Spain forward Fernando Torres, signed on loan from Chelsea in the close season hoping to rediscover his best form, is once again struggling to impress.
The misfiring 30-year-old has managed only one goal in five outings, scored in a 2-2 draw against lowly Empoli, and has been totally overshadowed by team mate Keisuke Honda, who has been in unstoppable form with six already.
Torres' team mates have been diplomatic about his contributions, praising his unselfish role in holding up the ball and his movement, and he is certainly an improvement on maverick forward Mario Balotelli last season.
"Fernando Torres is a really important player for us," said midfielder Sulley Muntari after last Sunday's 3-1 win at Verona. "He moves well on the pitch, so we are happy that he plays for us."
Italian media, however, said that Torres needed to do much more on Sunday, when he was taken off midway through the second half, and that his starting place could be under threat for the first time when they face Fiorentina on Sunday (1945 GMT).
Torres has so far played as the central striker in Milan's 4-3-3, with Honda on the right and Jeremy Menez, who has three goals, on the left.
Menez was not fully fit when Milan faced Verona, and Stephan El Shaarawy took his place, but with the Frenchman ready to start against Fiorentina, Inzaghi faces a tricky decision.
"I need to watch the training sessions and take my indications from there," Inzaghi told reporters after the Verona game. "It's good that I have so many choices, it's something of a luxury for a coach."
VERY SATISFYING
The former Italy striker, famously described by former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson as having been "born offside" as a player, has enjoyed a better than expected start in charge of the seven-times European champions, who finished a miserable eighth last term.
"We have to get better at the back, but the fact we are top scorers is very satisfying for a coach, as that means we have the attacking and entertaining approach I wanted," said Inzaghi.
"But this team still needs more confidence after a very tough year and our spirit is to always attack."
"We know that we have to improve. Looking at the goals we have conceded, there were four in that bizarre game at Parma (Milan won 5-4), Empoli's two were from set pieces (in a 2-2 draw) and against Cesena (1-1), we practically scored their goal ourselves."
Fiorentina, with strikers Giuseppi Rossi and Mario Gomez both plagued by injury problems, have mustered only five goals in seven games and are a modest 11th with nine points.
Leading pair Juventus and AS Roma will both be glad to get back to Serie A after a miserable week in the Champions League.
Juventus, top with 19 points and beaten 1-0 at Olympiakos on Wednesday, host promoted Palermo on Sunday (1400), the Sicilians fresh from their first win of the season last week.
And Roma (18 points), thrashed 7-1 at home by Bayern Munich on Tuesday, will not relish a visit to unbeaten, third-placed Sampdoria (15) on Saturday (1845) as they attempt to rebuild their shattered morale.
(Writing by Brian Homewood in Berne, Editing by Neville Dalton)
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