AC Milan's Best Player of 2014-15 Is Goalkeeper Diego Lopez

In the darkness of a terrible year for AC Milan, one player has stood out among the gloom.

Diego Lopez arrived in Milan this past August and was sidelined for six weeks after injuring his thigh in spectacular fashion at the end of his second game with the club.  When he has been on the field, however, he's been the only man in Filippo Inzaghi's squad to have truly earned the venerated club's shirt.

Given the way the team is playing, it would be hard for a player not to stand out if he's playing well.  It's also possible that one of Milan's winter signings—there were five of them—could stand out and surpass the Spanish goalkeeper as the player of the season.  Mattia Destro and Alessio Cerci have both enjoyed good starts to their tenures in Milan, but their contributions are far from complete.

But for the balance of the season, Lopez has, without question, been the best player on the team.

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The value of a goalkeeper is difficult to determine through statistics and game results.  Often, a cursory look at the scoreline can make a good goalkeeper look bad, especially on a weak team.

Mattia Perin's loan stint at Pescara two years ago is a prime example of such a misrepresentation.  The youngster had one of the best seasons of any goalkeeper in the league, but the rest of that Delfini side was so abysmal that seeing three and four goals go past him wasn't uncommon.  Francesco Bardi suffered through a similar issue last year when on loan at Livorno.

If you want an example a little further up the table, you don't have to leave the city of Milan.  The 2012-13 season was a nightmare for Inter, but if they hadn't had Samir Handanovic between the posts, they might have finished even worse than ninth.

Lopez is serving a similar role for Milan this season.  His performance in December's game against Roma was superb.  Squawka named him man of the match, and his four saves were vital in picking up a goalless draw.  WhoScored.com gave him its MoM award for the Derby della Madonnina in November after he made two saves and claimed every cross that came his way.

Were it not for his presence against Juventus two weeks ago—a game in which he made two impressive saves on shots from distance—the league leaders very well could have had four or five goals instead of three.

If he had not replaced Christian Abbiati—whose fading powers had a big role in Milan's woes a year ago—Inzaghi's position could be even more dire.  He could have already lost the job.

No other Millan player has come anywhere close to making the kind of contribution Lopez has made this year.  Jeremy Menez has scored 12 times, but a full half of those goals have been from the penalty spot.  In open play, he has wasted more opportunities than he has cashed in.  Riccardo Montolivo has been terrible since being given the captain's armband at the beginning of last season.  No one in the defense can claim to be anything approaching mediocre this year.

Up to now, the best player on the team has been its keeper.  Hopefully, the likes of Destro and Cerci can catch up to his form and give the club's fans some hope that things could be trending upward in Milan.