Fernando Torres is not here to pass the time. He moved to AC Milan to score goals, “to feel important,” he told the Daily Mail.
It is still early, but Torres is struggling in Italy, with just one goal in seven appearances. In fact, it is the only goal scored by a Milan striker in Serie A (17 of the team's 18 goals have come from wingers, midfielders and even a defender).
Yet Torres is still the star. Silvio Berlusconi is making sure of that. On the weekend, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t Football Italia), Berlusconi went down to the dressing room and asked coach Pippo Inzaghi to play Torres up front. It was probably more of a demand, because Torres started the next game.
Blame is difficult to lay on the 30-year-old. He doesn’t just stand around and wait for the ball to come to him. He chases it down and he recovers possession. The midfielders get his help. Torres tries. He just hasn’t fulfilled the rest of his job.
In the background, hardly making a peep, is Giampaolo Pazzini, who has played just 51 minutes this season. He is the ultimate professional, smiling in photo ops and acting in videos, while waiting patiently for the call from Inzaghi.
But Pazzini deserves more. He was never given the chance to take the stage once Mario Balotelli left. He was never given the opportunity to be the 15-goal-a-season scorer that he was when he first arrived with the Rossoneri in 2012-13.
It is odd that Inzaghi has ignored Pazzini for so long. Maybe he does indeed have orders to play Torres ahead of Pazzini. Maybe Inzaghi prefers the Spanish international. But the coach once said that Pazzini was his heir.
He arrived at Milan at 28, the same age as Inzaghi. Pazzini has the same characteristics too. They spoke a lot, and Inzaghi said in September 2012 that Pazinni was “the centre-forward Milan were missing.”
Now Inzaghi keeps him on the bench.
Pazzini’s wife went on Instagram to vent her frustration. Via Football Italia:
Let’s say a person is given nine chances to impress someone, or to get a job, or to show what they can do. Then, every time, after an average time of between three and eight minutes someone says, ‘Enough!’ I wonder—who can tell if that person is good enough or not? Maybe if they had 30 minutes, 45 minutes or better yet 90 minutes you’d change your mind?
These are strong words, and they should be heard. It certainly does not feel like a meritocracy exists here.
Torres is not causing problems directly, but he is not a solution either. It is time to give Pazzini a few games to lead the attack and see what he can do. Scoring is not exactly an issue for Milan, but they need more goals from their true goal scorers. They need that kind of balance.