5 Reasons Why Keisuke Honda Has Finally Come Good with AC Milan

A few months ago, any suggestion that Keisuke Honda would be Serie A's joint top scorer after six rounds would have been laughed off.

It's unfathomable to think that he could have changed so much after one summer, during which he even travelled to Brazil to represent Japan in the World Cup.

Let's take a closer look at how this transformation occurred, and see if we can make some sense from what can only be described as an incredible turnaround.

Here are five reasons why Honda has finally come good with the Rossoneri.

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Honda has a wonderful relationship with Milan coach Filippo Inzaghi, who was appointed over the summer to take over for Clarence Seedorf.

Inzaghi believes Honda has the right characteristics to play on the right wing, where he often likes to cut in with his left foot and either cross for a teammate or take a shot on goal.

Inzaghi has put his faith in the player and restored his confidence, and the results speak for themselves.

Honda is the leading scorer in Serie A with six goals along with Jose Callejon of Napoli and Juventus striker Carlos Tevez.

During his first few nightmarish months in Milan, Keisuke Honda lived in a hotel, didn't have many friends and didn't speak a word of the Italian language, according to Gazzetta.

He now has a beautiful home in the middle of Milan, only steps away from the beautiful Via Monte Napoleone, where he lives with his family and their dog.

Even though it seems a bit banal, these changes have been vital in allowing Honda to settle in to his new surroundings. He even hired the same driver as David Beckham to escort him around town, and he brought in a trusted Japanese physiotherapist to help him recover quicker from any nagging injuries.

Now that he understands his coach and teammates to perfection, Honda has finally been able to showcase all of his talent for the world to see. 

No team in Serie A has been able to score more than Milan's 16 goals so far in the new campaign.

Roma and Juventus are the closest with 14 strikes so far.

That's what happens when you employ an offensive coach like Filippo Inzaghi, who was one of the most feared strikers in Europe during his day.

Honda has also taken up set-piece duties following Mario Balotelli's departure, and he showed his own incredible accuracy on them by curling in a goal from 25 meters out from a free-kick.

He has been able to combine quite well with Fernando Torres and Stephan El Shaarawy, too.

In fact, it was El Shaarawy who found Honda beautifully in space during the match against Hellas Verona, allowing the Japan international to produce a perfect curling finish past the goalkeeper. 

Make no mistake about it, the Russian Premier League is much different to Serie A, which is considered to be one of the most tactically astute and difficult leagues to crack.

There's a reason why only Luca Toni has been able to score more than 30 goals in a domestic campaign in Italy since 1957. 

Honda is on pace to reach a double-digit goal tally before Christmas, and he's doing it from a position that isn't really his favorite.

Even at CSKA, Honda would drift to the right. However, never as far wide as he has done in Inzaghi's 4-3-3, where he's near the touchline.

Not many could have predicted this type of success. Honda didn't give many reasons to be optimistic after last season. 

Before joining Milan in January 2014, Honda had just finished playing an entire season in the Russian Premier League with CSKA Moscow.

He virtually had no break, jumping straight to another team in a completely different league.

As a result, Honda looked tired and out of focus. It's easy to see why the Italian media labeled the move a marketing ploy by Milan to gain more worldwide recognition, as Honda is a larger-than-life type character in Japan.

After the World Cup this summer, he finally had some time to recharge his batteries and get ready for a new chapter. The results have shown, and he's now one of the favorites at the Milanello.

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