Why Keisuke Honda Is the Forgotten AC Milan Player Who Will Explode in 2015/16
Keisuke Honda doesn’t draw much attention to himself, and in an offseason full of rumours and stories regarding AC Milan's future, he has only receded further into the background.
His own future with the club has hardly brought about a word from the Italian press. But it looks like he will remain with the Rossoneri, the team of his dreams, for another season.
"A lot of people will leave a club solely for individual reasons," Honda told the Japan Times in May. "But if I’m wanted for next season, I want to stay here.”
His numbers with Milan are not great: He has just eight goals and six assists in 46 games since joining the club in January 2014. Honda has gone long stretches without making much of an impression, despite playing out of position in a right-winger role.
Honda told the Japan Times: “Only those who know how to win at world level are wanted here. The real competition for places will begin.”
He seems up to the challenge, which is only good news for the Serie A club.
Many things can be said of Honda: He’s not quick enough, consistent or good at finishing. And all of those charges have merit. Sometimes he can convert a deadly goal from a set piece, while at others he could hit the worst corner kick imaginable.
But Honda is as determined and professional as any other player in world football. Once he sets something for himself, he does it.
Just read the letter he wrote to himself as a 13-year-old.
"I’ll become famous in the World Cup and be called to play for a Serie A team. After that I’ll become a regular and play as No. 10,” Honda wrote in 1999, as translated by Japanese journalist Dan Orlowitz (h/t Goal.com).
And he’s accomplished just that.
Honda grew up watching Milan on television, fawning over the play of the team in the early 1990s. He took a bit of a roundabout route to get to Serie A—stopping first briefly at Venlo in the Netherlands, then going to CSKA Moscow in Russia—but ended up where he always wanted to be.
It’s a testament to his dedication. Former Milan coach Filippo Inzaghi called Honda a “consummate professional” back in October during an interview with Sky Sport Italia (h/t the National). Maybe that’s because Honda does not waste time or wait for things to happen.
Take one episode in January: After a bitter exit from the Asian Cup, played far away in Australia, Honda returned to Milan at 7 a.m. and took part in training an hour-and-a-half later, according to Gianluca Di Marzio. No time for jet lag, just practice. It’s that kind of incredible discipline that separates Honda from the rest of the squad.
Inzaghi confirmed to reporters later in the season just how much Honda gives to the team, even if he’s not playing regularly.
"I think there are a lot of players here who, in addition to being good technically, are also good morally,” Inzaghi said (h/t Football Italia). "The first one who comes to mind is Honda, who works for 10 hours a day.”
And Honda doesn’t make a big deal about it. He doesn’t seek attention, even though he looks like a superstar: His hair is golden, and his suits are sharp. He doesn’t do many interviews. He arrives on time to training and represents the club in a dignified manner.
"He talks to the press, properly talks, when there is something he wants to say but can be adept at avoiding the limelight or any question,” wrote ESPN FC’s John Duerden.
Honda’s qualities should endear him to fans, but it’s the on-field product that wins over people, and he knows it.
"If you don’t score, you can’t survive,” Honda told the Japan Times.
Maybe he has sacrificed himself for the Milan cause a little too much. With Kaka and then Jeremy Menez taking up Honda’s favourite spot in the attack over the past year-and-a-half, the 29-year-old was pushed out to the flank. He was given the No. 10 on his jersey, but not the No. 10 position on the pitch.
Instead of actively protesting the coach's decisions, Honda went out and even contributed defensively, often dropping deep to collect the ball on the right side.
He would have to wait until one of the final games of the season to get that central role high up the pitch. Menez had been suspended, and Honda was free to take up the space left behind. Of course, it was one of his best games in a Milan kit: Honda slipped passes behind the defence, touched the ball a team-high 52 times according to WhoScored.com and set up two goals in a 2-1 win over Roma.
If he gets the ball more often, he simply does more on the pitch. Honda deserves much more respect from Milan and more support from his teammates.
As Milan go on searching Europe for attacking reinforcements, there is a perfectly good option right at home.
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