AC Milan Adds Mattia Destro, Ignores Defensive Problems

When Stephan El Shaarawy went down with (another) injury, AC Milan wasted little time to substitute someone for Stephan. They brought in Mattia Destro from AS Roma on loan, with a plan to buy him at the end of the season.

Destro has solid numbers, starting in 11 games and playing in 16 of 20, while also scoring five goals for this year’s Serie A campaign. Destro has also been involved in Italy’s post-World-Cup international campaign after failing to make the final cut for the tournament. He was only a substitute in one game for less than ten minutes, however.

While Destro is a solid signing for the Rossoneri, it’s frightening to see that the team is completely ignoring their defensive problems. Watching the most recent Serie A match against Lazio, it was frightening to see all the defensive lapses. When Milan scores first, they usually give up the equalizing goal and draw. When they don’t, it’s already too late. The attacking talent is there for Milan, no matter how many more strikers or attacking midfielders they decide to bring in.

More from Playing for 90

• Alexia Putellas reaches 400 games with Barcelona
• Everything you need to know ahead of the 250th ‘Super Clásico’
• Barcelona put five past Real Betis
• Manchester City suffer but come away with win over West Ham
• Baffling Liga MX ruling strips Puebla of a hard-earned victory

It’s almost comical to see that Adriano Galliani is so intent to make the team a striking animal, that he can’t see the real problem is on defense. The striking isn’t perfect, not by a long shot, but seeing the team get counterattacked while they are up a man and give up  more shots than they had on goal in the second half, it was nothing short of disgusting to watch.

In defense to Galliani, it isn’t as easy as pressing X in your FIFA career mode and breaking the bank to sign someone. However, in this transfer window, Milan has brought in two strikers and two attacking midfielders and nothing is being done on defense.

More from AC Milan

• Three things that stood out in AC Milan’s win over Juventus
• AC Milan Month in Review for September
• Zlatan Ibrahimović, AC Milan, and a Serie A title shakeup
• Zlatan Ibrahimovic is still proving a valuable addition to Milan
• Zlatan Ibrahimovic: Retiring like this would be very sad for football

In the long run, Milan looks to have Destro become an integral piece of their striking unit but how often is he even going to play? The team is already shuffling the strikers between Jeremy Menez, Giacomo Bonaventura, Alessio Cerci, Stephan El Shaarawy, and Giampaolo Pazzini in their 4-3-3 formation. As much as I like El Shaarawy, his name is always being linked for a move and the team may get the most money out of him. He hasn’t exactly been a stud and is always running into injury problems as well.

Bottom line, Milan’s season has fallen apart and the team seems intent on bulking up on strikers when their bigger problem is with the defense. When the team actually decides to address that problem is up-in-the-air.

Next: Manchester City v Chelsea: Most Important EPL Game This Season