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It says a lot that Shinji Kagawa is completely absent from discussion during Manchester United’s nadir, one characterised by dull, uninspired football.

Kagawa was out of favour immediately following the appointment of David Moyes, with the new manager preferring Wayne Rooney in the No.10 role, for obvious reasons, and Danny Welbeck on the flank, under less clear motives. The arrival of Juan Mata has been seen to be the final nail in the coffin for the former Borussia Dortmund midfielder.

It’s been a fall from a great height for Kagawa over these past two seasons in English football. After making a name for himself in Germany with two excellent seasons at Dortmund (or one and a half due to injury), the move to Manchester United seemed the logical step for a player of his class. It also went some way to addressing the club’s long-standing problem of the absence of creativity in the midfield.

But United was never Kagawa’s team in the way Dortmund were, and that has largely been his downfall. Injuries have played an important part in hacking away at the confidence and consistency of one of Europe’s most promising young players, limiting how often he saw a full ninety minutes to just six in his first season in England. But it also seems that Kagawa was bought for little purpose other than to bolster a squad’s numbers, and not to be brought in as a decisive figure in the midfield.

For now, Rooney and Mata will head the discussion as to who should be playing just behind Robin van Persie. Provided they’re all fit, those three names will start most games for United from now until the end of the season, probably all, meaning Kagawa has absolutely no use at the club and no opportunity to prove that he does hold some value long term.

Kagawa needs a team who are built around him. It’s not a flaw, it’s simply the way playmakers should be used. It’s no different to Mata, who hasn’t really hit the ground running since signing for United, limited in what he can do by starting games on the flank. But no one in England is going to see the Kagawa of Dortmund while the best he can hope for is a spot on the left of a system that is more 4-4-2 than anything else.

Among the clear out this summer should be the Japanese international. It will be two years in England which he’ll want to forget and move away from, probably for good. A return to Dortmund is a possibility and one that has been discussed in the recent past. Jurgen Klopp’s team will continue to be dismantled this summer, with Robert Lewandowski confirming his move to Bayern Munich, and Ilkay Gundogan and Marco Reus’ futures still yet to be resolved.

Klopp has already brought back one of his former star players, signing Nuri Sahin on an 18-month loan deal from Real Madrid that is widely expected to be made permanent this summer. Like Sahin, Kagawa very much needs to feel like he’s valued and wanted. Klopp, having already publically expressed how troubled he was at United’s treatment of Kagawa, would surely welcome the chance to reunite with the midfielder.

But Dortmund are holding their cards close to their chest in terms of big moves and Kagawa may not be desired at all if both the money isn’t right and new signing Milos Jojic makes a good impression. The Japanese midfielder, too, may wish to start completely anew and seek out options elsewhere in Europe.

Atletico Madrid have notably been without a strong creative presence in their midfield, and while the re-signing of Diego Ribas from Wolfsburg is an excellent acquisition, the club would be the perfect environment for Kagawa.

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What is absolutely certain now is that Kagawa has little hope of succeeding at Manchester United. It would take more than just one factor to fall into place for him, and yet even if something dramatic like a change in manager does occur, bringing in an individual who will play to Kagawa’s strengths, the midfielder may still want to put the bleak episode of United behind him for good.

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Pressure, what pressure? Andre Villas-Boas certainly isn’t feeling the heat any more after guiding Spurs to three wins in their last four games. The Portuguese tactician is really starting to grow into his role at White Hart Lane and the players look to be responding to the methods that irked the established order down the road in West London and ultimately cost him his job. That being said there is still a lot of work to do, as evidenced by the cheap goal they gave away at QPR last week, and it will be interesting to see how Villas-Boas handles a significant downturn in form as the club battles to muscle their way in to the Premier League top-four party. Whether he can maintain that challenge and manage an exhaustive European schedule remains to be seen but there is genuine cause to be optimistic for supporters.

This week on FFC can Gareth Bale transform himself to suit Spurs’ new tactical framework and which Spanish midfield star are they hoping to sign in January for a cut-price fee?

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Best of FFC

Can he really adapt to the change at Tottenham?

Time to make him the main man at Tottenham?

Why Tottenham fans shouldn’t fear going back to the future

Compromise the key for AVB and Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham and Liverpool vying to push through cut-price move

Tottenham newbie talks about transfer snub

January sales must be taken seriously at Tottenham Hotspur

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Best of WEB

Hugo first? Battle of the keepers. – Spurs musings from Jimmy G2

What Were Villas-Boas And Steffen Freund Thinking? – Harry Hotspur

The minority report – Dear Mr Levy

Tottenham’s Back Four Could Hold The Key – At Long Last – Transfer Tavern

Premature Announcement Revealed. – Spurs musings from Jimmy G2

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Off he goes – Dear Mr Levy

Capital Idea – Harry Hotspur

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Quote of the Week

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“That is the way I like my teams to play. We obviously know that it is extremely difficult there, but that doesn’t mean that you might not be given a chance when you play that (attacking) way. In the end it’s about taking your opportunities. Had (Chelsea) scored then maybe the result would have been different, so to try to get a result against United will be excellent for us.”AVB says he wants his Spurs team to continue ‘attacking’.

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According to reports in The Sun, Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is considering making a summer move for Aston Villa midfielder Jack Grealish, and Red Devils supporters have been quick to have their say on the link.

The Sun says that United like the 22-year-old’s driving runs from deep-lying positions in the middle of the park, and obviously feel that the Republic of Ireland international can add something alongside the likes of Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba in midfield next season.

Grealish certaily looks more likely to leave Villa this summer after they failed to win promotion back to the Premier League on Saturday following their Championship play-off final defeat against Fulham at Wembley.

Man United supporters, who are desperate for one 22-year-old to remain at Old Trafford this summer, took to social media to give their thoughts on the link to the midfielder, and they were unimpressed.

While one said “I don’t think he’s a United player”, another said “Scott McTominay is actually better”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

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Whether it’s a ball boy, a referee, a rival manager or even his own employers, Jose Mourinho has always needed an enemy – a source of injustice to rally against. Maybe it’s a consequence of his own personal psychology; it’s certainly true that, during his first Chelsea spell at least, Mourinho was at his irresistible, invincible and enigmatic best when his team were engrossed in a besieged mentality.

The rest of the world vilified Chelsea for pragmatic tactics and buying success, and that’s exactly how Mourinho liked it – the Portuguese inspiring his troops to keep the wolves at bay by barking orders from the back of the trenches and romantically swivelling his sword in the air.

But this trick isn’t exclusive to merely Mourinho’s own agenda or the world of football; nationalistic politics in countless countries across countless centuries have thrived from the idea a common enemy. It creates a single common goal, it collapses social cleavages for the sake of unity, it adds to the sense of a shared identity and most importantly of all, it provides someone to triumph against – a surmountable challenge that allows a legitimate claim of glory once conquered.

Often though, these enemies are nowhere near as powerful, aggressive or threatening as the politicians would have the public believe – after all, what’s the point in creating an enemy if you have no chance of actually beating them?

That’s why Mourinho’s focus has sharply shifted in recent months from Pep Guardiola to Antonio Conte. Perhaps there is a genuine sense of dislike between the pair, perhaps Mourinho struggles with the idea of another manager being successful at the club he’s most synonymous with – all the more, the club that sacked him amid the most turbulent, implosive season of the Roman Abramovich era.

But nonetheless, compared to his own and Manchester United’s more obvious, more traditional rivals – Guardiola and City – who are already champions in waiting and setting a new precedent of utter dominance in the Premier League, Chelsea and Conte at least represent a beatable foe.

Little will be gained from going to war with Guardiola in every press conference for the rest of the season when City win the title by a record margin at the end of May. In fact, it would be a completely embarrassing exercise.

And despite the apparent bad blood between the two, there is a manufactured feel to Mourinho’s swipes at his Chelsea successor. Previous Premier League management rivalries, including his own, have always been logical and arguably unavoidable.

Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson were never going to see eye-to-eye while competing for the title every season, and Mourinho’s foul-tempered feud with Wenger was a consequence of how the former changed the dynamics of the Premier League at the expense of the latter, especially tactically and in terms of finance, replacing him as the division’s new revolutionary force.

“What never happened to me – and will never happen – is to be suspended for match-fixing. That never happened to me and will never happen.”

Mourinho and Conte, though, have never really duelled for titles and silverware in the same way – in fact, they’ve only ever faced each other five times as managers. Regardless, whenever one has been questioned about the other this season, they’ve nearly always had a prepared answer to float in the media.

That’s especially in Mourinho’s case who, after seemingly alluding to Conte’s touchline antics, unexpectedly used his post-match interview after a routine FA Cup win over Derby County to raise the issue of the Chelsea gaffer’s chequered past – bringing up prior accusations into match-fixing.

The key word there is accusations; Conte was cleared of any wrongdoing, and Mourinho knew his remarks would create a heated reaction. They would turn a potential enemy into a willing one.

“In the past he was a little man in many circumstances, he’s a little man in the present and for sure he will be a little man in the future. I consider him a little man and I consider him a man with a very low profile.”

But Conte too, is no angel. He’s thrown mud back towards Old Trafford – criticising their summer spending, accusing Mourinho of ‘crying’ about injuries and even dubbing the Portuguese a ‘little man’ – and the truth is that he needs the rivalry as much as Mourinho.

During a season in which City have moved so far ahead of their domestic competitors, a hatred-fuelled feud gives Chelsea and Manchester United’s race for second place a much-needed sense of elevated purpose, something more than merly two also-rans battling it out for the slim financial gain of second over third.

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In both camps, it provides a new source of motivation, one that the players might well find refreshing with not much left for them to play for in the top flight. In any case, it will keep Mourinho and Conte charged for the coming months.

In turn though, the manufactured feel and the terminology used leaves a nastily sour taste. This is the manager of one of the most illustrious clubs in the world, trading slanderous blows with the man who replaced him at his former club. While Mourinho and Conte may both need an enemy to create an engaging narrative that allows them to paint triumphing over the other as something more glorious than simply finishing a distant second to City, it has already proved an incredibly undignified process.

Neither manager will care too much about how the public perceives them, however; what will continue to drive this rivalry forward is the ruthless characteristic the feuding pair share – they’re both at-all-costs winners.

The embrace with Francesco Totti told much of the story. No longer forced to take shelter in the shade of others for his own mishaps, Gervinho had finally found a home, two years after leaving France for greener pastures.

The double resurgence is either coincidental, ironic, or just the game’s funny way of doing things. Like Roma, Gervinho had only recently been labelled as not so much a sinking ship, but a raft all out at sea. The marriage between the Italian club and Rudi Garcia was initially as unlikely and unforeseen as any major club on the continent stumping up any considerable amount of cash for the Ivorian. But it’s working, the reunion with Garcia is exactly what Gervinho needed after a torrid time at Arsenal.

Garcia brought out the best in Gervinho at Lille to the tune of 15 goals and 15 assists en route to a league and cup double in the forward’s final season in Ligue 1. This time, Garcia is carrying out a reawakening on multiple levels though with the same desired effects. Roma look a different proposition, filled with intensity but crucially confidence, while Gervinho has been one of the keys to a spotless record in the league that has brought 20 goals and only one conceded.

Gervinho’s form in Italy and specifically under Garcia is proof that not every player can adapt to every club. There is often talk about players needing time to acclimatise to new surroundings and new leagues, no matter how good they are. Often, though, players don’t reach the end of the tunnel for one reason or another.

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At Arsenal, Gervinho certainly became a scapegoat for the team’s poor results at various points in his two-year stay. There were causes for optimism, but nothing like what is happening currently at the Stadio Olimpico. Gervinho was deployed as a centre-forward by Arsene Wenger early last season; the Frenchman hoping that Gervinho’s movement and pace in the final third would not only be the catalyst for good results but also for a clearly defined role for the forward. Of course that wasn’t to be, as Gervinho failed carry on his early promise of in each of the last two seasons. There were low points, monumental low points that signalled a stage of no return.

It would be wrong to label the frustrations and difficulties of foreign players in England as their failure to adapt to the Premier League. Gervinho isn’t the first to be an undeniable disappointment in the Premier League but a hit on the continent – and it isn’t because European football is in some way inferior. Diego Forlan left his inconsistent form behind when he left Old Trafford, scoring freely for Villarreal before going on to replace Fernando Torres at Atletico Madrid.

Maybe it’s also a case of managers, great managers in the case of Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson, failing to push the buttons of certain players and finding success in the way they have done with others. Gervinho in particular is not all that different from what Arsenal have bought in previous years. The potential was there, largely untapped due to the bigger clubs on the continent overlooking him. He’d done good things at international level and was in need of a step up from Lille. It’s also worth dismissing the pressures of the big time, as less than a handful of European clubs feel the heat in the way Roma do.

For now, though, the fire has been lit under Gervinho by a manager who knows him best and has an appreciation and understanding of his strengths.

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Are Gervinho’s failures at Arsenal simply down to his inability to adapt to the club and its manager?

Join the debate below

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Ciaran Clark has warned top-flight attackers that his partnership with Ron Vlaar will get “stronger and stronger” in the coming weeks and months ahead.

Clark and Vlaar are Paul Lambert’s No.1 pairing in central defence for Villa, and Irish ace Clark says playing alongside Vlaar is a dream. The pair aim to give forwards nightmares by channelling all their energies into shut-outs for Lambert’s Lions. He told Aston Villa’s official website:

“It’s brilliant to be playing alongside Ron. When he came in, we seemed to understand each other right from our first training session. The more we train and the more we play together, the stronger we’ll get.”

Clark is thrilled to be excelling at centre-half, after a spell of playing here, there and everywhere for the team under previous managers. The 22 year-old is happy in a settled position, although he still maintains he’d switch if needed. He added:

“For the past few seasons I’ve been all over the place. I haven’t minded that because I’ll play anywhere for the team and I’m just glad to be involved. But this season it’s nice that I’ve been able to settle down and get myself into one position, which is what I’ve always wanted.”

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Aston Villa travel to St. Mary’s to face Southampton on Saturday.

Due to his price-tag, Paul Pogba will always become the scapegoat whenever things start to go wrong at Manchester United. By the same hand though, the Frenchman probably hasn’t reached the levels expected when the Red Devils shelled out a world-record fee to bring him back to Old Trafford from Juventus two summers ago.

And in many ways, his failure to emerge as Jose Mourinho’s talismanic leader in midfield epitomises much about this United side, having struggled to produce their best football under pressure this term – including in Saturday’s FA Cup final defeat to Chelsea.

After the match, we asked United supporters whether it’s time to sell Pogba and start building the team around another top-class entity, and our poll has revealed that a whopping 67% of Red Devils fans would move the powerful midfielder on this summer.

But who should United target as Pogba’s replacement? Let us know by commenting below…

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The Chelsea fans here in the Transfer Tavern are absolutely in love with summer signing Alvaro Morata, though do reserve some slight doubts about the complexion of their current frontline. Indeed, while many clubs around the world would envy the attacking options at Stamford Bridge, appeasing the Blues in our bar is a different matter entirely.

Few would doubt the fact that Morata is a truly wonderful striker, one capable of linking up with Eden Hazard to devastating effect, though the Spaniard does lack some of the traits so often associated with Chelsea strikers in the past.

The likes of Diego Costa and club legend Didier Drogba have provided the West London giants with a physical presence up front, acting as a battering ram (very talented ones at that) and spearheading their side with blood and thunder. Obviously, Morata has proven he can play up front on his own in the Premier League – a doubt at the start of the season – though doesn’t boast the same kind of presence as the other two.

Though Costa could have been a legend with Chelsea, it’s fair to say they haven’t truly replaced Drogba since his initial departure in 2012. While the Ivorian came back to the Bridge under Jose Mourinho, the Blues haven’t had someone as all-conquering as the African in his prime in over half a decade. For all of Costa’s strengths, he was simply too unreliable.

With that in mind, Roman Abramovich would be wise to make a move for a striker in that mould, one who can complement Morata when his side are battling on a number of fronts.

Step forward, Mario Mandzukic.

The Juventus forward has played all around Europe at some of the biggest clubs on the continent, winning a huge amount of trophies along the way. While he’s currently an integral part to the Old Lady’s set-up, the Serie A giants have certainly proven willing to sell key players if the price is right.

Currently rated at £18m on Transfermarkt, paying big money for a 31-year-old may not seem like the smartest idea, However, the Croatia star has never relied on his pace, rather his ability to outmuscle defenders in a variety of attacking positions and could seriously go on playing at the highest level for another 5 years.

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Able to either replace Morata, pair up with him, or drift wide to allow the Spaniard to run in behind through central areas, the former Bayern Munich star would truly be a wonderful signing. Perhaps he’ll never reach the cult-hero status of Drogba if he joins, though he’d certainly go some way into replacing the traits that left with him in 2012.

Thoughts? 

Fulham boss Martin Jol has blamed his side’s defensive mistakes after the Cottagers were knocked out of the Capital One Cup.

The Dutchman watched his side lose 4-3 away to Leicester City, as the Championship side booked their place in the fifth round of the tournament.

Jol has been under pressure recently after a poor start in the Premier League, with more questions set to be raised over his job security after conceding four goals at the King Power Stadium. But the Dutch manager has blamed his players for the defeat, slamming their defensive performances.

“The keeper should keep that ball in his hands,” Jol stressed to the club’s official website.

“And the second goal, Philippe Senderos tried to play it out in a very awkward way – he shouldn’t do that, especially away [from home]. Don’t concede goals, that is what we always say.

“Maarten Stekelenburg couldn’t hold the ball and for the second goal Philippe Senderos played it into their feet and they scored two goals and that was a hammer blow. I thought the spirit before the game and during the game was really good, but we gave cheap goals away. We came back from 3-1 down in the second half and scored two goals away from home against a good team.

“We should have scored earlier but then we scored the third goal and I thought we’d really go for it and score the winner but it wasn’t to be. They scored the winner; we had three players at the back, they had two up front and we should have closed that gap but Zverotić didn’t do that so they scored the winning goal.”

Jol will be desperate for his side to get back to winning ways, but he could have his work cut out as his Fulham side host Manchester United on Saturday for their Premier League encounter.

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It’s official. Merseyside has a new pin-up boy.

Just twelve months ago Joe Allen was embarking on his maiden voyage into the top flight with Swansea and had yet to start a game for Wales. Fast-forward to today and the midfielder has now been labelled, tagged and perhaps tainted with the title of ‘The Future’. The inexorable desire of Brendan Rodgers to bring him to Liverpool eventually paid off but not before inviting a few snide remarks relating to the cost of doing so. His pristine possession stats have been repeatedly flaunted in the national media, but does this convey the Welshman as overrated or underappreciated as a ‘complete’ footballer?

If Liverpool are to improve, evolve and indeed succeed under Brendan Rodgers then Joe Allen will undoubtedly play an integral role. He must succeed where the likes of Charlie Adam and Alberto Aquilani have failed, emerging from the shadow of Steven Gerrard in order to flourish alongside him. The early signs are promising, as his exquisite range of precision passes have all but expelled the notion that he is just another inflated British transfer.

When Allen first scuttled into the media spotlight I refused to be swept away by the unrelenting hype. Were we really meant to get this excited about a man who was good at simply ‘keeping the ball’? It struck me as an important but hardly awe-inspiring trait, which every player should possess anyway. However, it’s the speed that Allen executes his passes that make him special, along with his hunger to make himself available to receive the ball at every opportunity.

Former Liverpool striker Dean Saunders recently remarked that the Welsh midfielder’s promising start could earmark him as a future star for Catalan’s finest, Barcelona.

“Joe’s an intelligent player, has a heart like a lion and is difficult to play against. He can get even better and go on from Liverpool and end up at Barcelona.” (Star)

However I refuse to entertain the growing comparisons with the likes of Xavi and Iniesta. Allen may act in a similar fashion in his own half but he rarely ventures into the final third, unlike his Spanish counterparts who continually probe and seek to infiltrate the opposition’s penalty box.

Perhaps in the absence of Lucas, Allen could replicate the role of Claude Makelele in his twilight years at Chelsea. The Frenchman was arguably the finest (short-distance) passer of the ball in Premier League history, tasked with breaking up play and initiating the counter-attack. Yet at just 5 foot 6 inches, Allen is perhaps incapable of exerting any kind of physical dominance, especially considering his slender physique. Maybe the Anfield faithful are excited because they realise that they have finally found a replacement for the King of retention football, Jan Molby. Could Joe Allen be the lynchpin in the midfield, who dictates proceedings in the same manner as the much missed Xabi Alonso?

In spite of his instant impact at the core of Rodgers ‘tiki-taka’ transformation, there is an underlying fear that Allen could replicate Jordan Henderson’s uninspiring introduction to life on the big stage. Henderson arrived at the club after an equally impressive season in the Premier League but struggled to deal with the intensity, expectation and gulf in quality from life at his former club. However, the key difference between the two players is that Joe Allen already looks like the accomplished player Henderson promises to be. This statement from his manager optimises why he was so keen to integrate him into his masterplan.

“I think the biggest testament that you can give him is that he has come into here and he looks like he has been a Liverpool player for the last 10 years.” (Liverpool Echo)

It’s fair to say that Rodgers hasn’t been blessed with much fortune on the pitch so far, in fact this is the worst start to a season for The Reds since 1962-63. His faith or rather reliance on the likes of Allen and young Raheem Sterling has helped disguise this fact and evoke a sense of hope from the supporters. However, such inexperienced players cannot be expected to win games on their own in the same manner that gave Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard their iconic status. The young guns have set an impressive standard and now it’s up to the likes of Luis Suarez to come out of the international break firing on all cylinders.

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In my opinion Allen has the world at his feet but may never be truly appreciated unless he drifts further forward to emulate the playing styles of David Silva and Santi Cazorla, who effectively steered Arsenal to victory in last weekend’s league encounter. It’s a tall order for a 22-year-old but he has all the required attributes, the only question surrounds whether he can cope under the weight of carrying both his new club and country for the foreseeable future.

Join me on Twitter @theunusedsub where I am currently enjoying this memorable giant-killing in Japan’s version of the FA Cup.

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