Why Keisuke Honda Is Player Filippo Inzaghi Must Build Around at AC Milan

Keisuke Honda wishes he could have played from the beginning in the derby against Inter, per The Japan News. It was special for him, his first one played, even if it wasn't the usual big game.

For the first time in Serie A history, per the report, Japanese players squared off in the famous Derby della Madonnina. On the other side was Japan team-mate Yuto Nagatomo, who has played in several editions since moving to Inter in 2011.

The strangest thing was that Honda didn't start. He had spent the previous two weeks playing friendlies and preparing for the Asian Cup on the other side of the world in Japan. (He will end up missing a chunk of game time with Milan in January because of it.)

Still, he is Milan's leading scorer with six goals, and the derby is no game to save a key player. 

Perhaps coach Pippo Inzaghi saw the fatigue, and maybe that's why he decided to go with players who weren't called up, like Jeremy Menez and Fernando Torres.

But the coach has to continue building his project around Honda, one of the hardest-working players on the team. Inzaghi just has to use him the right way.

Already, Honda has changed his style. He mentioned in a press conference that he has started learning Italian, and he came to appreciate the cuisine. 

There was an adjustment on the field, too. Inzaghi forced him out wide, and even from there, Honda has managed to influence games. 

Honda made a quick transition, and he proved he could adapt, but he hasn't scored over the past month. That's probably because he is not meant to be a regular goalscorer anyway. He is meant to set them up, and Inzaghi is not allowing him to do that on the wing.

Expectations for Honda are quite like Stephan El Shaarawy: If they're not scoring goals, they're not doing well enough. Except that's not their job. They're making up for the striker who aren't doing theirs.

Honda is best used as the setup man behind the strikers, and maybe Torres would start scoring again if Honda played in the hole of a 4-2-3-1 formation. Milan have the personnel to play out wide on the left (El Shaarawy) and the right (Menez), and Nigel de Jong and Riccardo Montolivo can play behind them.

After all, there is a reason why Honda wears No. 10. It's time for Milan to adapt to him.