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Flamini tailgating Honda into the A-League

The A-League should have a crack at bringing Mathieu Flamini to Australia. (Photo by Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)
Expert
2nd August, 2018
11

Vince Rugari tweeted out last night something that made me shudder.

For those who can’t raise a finger to click on this link, the tweet helpfully reminded the world that it’s been nearly three weeks since it was reported the Mariners had an “in-principle” agreement with Usain Bolt for a trial.

A bit like a huntsman lingering in the corner of a room, I’d avoided looking at it for long enough to almost forget the Bolt saga existed. 

Since the Bolt saga, a rolling boil that has simmered down tepidly and is now developing a skin, the Mariners of course have been smashed in the FFA Cup by Adelaide, and looked in desperate need of an actual marquee, not a novelty publicity stunt starting at striker.

And, if they’d like, they could look down the country to Melbourne to see what – we hope – a fine marquee choice looks like. 

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This tweet – literally, every journalist in The Age’s newsroom has a Tweetdeck page open with at least four full columns open, tweets flicking up and off the screen like an old stock ticker machine – apparently says Keisuke Honda, long rumoured Victory marquee beau, will be live streaming an announcement on the night of writing.

According to this thread Honda was twice asked whether he was going to an Australian club, and both times he claimed he couldn’t hear the question, and was fiddling with his earpiece, being interviewed from the Bahamas.

Hmm… we’ll put that oddness to one side, I suppose, for the moment.

If he does sign, only recently turned 32, and having been a part of Japan’s World Cup campaign – scoring and assisting in the finals, in very limited minutes – Honda will be a fine player with which to fill a marquee slot.

The Victory have lost a lot of players this off-season, many of them vital cogs in the Championship winning side of 2017-18. Obviously, Besart Berisha – last seen embracing Ange Postecoglou when their two teams met in the J-League a few days ago, with Berisha winning 4-1 – is a significant loss.

Besart Berisha of the Melbourne Victory

Besart Berisha in his time with the Melbourne Victory. (AAP Image/George Salpigtidis)

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In Rhys Williams and James Donachie, Melbourne have lost their starting centre back partnership. And Leroy George, who made no attempt to leave gracefully, has also left a large creative hole, one Honda should ably fill. 

So, there’s more to be done, but this is a fine start; Honda was a very effective attacker across all Mexican league and cup appearances last season for Pachuca, with 13 goals and 8 assists in 36 games.

When he really got rolling he rattled off a run where he scored or assisted in six consecutive league games. His ball striking is remarkable, and many of his best moments came from surging runs through the middle, capped by cold, purposeful finishing.

He ought to gel well with James Troisi, and should be able to teach Josh Hope a thing or two. Depending on whether the club sign a shiny new striker – they should be aiming to – Honda could be a sneaky bet to finish as the Victory’s top scorer. 

Then, yesterday, Fox Sports reported that the Roar were close to signing Matthieu Flamini, former Arsenal midfielder and something of a tycoon.

Flamini barely played for Getafe last season, and is 34. Having co-founded a bio-tech company BFBiochemicals, he is poised to step into a very lucrative career in business after he retires, but he hasn’t retired yet. 

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Flamini is a less attractive signing than Honda, to be frank, but it doesn’t appear as though he’d occupy a slot outside the cap, simply a foreign visa slot.

He’s older than Honda, he hasn’t played much, and one wonders exactly how Joe Caletti might feel were Flamini to be signed; having been injured for a huge portion of last season, Caletti, 19, is a diminutive, combative, scrapping central midfielder, just like Flamini.

John Aloisi was waxing lyrical in the wake of Australia’s World Cup exit about how young Australian strikers “need to be playing regular football” if we’re to solve the national team’s goal-scoring issues, for some reason failing to mention how he had imported an Italian striker last season who was pushing 40 years old.

John Aloisi speaks to his players on the sideline

Is John Aloisi putting his money where his mouth is? (AAP Image/David Crosling)

If Caletti wastes away on the bench in favour of Flamini, well, that would be a shame, regardless of how well Flamini does for Brisbane, who have also added Stefan Mauk to their midfield ranks.

It’s worth mentioning that, although Fox Sports reported it as almost complete, there have been conflicting reports dousing the Flamini mootings in cold water. 

There are a number of teams who still need to pad out their squad with quality, and have spare slots available. The media frothing over Andres Iniesta, or Fernando Torres, or even Peter Crouch – not to mention Bolt – has sort of put a tacky patina over the whole exercise of chasing marquees, but there are a number of clubs who still need them.

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As Bobo, or Thomas Broich, or Berisha, or Bruno Fornaroli have proven, a great marquee can propel a team into bold new arenas of success, regardless of whether or not their names pique the interest of the football-disinterested section of the public.

There are two-and-a-half months until the league season begins, so there’ll be plenty more marquee rumours to digest, or indeed taste, grimace and spit out.

Have a scan down the list of free agents, if you’d like to fuel your own marquee imaginings.

Samir Nasri, anyone? Who are some of your marquee candidates?

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