What started with such fanfare will end with little more than a whimper.
Before we know it Keisuke Honda will call time on his time in Melbourne, with Victory being unceremoniously dumped out of both the A-League and AFC Champions League.
While he still officially has one game left in the navy blue – the deadest of dead rubbers against Sanfrecce Hiroshima as Victory look to send out Honda and retiring captain Carl Valeri on a winning note and avoid the ignominy of going winless in their six ACL matches – the post-mortem of his time in Australia has already begun.
Was he a success or did he fail to deliver? Did Victory and the A-League get maximum bang for their buck or was it a missed opportunity?
The answer, as always, lies in the middle.
Few can doubt the impact Honda had on the pitch, especially in the first third of the season when both he and Victory were flying. But a rare hamstring injury curtailed both his and Victory’s season, and in truth neither player nor club recovered from that.
Keisuke Honda of the Victory (Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
While Honda returned just over a month later, he had missed nine games – a third of the A-League season – and couldn’t recapture his early-season form as Victory spluttered towards the finals.
Likewise in the AFC Champions League much was expected of Honda, but against the continent’s best he failed to deliver, and before they knew it Victory’s campaign was over after three straight defeats.
Such a meek exit should cause a serious rethink as to how the club approaches the ACL, especially as they will again take part next year, although they’ll have to navigate a tricky play-off stage if they are to even make the group stages.
But a large part of signing a marquee player is what they can do off the pitch as much as it is about what they can do on it, and it’s here that it feels like Honda’s time in Australia is one big missed opportunity.
What is the legacy of Honda’s time in Melbourne?
Has the Japanese community been engaged in a way that they’ll want to return even after Honda has left? Has Melbourne been able to expand their corporate networks into Japan and further in Asia with a suite of new sponsors that can be leveraged into the future?
Do they now have an online presence in Japan to speak directly to fans in Japan and keep the relationship going post-Honda? Have they been able to leverage Honda’s off-field business, football and philanthropic interests to create lasting social programs for the underprivileged?
These are the opportunities that signing Honda presented, for he was the most unique of Asian players. He is not just a football player. That is only part of the Keisuke Honda story. He is a successful businessman, philanthropist, humanitarian and has a growing portfolio of clubs and football schools around the world.
No other Asian player could open the doors that Honda could, yet it feels like when Honda flies out of Tullamarine airport after their game against Sanfrecce Hiroshima that will be the end of the relationship with Melbourne Victory.
Thanks for coming. Next.
Signing Honda should have set the blueprint for how to maximise a marquee player, something the A-League hasn’t yet quite grasped. Sydney FC and Alessandro del Piero is the perfect case in point.
Keisuke Honda at the 2018/19 A-League season launch. (Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
When these players depart, which they inevitably will after a season, maybe two, we need to find a way to keep player and club connected. Whether that’s as an international ambassador or some other role – perhaps ownership, as was the case with David Beckham in the USA – something needs to be done to keep that connection alive.
Honda already has a portfolio of clubs around the world. Is there a chance to offer a minority stake of Victory to Honda? Is there a chance to make him an international ambassador going forward? Is there a chance to link up with his philanthropic work in South-East Asia and Africa and join forces for social change in underprivileged communities?
I wrote previously for The Roar that by not doing more to associate themselves with Honda’s role in Cambodian football Victory has missed a massive opportunity, and that remains as much the case now as it was then.
Victory will point to increased shirt sales, increased social engagement and other metrics to argue the case that signing Honda was a success, and certainly they form part of the case in the affirmative.
But it feels so much of what was done around Honda was haphazard and done on the run with no planning and no thought to the long term. Why did it take until midway through the season, when Honda was about to miss a large chunk of the season, to offer Honda-themed ‘international membership’? Why wasn’t that on offer from day one?
While the nagging feeling that Honda’s signing was an opportunity missed won’t subside, there should be no doubt that signing one of Asia’s best players is something Victory should look to repeat, especially given their participation in next season’s AFC Champions League.
Making use of the ‘plus one’ rule is smart business, and if they are to make amends for their horror show this season, maximising their foreign quota is necessary.
So who should be next? Some may say the names are fanciful, but then many thought that of Honda too.
The likes of experienced internationals Makoto Hasebe, Shinji Kagawa, Yuto Nagatomo, Ki Sung-yueng, Koo Ja-cheol and Lee Chung-yong should be near to the top of the list. Or if they want to make a splash in South-East Asia, then someone like Vietnamese star Nguyen Quang Hai.
Whoever it is, let’s hope they’ve learnt their lesson from the Honda experience.
David V
Guest
Marquee players are not a problem if they are part of a long-term strategy. But this doesn't exist in the A-League.
jbinnie
Guest
Hermes - I take it from the clubs you mention you are an NSL fan from way back. Have you ever thought where the clubs you mention were when applications for the HAL were sought back in 2004?. Rumour has it that there was a "block" to so called ethnic clubs being allowed entry,but I,m afraid that is a rumour that has for years now hidden the real reason. Entry into the HAL back in 2005 required financial backing to the tune of a licence fee plus a potential full-time wage bill for players and staff getting near to $20,000,000 and that is the type of money that was just not circulating in the NSL and that is why only 2 or 3 clubs, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth could source that type of backing,usually through self made men,or, sales of assets. To get that type of money the "ethic" clubs would have had to approach their mentors,usually social club committees,who, as you know were elected at annual meetings, and so were very careful in how they spent the social club's money. cheers jb.
Pedro The Fisherman
Roar Rookie
The $1.8m was from the Marquee Fund. The rest was from Melbourne Victory. 1/3rd 2/3rds was the split (as I understand it).
jbinnie
Guest
Paul - Surely a "marquee" player is expected to achieve many aims, and to this end the clubs themselves have failed miserably in reducing this requirement to a much lesser am,that is to cheat the "salary cap" restrictions. Some of the "marquee " player we have had thrust upon the league since the success od ADP have been nothing short of farcical and it is that state of affaire that needs to be closely examined. Cheers jb.
David V
Guest
The Eurosnob complex is the result of decades of Australian football, through poor management, developing an inferiority complex. The A-League was supposed to address it, but the flaws in its model meant it has failed to do so. The so-called Eurosnobs include migrants and expats attached to their clubs from home, or people who've been following those leagues for a long time. Don't dismiss them: find out what you can do to engage them.
Nemesis
Guest
"So it seems to be impossible to be a real football fan in Australia that doesn’t follow A-League." Nothing I've posited would lead anyone to that conclusion. We have over a million people engaging with football in Australia every week. They probably engage with football directly more than ALeague fans. They attend training couple of times a week, plus match day. They might also train & play for their school team. They might also have a Futsal team with mates once a week. These people are not Eurosnobs. There is absolutely nothing snobbish about hanging around grassroots clubs in the middle of winter, changing in your cars on match day; freezing cold showers or no showers & coming home with boots caked in thick mud. Eurosnobs have never put on a pair of boots. They sit on their couches engaging with football via video games and watching Fox Sports News highlights of EPL goals.
David V
Guest
Honda showed his quality before his injury. But I'm going to take issue with the gist of this article. Namely the gimmicky ideas that the A-League needs to make headlines around the world and engage certain communities to gain acceptance. It speaks about our league's insecurity - professional leagues around the world aren't looking to recruit players of a certain nationality for this reason. Clubs recruit players they see fit their plans, and that is to win games and win trophies.
josh
Guest
I like the cut of your jib FIL. Football is the sleeping giant, if it sorts itself out and the absolute mess that runs it, then the potential is bigger than any other sport. Fans of other codes will say 'but you've been saying that for decades' and the reply is simple 'it's been mismanaged for decades'.
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
And when you throw in the FFA Cup which is growing every year.. ...all I can say is watch out!!!
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
Nem you could not have articulated that any better mate. The talk with is that season after next I think will pro/tel between NPL and Championship. So does that mean Championship comes into existence? Anyway the bottom line is that these are the steps that will unite the tribes. The ultimate goal being NPL - Championship - A-League. Then football will the big boy on the block and Eddie McGuire will really have something to worry about.
Redondo
Roar Rookie
A eurosnob is someone who’d watch a friendly between Mick McCarthy’s Sunderland and Jack Charlton’s Ireland but wouldn’t watch this weekend’s A-League final.
Jordan Klingsporn
Roar Guru
So it seems to be impossible to be a real football fan in Australia that doesn't follow A-League.
Nemesis
Guest
No, they don't follow football. If they followed football, they wouldn't be Eurosnobs. I don't call someone who follows Leeds United a Eurosnob. Following your team outside the EPL for the past 14 years, including 3 years in the 3rd Division of England is not snobby. Eurosnobs are the clueless casual sports fans who choose a sokkah team & buy the shirt to be part of the conversation. They're the ones who pay lots of money to watch a practice match and then throw paper planes when their heroes are playing. If you're a football fan, you'll follow your team when they're top of the 1st Division or bottom of the 4th division. You'll even follow them when they're back in the semi-professional leagues, as Notts County will be next season after spending 129 consecutive years in the Football League.
Hermes
Guest
The term Eurosnobs is misguided. There are vast numbers of Australian football fans who will re-engage when their Australian football clubs built by Australians (Melbourne Knight, Sydney Olympic etc) and not funded by UAE or Chinese capital are reinstated to the competition - even in a second division with the potential of promotion. We simply need to stop creating obstacles by coming up with irrelevant shibbeloths like NSL violence, ethnic exclusivity, low crowds and so on.
Jordan Klingsporn
Roar Guru
Eurosnobs are football fans. I hate them, but they follow football.
Nemesis
Guest
Eurosnobs are not worth worrying about. They are not football fans. They're football groupies. They only hang around for the celebrity appeal of football and footballers. A-League is not, and never will be, a competition that appeals to the celebrity watcher. What we need to do is figure out how to engage the group of football community who tell us: we want to be part of the competition, but you don't allow us. We need to create a competition structure that gives people a reason to be involved. Within 12 months we could easily have 2 Divisions of A-League with 12 teams each division Div 1: average crowds of 10,000 Div 2: average crowds of 3,000 To grow the pie we must engage the whole community across Australia, not just try to squeeze more out of a few areas across Aust.
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
I do agree. These were just suggestions. But Nem raises a good point with respect to domestic crowds. So any suggestions re; Eurosnobs. How do we win them over or do we just deport them????Just joking!!!
Nemesis
Guest
We don't know if it benefited all clubs until we ask them. And, regardless, if your club didn't benefit that's your club's fault. Away Matches have nothing to do with FFA or Melbourne Victory. When Del Piero came to ALeague, MVFC got a nice payday for the 1st time he played in Melbourne. Then for the next 4-5 times he visited Melbourne vs Melbourne Victory, it was nothing special.
chris
Guest
Coupled with the lack of vision from football administrators we also have to contend with a biased media and govt who think that its better to throw money at a silly game of AFL in China. We already have a vehicle to promote Australian products/trade etc via football. Instead we squander money pushing a local boutique game to a bewildered handful of Chinese who probably only go to the game in Shanghai for the free food. Bang for your buck!...more like one of those party poppers
chris
Guest
Agree with that. Honda was exceptional in my view and would love to have him at SFC. Honda and O'neill in midfield would be a fantastic combo.