Keisuke Honda

Balotelli is the anti-Ibra: he makes all the players around him appear worse than they are. Honda has thrived after being given serious responsibilities other than supporting Balo.

Just realised Keisuke's going to miss our January matches thanks to the Asian Cup. Will be going to see him play, I'll try and see if I can arrange an early return.

Can we post some Honda avatars here? someone make them!

honda in Japanese media interview about his verdict on last season performance with just 1 goal in 14 app, "If the performance of mine repeats like this in next season, I am better off quitting football"





he says that in 1:50 in video
guy really takes his job seriously!!

6 goals already, a good start for Honda. He and Abate complement each other, it's like Ronnie-Antonini pairing back then. But I expect the opponents will pay more attention to him as the season goes.

let just hope we can see consistent performance like this from honda. actually he would have been even better playing as AM.

i am glad el shaarawy managed assist but lets hope we get goals and assists coming from all of our forwards and also midfielders.

dostoevsky wrote:Just realised Keisuke's going to miss our January matches thanks to the Asian Cup. Will be going to see him play, I'll try and see if I can arrange an early return.

No way Japan is not making the semi-finals at least.

Leader in CSKA & now Leader in Milan climbed the top of Japan NT after 2009. The guy is obviously a leader. When given responsibility to lead he will play his best.

Honda >>> Nakata

So glad he's doing well. Always had faith in him and knew he would come good, while some Milanisiti were already shitting on him and wanting him sold.

Keisuke

if u guys were to understand japanese and see the video that i posted, and what he says in interview about how damn serious he was about quitting football if the result like last season of his were to continue, u can feel the vibe that he was damn serious about either improving or really serious about quitting football.

and some of professionalism about how he trains hard, gets at milanello in time, and how he is kind of a guy who walks the walk ....

every milan players should have same aspiration as honda does. anyone who doesnt play well for a year is better off quitting football... thats the mentality football player as a general should have.

apparently its sad that we have only few professionals like this at milan

Easily Japan's best player. Dominated Australia today, made them look like schoolboys.

Only caught the last twenty minutes but glad to see in the highlights that he picked up an assist for the first goal from the corner, even if the marking was shocking. He also scored in a big win for Japan in their previous game, so a very positive international break, hopefully it's given him a bit of confidence ahead of the derby.

SES--Torres--Honda for the derby? Or SES--Menez--Honda?

At the moment I'm angry with Menez to the point of preferring Torres to start, however I rather suspect that Mancini will be more troubled by having a mobile player through the centre who can not simply be man marked.

After the derby and Roma though, I'd like to see Honda rested. He's had an incredible workload thus far and got no respite during this international break. We can't afford to rest him in two such important games unfortunately, however long term he needs it.

I'd say Inzaghi will pick between Torres and Menez according to who's in form and what he needs from said player in that game . He will probably use both of them anyway .

So really no way of knowing who starts , although i would give the edge to Menez here , especially if Mancini goes 4-4-2 diamond. As for Honda , the guy is always confident of himself . I am not worried about these things with Honda anymore , the guy believes in himself fiercely and it shows on the field regardless of the match outcome. He steps up when he's needed and he's 100% proffesional .

If only more of our players followed Honda in his mentality and attitude .

Russian Premier League

Anyway, Milan struck the nail on the head with this signing. Was a vital player to CSKA & more or less doing the same for Milan. I critcize his position in this team but he seems to be doing wonders in that position. The guy has a lot of Mental prowess and he's showing to be a real leader in the attack. El Sharawaay is back as well and now I predict Milan will end up high at the table.

Lord Awesome wrote:Russian Premier League

Anyway, Milan struck the nail on the head with this signing. Was a vital player to CSKA & more or less doing the same for Milan. I critcize his position in this team but he seems to be doing wonders in that position. The guy has a lot of Mental prowess and he's showing to be a real leader in the attack. El Sharawaay is back as well and now I predict Milan will end up high at the table.

If only these two were enough . A good attack may win you games , but it's the defence which gets you win cups , in our case , the 3rd place trophy . Sadly our defence is at best mediocre . Going by our used to be normal standards , it's a parody of defence But anyhow , let's hope you're right , i do think so too that with Honda-Ses going places we will have a nice season after all.

As for Honda's position , frankly he does well there and he wouldn't do so well had he any serious issues with it . To add , Seedorf was actually proven correct with his use of Honda on the right wing , other reasons prevented Honda of being himself , not the position . In hindsight , the argument on his position was invalid , Inzaghi never changed his position or anything.

It's obvious he can play there quite comfortably. Where he trully shows what he can do is near the centre of the area , it doesn't matter if he starts the game on the wing . Besides , his wing play and transition isn't bad , not bad at all. He's just not your classical extreme winger .

If he played in the midfield in the 4-3-3 , he would have limited impact where he actually likes to play and would probably get exposed more often than not. To fit him as a trequartista we would have to play 4-2-3-1 , which i am not sure how it would work with our main guys up front being Torres and Menez . Not to mention , other than these two , Pazzini and Niang are pretty much sad alternatives atm, players we cannot possibly count on .

So really , both Seedorf and Inzaghi playing him there isn't a coincedence. I think even Allegri in the few games he got to play Honda used him there. That's 3 coaches in quick succession who did the same thing , the argument on his position really is and now in hindsight , was , out of place . It's obviously the position he's suited best at Milan .

Yes, I agree. I got so used to seeing Honda at AM/SS for CSKA that I thought he wouldn't do well and also believed that he wasn't doing well in that position. All of Honda, Seedorf, & Inzaghi decieved me and, yeah he's doing well at RW. Plays alot more like a Right Second Striker, actually. RSS? And also agree about the Defense, tho I thought Rami would do wonders for Milan but it seems he doesn't have the same effect he had with Valencia at CB. Mexes is good but those two are slow at the back. Zapata decieved me as well. The guy is powerful but too darn insecure. My word. I believe now it's more of a lack of composure. I'd go back for Astori.

Rami can't be blamed that much. A team defends as a unit and when you have Zapata/Mexes next to you and virtually no WB because Bonera or Abate is caught out of position, you get cut to shreds.

Yes , i think everybody would agree Rami is our best defender , regardless . Mexes is past it and currently severly off form . I'd say Inzaghi has , perhaps , been at fault a little with Rami . He hasn't shown absolute trust in him and it's puzzling , isn't it ?

I am not sure why ; but this was one of the surprises of the season for me , so far. You would think he would have been starting each and every game , but no. Instead , Alex replaced him as our most trusted CB so far , partnered by all Bonera , Zapata and Rami in different games .

As for Zapata . I have to disagree my Lord . Well , he's indeed insecure and lacks composure , yes.. even when he was shown trust for various reasons he didn't seem capable to capitalise on it. After the world cup , he said he had proven his worth and how many mouths he shut up in the WC and all that footballers of his kind say with a couple of good games , as if magically that erased all his previous disasters on the field . He was once again given the chance to prove himself and being the fraud he is , it showed once again . I personally laughed out loud at his bs at the start of the season when i read he had said these things , because i was fecking certain he would be a disaster once again , i can't possibly convince you how certain i was of this . And of course he was a disaster again , because the reality about him is , Zapata really is overrated from his Udinese days. He's simply been exposed here , many times over , enough for any objective observer to call him out . He wasn't any better for Villareal either, though he had some aliby there.. Zapata needs a team that takes special care for the defence , to cover for his weaknesses.

At Milan , we need the CB to be able to hold his own and then some more . We can find a hundred Zapatas i am not even exaggerating , they would just not be so fast , that is all there is .
I could go at length on Zapata but it's not the place . I would be honestly glad to exchange him with Astori , nothing would make me happier in Zapata's case.

How has Honda been recently?

Anonymous.

Abramovich wrote:How has Honda been recently?

to be honest, dreadful. so has everyone else though

Everyone has been shit.

Basically, Honda came back from the AFC to find the team full of shit, and he basically managed to fit in with that trend.

How's ma jigga been doing this season?

He's been benched by Cerci. Enough said lol.