that Venky's are "100 percent right for Blackburn" would be funny if it were not so sad — remains but as Rovers have become football's Titanic there will indeed be significant changes this summer when there will be the inevitable fire sale.Out will go the likes of Martin Olsson, Junior Hoilett, Yakubu — in fact anyone the club can get a decent fee for will join Chris Samba and Phil Jones out of the Ewood Park departure lounge. Relegation has cost Blackburn a minimum of ?30 (thirty) million so the cost-cutting will be savage.There has been some stiff competition, but there is strong evidence that Blackburn has become the worst run Premier League club ever.Christopher Davies was a longtime Premier League correspondent for the London Daily Telegraph.Saturday, April 28, 2012
Manchester United offers Kagawa three-year deal: report
Cologne, Germany — Borussia Dortmund midfielder Shinji Kagawa has been offered a three-year contract by Manchester United in the English Premier League, German newspaper Bild said in its Friday edition.According to Bild, Kagawa, whose Borussia Dortmund team has won back-to-back Bundesliga titles, is being offered a three-year deal worth about ?6 million and "only needs to sign the contract."Dortmund has apparently made an offer of about ?3 million, double Kagawa's current salary. "That will not be enough for Kagawa," the article said.In other news, Bild said that Cerezo Osaka midfielder Hiroshi Kiyotake has signed a provisional contract with Nurnberg for a transfer this summer.
Manchester derby for all the marbles
LONDON — Since Manchester City became potentially the richest club in the world following their takeover by the Abu Dhabi-based business group, each time it plays Manchester United these days it is billed as "the biggest derby ever."On Monday the hype will have a more realistic ring because while the clash at Etihad Stadium is not quite a Premier League title playoff it is the closest possible. There is far more than local bragging rights at stake, that's for sure, and Sky Sports, which has never knowingly undersold any live game, are rightly calling it the "match of the season."Sir Alex Ferguson calls it "probably the biggest derby in my time," adding: "There has been an expectancy from City that this could be their decider, but it's our decider too."With three games to play United leads City by three points so an away victory would effectively mean a 20th English crown heading for Old Trafford. A draw favors United, but for City it is a must-win match.Eager not to put more pressure on his players Roberto Mancini said: "United are favorites because they have three points more."City is unlikely to win 6-1 as it did at Old Trafford earlier in the season. At home, Mancini's side has won 16 of its 17 league games this season, but against that run United won 3-2 at Etihad in the F.A. Cup in January.Two weeks ago, City's defeat by Arsenal saw United open an eight-point lead at the top. One bookmaker even paid out on United. Since then City has won three straight games, scoring 12 goals and the gap has been reduced to three points.United must have an uneasy feeling about the return to the City team of Carlos Tevez, who switched from red to blue two years ago. Tevez and Sergio Aguero have played 304 minutes together this season and in that time Tevez has scored four goals, Aguero 11.Some things in football are just meant to be, and if Fernando Torres scoring for Chelsea at Nou Camp last Tuesday falls into that category, then Tevez netting the winner against his former club has a similar ring to it.It's been an engrossing Premier League season, full of tales of the unexpected and the unpredictable. Tevez scoring what the headlines will call "a title clincher" would be in keeping with what's happened over the last eight months.* * *SEVEN PLAYERS from Bayern Munich and Chelsea will miss next month's Champions League final at the home of the German club.While there is sympathy for the Munich Seven, there is none for Chelsea captain John Terry, who keeps finding new ways to go down even lower in public opinion. His sly (but not sly enough) knee in the back of Barcelona's Alexis Sanchez was rightly punished by a red card, ruling him out of the final at Allianz Arena.Branislav Ivanovic (10), Raul Meireles (11), Ramires (10), plus Bayern's Luiz Gustavo (10), Holger Badstuber (10) and David Alaba (10) are victims of UEFA's three-yellow-cards-and-you-are-banned policy that has robbed the final of 27 percent of its participants.The figures in brackets are how many Champions League games they have played this season, though, it would be wrong to say that they deserve their punishment having been cautioned in 30 percent of the matches they have played in. Punishment should always fit the crime and in their case it does not.Everything should be done to discourage foul play, yet at the same time everyone should be given the best chance to play in European club football's biggest match, and it is unfair that yellow cards remain in place from August to April.A player can be cautioned in two qualifying ties in August (let's assume the finalists don't enter the competition any earlier) . . . play the group stage (six games) and the knockout phase (another five up to the semi-final second leg) without a yellow card until in the last minute of penultimate game, he mis-times a tackle and is out of the final.He's played 11 games without another sanction then in the second semifinal he is cautioned and misses the final.In fact, it is possible to miss the final by being cautioned only once in the Champions League.The UEFA Super Cup in August and, mysteriously, the FIFA Club World Cup in December also count on the Champions League disciplinary chart. So a player is cautioned in the Super Cup . . . he picks up another yellow card in the Club World Cup . . . then in the semifinal, second leg he receives his only yellow card of the Champions League campaign . . . and is suspended from the final.Credible?I don't think so.UEFA should wipe the slate clean after the group stage, when it should be two yellow cards and a one-match ban; then two yellow cards and a suspension in the knockout phase.* * *YOU WOULD expect the Professional Footballers' Association to protect its members, to back them when public opinion is overwhelmingly against some of the excesses of the modern day footballer.Yet to allow a player to be honored, even applauded, as he starts a prison sentence for rape underlines how football lives in its own world.Last Sunday, Ched Evans, the now former Sheffield United striker, was voted in the PFA's League One Team of the Season. It was a democratic vote by his fellow professionals from the third tier of English football.Evans was not at the presentation dinner because he was two days into a five-year sentence after being found guilty of raping a 19-year-old woman in a North Wales hotel last May.Christopher Davies was a longtime Premier League correspondent for the London Daily Telegraph.
On Monday the hype will have a more realistic ring because while the clash at Etihad Stadium is not quite a Premier League title playoff it is the closest possible. There is far more than local bragging rights at stake, that's for sure, and Sky Sports, which has never knowingly undersold any live game, are rightly calling it the "match of the season."Sir Alex Ferguson calls it "probably the biggest derby in my time," adding: "There has been an expectancy from City that this could be their decider, but it's our decider too."With three games to play United leads City by three points so an away victory would effectively mean a 20th English crown heading for Old Trafford. A draw favors United, but for City it is a must-win match.Eager not to put more pressure on his players Roberto Mancini said: "United are favorites because they have three points more."City is unlikely to win 6-1 as it did at Old Trafford earlier in the season. At home, Mancini's side has won 16 of its 17 league games this season, but against that run United won 3-2 at Etihad in the F.A. Cup in January.Two weeks ago, City's defeat by Arsenal saw United open an eight-point lead at the top. One bookmaker even paid out on United. Since then City has won three straight games, scoring 12 goals and the gap has been reduced to three points.United must have an uneasy feeling about the return to the City team of Carlos Tevez, who switched from red to blue two years ago. Tevez and Sergio Aguero have played 304 minutes together this season and in that time Tevez has scored four goals, Aguero 11.Some things in football are just meant to be, and if Fernando Torres scoring for Chelsea at Nou Camp last Tuesday falls into that category, then Tevez netting the winner against his former club has a similar ring to it.It's been an engrossing Premier League season, full of tales of the unexpected and the unpredictable. Tevez scoring what the headlines will call "a title clincher" would be in keeping with what's happened over the last eight months.* * *SEVEN PLAYERS from Bayern Munich and Chelsea will miss next month's Champions League final at the home of the German club.While there is sympathy for the Munich Seven, there is none for Chelsea captain John Terry, who keeps finding new ways to go down even lower in public opinion. His sly (but not sly enough) knee in the back of Barcelona's Alexis Sanchez was rightly punished by a red card, ruling him out of the final at Allianz Arena.Branislav Ivanovic (10), Raul Meireles (11), Ramires (10), plus Bayern's Luiz Gustavo (10), Holger Badstuber (10) and David Alaba (10) are victims of UEFA's three-yellow-cards-and-you-are-banned policy that has robbed the final of 27 percent of its participants.The figures in brackets are how many Champions League games they have played this season, though, it would be wrong to say that they deserve their punishment having been cautioned in 30 percent of the matches they have played in. Punishment should always fit the crime and in their case it does not.Everything should be done to discourage foul play, yet at the same time everyone should be given the best chance to play in European club football's biggest match, and it is unfair that yellow cards remain in place from August to April.A player can be cautioned in two qualifying ties in August (let's assume the finalists don't enter the competition any earlier) . . . play the group stage (six games) and the knockout phase (another five up to the semi-final second leg) without a yellow card until in the last minute of penultimate game, he mis-times a tackle and is out of the final.He's played 11 games without another sanction then in the second semifinal he is cautioned and misses the final.In fact, it is possible to miss the final by being cautioned only once in the Champions League.The UEFA Super Cup in August and, mysteriously, the FIFA Club World Cup in December also count on the Champions League disciplinary chart. So a player is cautioned in the Super Cup . . . he picks up another yellow card in the Club World Cup . . . then in the semifinal, second leg he receives his only yellow card of the Champions League campaign . . . and is suspended from the final.Credible?I don't think so.UEFA should wipe the slate clean after the group stage, when it should be two yellow cards and a one-match ban; then two yellow cards and a suspension in the knockout phase.* * *YOU WOULD expect the Professional Footballers' Association to protect its members, to back them when public opinion is overwhelmingly against some of the excesses of the modern day footballer.Yet to allow a player to be honored, even applauded, as he starts a prison sentence for rape underlines how football lives in its own world.Last Sunday, Ched Evans, the now former Sheffield United striker, was voted in the PFA's League One Team of the Season. It was a democratic vote by his fellow professionals from the third tier of English football.Evans was not at the presentation dinner because he was two days into a five-year sentence after being found guilty of raping a 19-year-old woman in a North Wales hotel last May.Christopher Davies was a longtime Premier League correspondent for the London Daily Telegraph.
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