By Paul Mallon
Most of the pre-match talk centred on whether Robin Van Persie would make his Manchester United debut. After the game, the excellent Marouane Fellaini has dominated discussion following his man-of-the-match performance in the 1-0 Goodison Park defeat of Alex Ferguson’s team.
There was one bright spark for Ferguson, however. Shinji Kagawa will have encouraged United fans with his dynamic performance after his arrival from Borussia Dortmund for £17m.
Kagawa rarely squandered possession, playing in the hole, and showed some signs that he could provide penetrating passes for Wayne Rooney, Robin Van Persie and Javier Hernandez, although the Mexican was nowhere to be seen last night.
Below, Four Four Two’s Stats Zone analysis shows some details of Kagawa’s performance against Everton, highlighting 33/37 successful passes in attack. Everton’s best player, Fellaini, managed 15 successful passes in the attacking third out of 23 attempts.
There’s little doubt today though that Alex Ferguson expects more than just tidy passing from his expensively-assembled side. Fulham could be on the receiving end on Saturday at Old Trafford.
