AC Milan currently look devoid of goalscoring options and they need more than Gonzalo Higuain if they are going to be more prolific in 2018/19.
Languishing in equal 13th place on the Serie A table with three other clubs but with a game in hand, the Rossoneri have displayed an inability to increase leads or hold onto to them. They have scored eight goals in five games but they have also conceded eight in those fixtures.
There is an abundance of reasons for Milan’s current struggles but their dependence on Higuain is concerning. The 30-year-old Argentine international does look revitalised since joining the Rossoneri from Juventus in the summer but he needs to be provided with adequate service if he is to score freely.
In five competitive matches so far this season, El Pipita has scored three times and provided one assist, and he has often been involved in the construction of the Diavolo’s build-up play due to Coach Gennaro Gattuso now emphasising on possession football.
While he was at Juventus, Higuain looked lethargic leading the attack and he was lacking in agility, but now at Milan, he has been able to provide plenty of movement and he combines well with his teammates.
A muscular injury ruled him out of his team’s 1-1 draw at Empoli on Thursday evening and his presence was missed from the Rossoneri attack. Although Azzurri goalkeeper Pietro Terracciano had a superb game for the home side, the Milanese surely would have loved to have the clinical finishing from the Argentine available to them.
Milan were rather predictable in attack and their goal came courtesy of Empoli midfielder deflecting Lucas Biglia’s shot into the net. Despite their efforts to constantly play the ball out from the back, it backfired as centre-back Alessio Romagnoli conceded the penalty which allowed Francesco Caputo to level the score.
Due to Higuain’s absence as well as some ankle concerns with Patrick Cutrone, Gattuso started utility player Fabio Borini at centre-forward and the experiment failed miserably. Not only has Borini not played there on a regular basis since he was at Swansea City in the second half of the 2010/11 campaign, he lacks the football intelligence to play in that role in Serie A.
Until El Pipita returns to full fitness, the Rossoneri need to find other scoring outlets immediately, but that will be a mammoth task for Gattuso because most of the other players in the squad do not boast great records in front of goal at all.
Spanish winger Suso has failed to score this season and he has never netted more than seven in a league campaign, Giacomo Bonaventura has found the back of the net twice in Serie A but he plays too deep to consistently get into scoring positions, and Samu Castillejo is raw and still adapting to Italian football.
Another Milan play that needs to improve his input his Hakan Calhanoglu. The Turkish international possesses a great long-range shot and he is a dead-ball specialist but he has never scored more than 11 goals in the top flight of any country and that was back in the 2013/14 season for Hamburg in the German Bundesliga.
Gattuso needs to produce results quickly if he is to have some job security but he will need more than Gonzalo Higuain to score the much-needed goals. It is important for Milan to have diverse scoring options to reduce the load off the Argentine and also make things trickier for opponents.
