Eden Hazard Vs Shinji Kagawa has been the topic of a lot of fans over the last week, both arrived in the English Premier League during the summer 2012 transfer window, but until this season, their respective footballing paths had never crossed. Hazard, born in Belgium, found his way to France and entered the LOSC Lille youth academy. He eventually broke into the Lille first team and became a superstar in Ligue 1. Last summer, his fine play was rewarded with a £27 million move to Chelsea FC. This season, Hazard has won many plaudits for his direct wing play, his chance creation and goalscoring ability, as well as his versatility to play anywhere across the front line. On the other hand, Kagawa was born in Japan, where he began his football career at Cervezo Osaka. After four years at the Japanese club, he transferred to Europe and joined Borussia Dortmund, where he enjoyed a breakout year in 2011-12, catching the attention of top clubs across the continent. Just days after Chelsea reached a deal with Hazard, Manchester United announced that they had agreed to sign Kagawa from Dortmund for a fee of up to £17 million. Kagawa has unfortunately spent much of his first season in the EPL on the sideline as a result of injuries, playing just 828 minutes compared to Hazard’s 2123 minutes. Despite this, Kagawa has looked very bright on the pitch—he scored a hattrick against Norwich City earlier this month. The question I intend to answer with this article is as follows: which new arrival has had the better season? Most neutrals would probably point to Hazard—he has been the focal point of Chelsea’s attack time after time this season, and while strikers like Fernando Torres and (more recently) Demba Ba have suffered goal droughts throughout the season and Chelsea’s management system has spiraled into chaos, Hazard has maintained consistency on the pitch. However, I feel that Kagawa has not yet been given a chance to play HIS game at United. 13 games is not enough time to showcase the man’s talent. He was far and away Borussia Dortmund’s brightest star last season, and I predict that Kagawa will have a fantastic season next year. But, let’s take a look at the statistics and see whether Kagawa is able to match up with Hazard, or whether the Belgian truly has had the better debut season in the EPL. [box_light]Note: Remember all of these stats are Opta Stats and Premier League only.[/box_light]
Posted on: Sun, 29 Sep 2013 07:50:54 +0000
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