Why Jeremy Menez Deserves Credit for Improvement Under Inzaghi at AC Milan

At a certain point, it's hard to deny the numbers: AC Milan's Jeremy Menez is second among Serie A scorers, and he deserves credit.

Those 16 goals are somewhat deceiving. Half of them are penalties. But when you're up there with Cristiano Ronaldo in any category—only the Real Madrid star has scored more from 12 yards—it's not so bad. 

The question is: How?

Menez arrived at Milan as a reject of Paris Saint-Germain, a free transfer, someone who had failed to star at any of his previous clubs. He went from being a substitute on a star-studded squad to the main attraction. 

He is reborn under Filippo Inzaghi. It was Inzaghi, after all, who personally went to Ibiza to convince Menez. 

Still, the first-year coach does not want any praise—at least publicly—even if Menez is the only real success that Inzaghi can claim this season. 

"I don't take any credit," Inzaghi told Sky Sport (h/t Goal.com). "He is a good centre-forward and he's also good as a winger. [Silvio] Berlusconi and [joint-CEO Adriano] Galliani invested him and they deserve praise.

Luca Bruno/Associated Press

"He mustn't stop now, though. He must try to become Serie A's top goalscorer, not for himself but for the team."

Milan are currently in eighth place in Serie A but could have been a lot worse off. Menez has saved as many as 25 points with his goals—roughly 60 percent of Milan's current points total (41), according to MilanNews.it (h/t Rossoneri Blog). 

The 27-year-old is now the guy keeping other players on the bench. How the roles have changed.

Inzaghi played him from the start of the season, and Menez has not slowed down. He once went eight matches without scoring but then duly hit the net four times in the next three games. If there's any stretch without a goal, he has made up for it.

But it's clear Menez is profiting off all the guaranteed playing time that he never had before.

He is the main man by default. Inzaghi deployed him as a false nine in the beginning out of necessity. Milan did not really have any trustworthy strikers to give Menez any competition—certainly not Fernando Torres and Giampaolo Pazzini. 

Season	Team	League appearances (starts)	Domestic goals
2014-15	AC Milan	29 (27)	16
2013-14	PSG	16 (7)	2
2012-13	PSG	30 (24)	5
2011-12	PSG	33 (33)	7
2010-11	AS Roma	32 (23)	2
2009-10	AS Roma	23 (18)	1
2008-09	AS Roma	29 (12)	4

Basically, the Rossoneri had no one else.

The same situation fell to Stephan El Shaarawy two years ago. Zlatan Ibrahimovic had just left, along with several other veterans, and suddenly El Shaarawy was the unquestioned starter. He had 15 goals in the first half of that 2012-13 season.  

Then-coach Massimiliano Allegri could not turn to anyone else. He went with the youngster until Mario Balotelli arrived, at which point El Shaarawy slipped from view. He has scored just twice since then.

There is no refuting that Menez, like El Shaarawy before him, is thriving on a subpar team. On much better clubs, the Frenchman simply did not cut it—neither at AS Roma nor at PSG. As PSG signed better players, his playing time went down until he was an afterthought. He could not break the 10-goal barrier or make an impact. 

He has done that and more at Milan. Even as the fans protested during the match against Cagliari last month, with the club slumping on the field and off, it was Menez who went on to earn the win almost single-handedly. He is the only entertainment the Rossoneri can offer right now.