Ranking AC Milan's Attacking Options on Goalscoring Threat
Goals win games, and AC Milan have scored their fair share of them this season. The Rossoneri have potted 39 goals this year—good for sixth in Serie A.
Scoring in a league as tactically sophisticated and defensively sound as Serie A is always a feat, and Milan have managed to do it thanks to a group of talented and dangerous attackers.
But who among that group is the most dangerous? That's what we're here to find out.
To be eligible for this list, a player must have played either as a trequartista, striker or as an out-and-out winger in any competition at some point this season.
Click "Begin Slideshow" to discover who's on top.
8. Kevin-Prince Boateng
1 of 8
Since his arrival in Milan in January, Kevin-Prince Boateng has surprisingly played mostly as a striker when he's come off the bench.
Most of the time he's been...less than effective. He did score the winning goal in Milan's 2-0 victory over Fiorentina on January 17, but other than that, he's seen little of the ball and done even less when he's gotten it.
There isn't exactly a rush of adrenaline when the ball gets to Boateng's feet. Of all the players that have played in an attacking position this year, Boateng is very much the least exciting.
7. Luiz Adriano
2 of 8
Luiz Adriano was the preferred strike partner to Carlos Bacca early in the season, but he hasn't started a league game since the last match before the winter break.
A deadly one-touch striker in the Ukrainian Premier League with Shakhtar Donetsk, one of the biggest questions of the season for Milan would be whether he could make the step up to a bigger league and penetrate the powerful defenses of Serie A.
So far, that answer is no.
Adriano has scored only three times this season, and his last goal came in November. He's been spot-on when he's been sent in clean, but if he's had to battle the defense in any way, he hasn't been able to do it.
Milan already seem like they're ready to move on from him—and defenses certainly aren't doing extra work to keep him contained.
6. Keisuke Honda
3 of 8
Keisuke Honda has played more as a right-sided midfielder in a 4-4-2 this year, but he's also been employed as a trequartista, which qualifies him for this list.
Honda has had a better season this year than last, but he's done more to set up his teammates to score rather than score himself. He has three assists this year in league play, and his teasing balls have set up more chances.
His deficiencies as a finisher are best exemplified by a moment early in the second leg of the Coppa Italia semifinal against Alessandria, when he was set up perfectly by Juraj Kucka with a chance from six yards out and somehow ballooned the ball over the bar.
Honda has been an excellent setup man this season. But unless he's standing over a free kick—he's an excellent dead-ball artist—he's not going to strike fear into the heart of a goalkeeper.
5. Jeremy Menez
4 of 8
Jeremy Menez was the team's leading scorer last season, but as good as he was last year, half of his goals came from the penalty spot, and as the season went along, he ended up hogging the ball to the point where he would kill off more attacks than he finished.
That said, he can be a lethal finisher when he wants to be, as he showed with his well-taken brace against Alessandria earlier this month. Still, that game against third-tier opposition was the most dangerous he's looked since his return from a long-term back injury.
That back injury is another concern. Until he can prove he can be the same player he was when he was healthy last season, he's going to lag behind other players on this list.
4. M'Baye Niang
5 of 8
It's a real shame that M'Baye Niang will be out for the rest of the year after injuring his ankle in a car accident.
Niang had turned into the perfect foil for Bacca. His pace pulled defenses apart and allowed Bacca to attack the empty space, one of his best qualities.
He wasn't as consistent on the finishing end. He did score five times in 16 appearances, including three in a row in the end of January and beginning of February, but as a scoring threat game in and game out, he still hasn't quite made it.
He's very talented, though, and at 21, he still has plenty of time to develop into that kind of striker. Another year should help that.
3. Giacomo Bonaventura
6 of 8
Giacomo Bonaventura has been one of Milan's best players for two years now, and he's one of the biggest threats the team have.
Whether it's as a provider or a finisher, Bonaventura checks all the boxes. He's an excellent dribbler and can free himself up for a shot easily. In fact, he leads the team in shots per game with 3.3, according to WhoScored.com.
He's also a huge threat on free kicks and has frequently showed the kind of predatory one-touch finishing that's so often required to score. His well-taken equalizer against Napoli last month, his sixth of the year to go along with seven assists, showed just how good he can be when he's given service in front of goal.
Both a provider and a good finisher, Bonaventura is one of the most threatening players coach Sinisa Mihajlovic has at his disposal.
2. Mario Balotelli
7 of 8
Remember, we're talking about the goalscoring threat, not overall performance this season. That's why Mario Balotelli is so high on this list.
There is no denying Balotelli's natural talent. He's an incredibly gifted athlete, and when he's on his game, he's almost impossible to stop.
The problem is that he never seems to be on his game for more than a few weeks at a time. When Bad Mario is on the field, he can be marked out of the game quite easily. But when Good Mario comes out, defenders will have to work overtime.
It didn't help this year that an injury cost him a large chunk of the season just as he was building up a good run of form. But if he can get things sorted out with consistent playing time, he's as dangerous as they come up front.
1. Carlos Bacca
8 of 8
No one on this team is more lethal right now than Carlos Bacca.
The Colombia international has 13 goals in the league and added two more in the Coppa Italia. His signing filled a hole at the front that Milan have had since Zlatan Ibrahimovic was sold to Paris Saint-Germain in 2012.
What makes Bacca so dangerous is his scary accuracy. According to Squawka.com, he's hit the target with an incredible 68 percent of his shots. By comparison, league scoring leader Gonzalo Higuain has only hit the target with 55 percent of his efforts. Last year's dual capocannoniere, Luca Toni and Mauro Icardi, have only been accurate 55 and 51 percent of the time, respectively.
That scary accuracy rate is why it's so important for Milan's opponents to deny Bacca service. WhoScored clocks him at only 1.9 shots per game. If the Rossoneri got him more quality service, a striker with as dead an eye as Bacca has this year would have a lot more goals to his name.
With a shooting percentage so good it almost hurts, Bacca is clearly the biggest threat on Milan's roster.
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
