What Role Will Keisuke Honda Take on Under Sinisa Mihajlovic at AC Milan?

A year-and-a-half ago Keisuke Honda arrived at AC Milan on a free transfer.  It was a highly anticipated move.  The star man of the Japanese national team had been identified as a target by the club for a long time, and they had tried to pry him away from CSKA Moscow early.

Those efforts failed, but Honda had his sights set on the San Siro as well, and when his contract ended halfway through the 2013-14 season he signed quickly.

Since then he's been an unfortunate figure in one of the darkest periods in Milan's history.

For the most part Honda has failed to live up to expectations.  He isn't completely at fault for this.  New manager Sinisa Mihajlovic is his fourth at the club since he signed.  Massimiliano Allegri still had the Milan job when he arrived, but he lost it in the first game out of the winter break and was replaced with Clarence Seedorf.

Despite good results on the field, Seedorf lost the locker room over the course of the season and was sacked himself.  Replacing him was Filippo Inzaghi, who presided over a nightmare year and gave way to Mihajlovic.

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That's four men and four systems in about 20 months.  It's hard for anyone to get into a groove when the things around you are changing so constantly.

Now that Mihajlovic has arrived to—hopefully—provide some stability, Honda can probably expect some more consistent playing time.  Even better is that the time will almost certainly come at his best position.

Honda is an attacking midfielder—at his best one of the better ones in the world.  Unfortunately, Pippo Inzaghi preferred a 4-3-3 that didn't use a No. 10.  That pushed the Japan international into a winger's role.

At first it looked as though Honda wouldn't be daunted by the move.  After seven appearances he had scored six goals and notched a pair of assists.  Along with Jeremy Menez, it looked as if Honda was going to form the backbone of a high-powered Milan attack.

We now know that that was something of a false promise.  Honda didn't score another goal after October 19 and didn't register another assist until May 9, when he was the helper on both of Milan's goals in a 2-1 upset of Roma.

Playing out of position clearly affected Honda a year ago.  His play with the Japanese national team certainly made that clear.  He scored three in all three group games of this year's Asian Cup and in a friendly in March against Tunisia.  At that level he was able to play a style much closer to what fits him, and the results came accordingly.

Fortunately for Honda, his new coach relies more on players with his skill set.

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When Mihajlovic got the job at Sampdoria in 2013, he played a 4-2-3-1 formation.  That engineered the breakouts of both Eder and Manolo Gabbiadini as wingers.  Last season, though, he shifted his tactics and began to rely on a 4-3-1-2.  He's carried this formation over into every preseason match Milan has played this season.

This is going to be a boon to Honda.  Being moved back to his natural position will allow him to ping short passes to the forwards and leave him in a central position to distribute on counterattacks.  It will also let him keep the less special parts of his arsenal—crossing in particular—to a minimum.

The trequartista role is always what Honda came to Milan to play.  Given Mihajlovic's apparent commitment to having the position in his Milan setup, Honda is now under the microscope.  His disappointing form since his arrival has started to churn up exit talk.  This weekend Corriere dello Sport reported (h/t Football Italia) that Premier League sides Tottenham Hotspur and Everton have cast their eyes toward the midfielder.

Honda's playing time under Inzaghi was spotty, and it is thought he might be looking for a more stable situation.  He's also one of the highest-paid players on the team, and with Bee Taechaubol's new investment still in its infancy it may be something the team is willing to shed in order to improve other aspects of the team.

At the end of the day it would probably be in the team's interests to keep him.  Not only is he a quality player at full form, he also has a huge fan following in Asia—one that Milan will definitely want to keep in the fold.

The trequartista position is what comes naturally to Honda, and if he makes it his own he'll keep himself on the field and make his wage well worth it.  So long as he's a Milan player, that's the role he's going to play.