Manchester United star Shinji Kagawa has admitted that lack of playtime under David Moyes for the Premier League champions has impacted his performance for Japan.
The 24 year old saw his national side lose two friendly matches during the international break as Japan suffered defeats against Serbia and Belarus. Kagawa has seen him spend most of time on the substitute’s bench, making three appearances in all competitions this term.
Kagawa claims failing to feature regularly for United under the former Everton boss has seen his form suffer while on international duty for Japan.
“There’s a matter of fitness and there’s also that atmosphere of playing for my country. It’s different from the atmosphere at United but you still get a good feel for being on the pitch when you play regularly,” Kagawa said, as quoted in Goal.com.
“Maybe it’s because I’m not used to being on the pitch of late but I didn’t feel like I was able to enter these two games properly. During tough times like these I have to improve myself.”
Meanwhile, Kagawa has urged his teammates to improve their performance after they return to their clubs in Asia and Europe. The former Borussia Dortmund star also insisted that he needs to play regular football at Old Trafford to prove his worth for the Premier League champions.
“Personally I felt strongly after these two matches that I need to play more [at my club] and, as a team, there are many things we need to do as well,” the Japanese midfielder added
“So we all need to go back to our European or J-League clubs and take what we learned in these two matches and work to fix those problems.”
Kagawa’s lack of appearances at United has seen him being linked with a return to Signal Iduna Park in a swap deal, which could see Nevan Subotic move in the opposite direction in the January transfer window.
However, the Daily Mail reports Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp is not fascinated with the idea of a swap deal, but could make a move to re-sign Kagawa in the winter.
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