Why Giampaolo Pazzini Is Under Most Pressure for AC Milan After Udinese Game

Picking just one AC Milan player that is under pressure is a heck of a task, especially after a performance like Saturday's 2-1 loss to Udinese.  The entire squad has been underperforming.  Over the last few weeks their lackluster play has been combined with a distressing lack of motivation.  It's looking more and more like this team has simply given up.

In this morass of mediocrity (or is it even less?), who can be singled out for special attention?

Here's a suggestion that may not be who you are expecting: Giampaolo Pazzini.

Why would a man who has only started twice and played, according to WhoScored.com, 521 minutes in the league this year be under pressure?  Because over the last seven games of the season the veteran may be asked to lead the line.

Alberto Lancia/Associated Press

The sale of Mario Balotelli and the continuing injury problems of Stephan El Shaarawy meant that Milan was going to have to search for goals this year.  They experimented with Fernando Torres this summer, but that move was a dismal failure.  In the winter they sent Torres to Atletico Madrid in exchange for Alessio Cerci and then acquired Mattia Destro on loan from Roma.

Destro was the third player in the last two seasons to be issued Milan's No. 9 shirt—the shirt that coach Filippo Inzaghi himself wore when he played.  It was hoped that he would be able to provide the tip of the spear that Inzaghi had been searching for to go with his 4-3-3 system.

He played well in his first game against Parma.  When he scored his first Rossoneri goal in his second game the team's fans started thinking their striker woes might finally be over.

Unfortunately, since then Destro's form has gone south.  He's only scored one more goal this season—a redirected effort against Fiorentina—and has started games from the bench in the last two games.  With his form deteriorating, Pippo is once again going to have to look for a goalscorer to front his line.

Luca Bruno/Associated Press

Pazzini may just be the man.  For one thing, it's not like Inzaghi has much other choice.  Destro isn't playing well and using Jeremy Menez as a false nine isn't an optimal setup.  If you're not going to play Destro, Pazzini is the only choice.

He brings a large experience factor to the party.  That can be a useful thing on a team that has had to rely on younger players like Giacomo Bonaventura and Suso for major production.  He's also probably one of the freshest players on the roster at this point in the season thanks to the lack of wear and tear his role for much of the season has entailed.

Furthermore, Pazzini is the only player over the last two weeks that has showed any kind of fire.  With more and more of Milan's players showing no motivation whatsoever, Inzaghi needs players on the field that will give everything on the field for the shirt.

Indeed, after reports by the Corriere della Sera (h/t Football Italia) that Inzaghi was challenged by some of his own players as unworthy of his position after Saturday's game, the coach would do well to lean on a player like Pazzini, who has always been a good solider for his club and hardly ever publicly complains about his role.

Over the last weeks of the season he may be one of the only players Inzaghi can truly trust.  For the team to get their best possible results over the run-in, Pazzini should be the one to lead the line.  That position will put him under significant pressure to get the goals that can give Milan any kind of dignity this season.  If he gets put on the field, all eyes will be on him.