No Keisuke Honda, no Melbourne Victory?
Not quite, as their stirring performance – particularly a powerful second half show in the 1-1 Christmas derby draw with Melbourne City, makes clear.
But the Japanese superstar has been sidelined with a lower back and fatigue-related injury, and it's anyone's guess how long he could be out of action.
Keisuke Honda sits in the stands on Saturday night.Credit:AAP
Victory are hoping that he will be back in harness very soon – perhaps even for the post-Christmas game against Wellington – but coach Kevin Muscat is wary of leaving any hostages to fortune and Honda will have the full battery of tests to gauge his health and fitness.
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Muscat and his football department were hazy about the reasons for Honda's withdrawal from the big match pre-game. When the team sheets were released before kick-off and Honda's name was not on it, all the media, spectators and television viewing public were told was that it was a ''precautionary'' withdrawal.
A precaution about what was not made clear, leading to inevitable speculation and debate – after all, for Victory to go into one of the biggest games of the season without their star man and best player, it must have been serious. Surely.
Fortunately for Victory fans – and the A-League in general – it appears not.
While reports pre-game had Honda being spotted limping stiffly into the stadium, Muscat brought clarity to the issue after the match.
The coach said that he had had concerns about his star man since Thursday given the workload he had been facing and that rather than take a risk in such a fiery derby atmosphere, he decided to err on the side of caution and give Honda a spell.
That was especially important, said Muscat, given the fixture pile-up that Victory face over the busy January period when they have seven games and squad depth will be put to the test.
''He trained all week. He didn't come out yesterday [Friday]. I just sensed Thursday that he was looking a little bit fatigued, I just had a feeling,'' Muscat said.
''I had a discussion with him on Thursday, I kept him inside on Friday, and made the decision today [Saturday] to leave him out.''
Was it a hamstring problem, as had been rumoured?
''It's not directly the hamstring. He has got a bit of fatigue and tightness on his lower back.
''We will do all the necessary tests and scans and get to the bottom of it, but I don't envisage it being too long.
'
''We trained yesterday and made the decision based on the quality that we have got in the side. Based on that and the amount of games we have got coming up, I didn't see the reason to take what might have been a big risk.''
Muscat said he had waited until the last possible moment to make the call.
''I didn't see the advantage of making the decision yesterday or the day before. I have utilised all the time to draw up all the facts, all the risks and in the end decided not to play him.
''Seven games in January, that's part of it, understanding where we are going, where we want to go, and the decision was made not to start him.
''There's players who are working hard to get back into the squad through injury. Tonight I thought the team that was out there were outstanding.''
Michael Lynch, The Age's expert on soccer, has had extensive experience of high level journalism in the UK and Australia. Michael has covered the Socceroos through Asia, Europe and South America in their past three World Cup campaigns. He has also reported on Grands Prix and top class motor sport from Asia and Europe. He has won several national media awards for both sports and industry journalism.
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