I
have written about poachers before. I never used to appreciate them,
but Pippo
Inzaghi made me a believer. Although the modern game more and more
often calls for players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Mario Balotelli who can do
it all, obviously there are fewer players who are as superbly talented in all
areas of their game. And so when an all-around striker is not available, or
maybe even sometimes when he is, I believe in poachers. The specialists who are
responsible for only one thing: scoring. The go-to guy when a win is necessary.
But is Alessandro Matri a poacher? Or is he just some false version of this
dying breed? Or is he simply suffering from a manager and formation and squad
who are not used to playing with a poacher?
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| Hint: One of these players has scored this season |
A poacher should have killer instincts. His natural domain is
the 6 yard box. Some see poachers as lazy, but I see them as specialists. Like
a sniper, they get into position and stay focused, waiting for even the hint of
opportunity, ready to take the shot immediately and without mercy whenever and
wherever they find it. It doesn’t have to be pretty, it doesn’t have to be
perfect, they just have to hit the target. And a true poacher does, more often
than not. In fact the only thing that should ever really stop a poacher from scoring is a great save by a lucky or talented keeper or defender.
Pippo Inzaghi was infamously accused of being born offside.
Because a poacher is often a step or two ahead of the opponent, his instincts
honed like a sharp blade, and he would rather trigger an offside flag than miss
an opportunity. In a field littered with 22 bodies, it is not as if he can
always pepper the net with goals, he is not a machine gun. But rather a skilled
marksman, one who scores the winning goal time and time again.
Support the Poachers Conservation Foundation to Save the Poachers
So what of Matri? His pricetag and lengthy contract had Milan fans upset before he ever returned to Milan. His history as a Milan Youth Product, once used to show how short-sighted Milan were to let his level of talent go instantly turned into a complaint about bringing back Milan talent after their prime. So when he showed up, ready to work for the club he loved, his inability to score did not help endear him to the fans.
His inability to score is not the most egregious sin by a
footballer. Lots of players go through scoring droughts. It became an egregious
sin when fans added together his pricetag, length of contract, and the loss of
a current Milan Youth product, Andrea Petagna to make room for his arrival.
Having seen Petagna a little bit here and there, particularly in the summer,
fans were very fond of his size, strength, speed, and goals.
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| He had two Scudetti, even if more by association |
But I guess I can kind of understand Milan not wishing to gamble on such an
unproven talent while Pazzini was mending. I’m sure that turning to Matri
seemed like a guarantee of goals, particularly while playing Champions League.
But there are no guarantees in football, and Milan seemingly took the wrong
gamble. Better that they should have kept Petagna, because, as Pete
pointed out in the last podcast, we could have had Petagna not scoring
and saved ourselves the €11m.
Many have compared Matri to Pazzini, but there isn’t really
much to compare. While both players are 29 years old, Pazzini has more time in
Serie A and consistently averages 15 or more goals per season, despite
injuries, changing clubs, etc. Whereas Matri averaged less than 10 goals per
season, with one fluke season where he scored 20 goals between 2 clubs,
Cagliari and Juventus. If that is not telling enough, Pazzini was called up for
national team duties consistently from the U16 through U21 levels and has 25
caps with the senior team, whereas Matri only ever was called up for 5 senior
team caps. Pazzini runs more, works harder, makes passes, and creates more
opportunities for teammates. While he’s no Balotelli, he does work to create
chances for himself, too. His vision for goals and positioning just always
seems more opportune. He has the instincts of a predator and the finishing of a
marksman.
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| A marksman with killer instincts who is not afraid to run or break a sweat. |
But Matri, on the other hand, is lacking in all of these
areas, and it shows not only when you see him on the pitch, but it also shows
in his statistics. He is like the poor man’s poacher. He is more dependent upon
the good play from his teammates and less likely to find a teammate with an
assist. Defenders have an easier time marking him because his movement is less
stealth and more lethargic. There really is no comparison. Well, except that
his salary is only €.1m less than Pazzini’s, at €2.6m per year. Maybe this team is so used to playing with an Ibra or a Balotelli that he is simply not getting the service a poacher requires. Except that didn't stop Pazzini from scoring 15 goals last season. No, Matri is the
poster boy for why managers like Allegri usually prefer all-around strikers to
poachers, because he struggles to find that lethal instinct, and thus the back
of the net. Maybe he is not quite a poser, but he certainly lacks the
credentials of a poacher.
And so while the world struggles to determine the mysteries
of Allegri’s mind and why on earth he would insist on lavishing such an
exorbitant amount of money on a player for four years to cover a player who
would be out injured for up to 12 weeks, we wait for Matri to score even one
goal or make any real contribution at all. In five starts (eight total
appearances) for Milan this season, he has four shots on goal, with a blatant zero
goals. His biggest number? He has committed ten fouls. Only De Jong and Muntari
have more fouls, with 11 and 12 respectively. Maybe he is no poacher at all,
maybe he should be a defender. But that would be one expensive defender.
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| I wonder if someone just asked them how many goals Matri has netted this year? |
I hope for everyone’s sake that Matri opens up the scoring
soon and scores often. His astronomical deal and his blatant disregard for
scoring make him a focal point of much attention and anger from the fans. It’s
bad enough that at best he can be considered a poor man’s poacher (despite not
being affordable for a poor man.) But at this point he risks not only being
considered a poser, but being the symbol for all that is wrong with Milan. And
I don’t think Allegri is willing to give that spot up just yet.
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