Fabio Capello has weighed in on the recent developments in AC Milan’s pursuit of a new manager. Among other things, he heaped praise on Sergio Conceicao who has emerged as a strong candidate for the Rossoneri.
Milan’s are still in the evaluation phase of their post-Stefano Pioli pursuit and Conceicao is considered a strong candidate, as confirmed by Gazzetta dello Sport this morning. The manager now appears willing to leave Porto, giving the Rossoneri a great opportunity.
In an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport this morning (see photo below), Fabio Capello weighed in on the managerial pursuit and the candidacy of Conceicao. He heaped praise on the latter, more or less saying that he would be perfect for Milan.
Conceicao has taken several steps forward…
“He knows Serie A from his past as a footballer: he played and won here, this can certainly help him manage the pressure of the environment. As a coach he has done very, very well at Porto, demonstrating great tactical and attacking attention. His teams are solid and balanced, we saw it in the Champions League: when the Italians met Porto they often suffered. But there is another thing I like about Conceicao…”.
And that is?
“He’s a coach capable of working with both important players and prospective players: he brings out the best in everyone. He is used to building and doing it with a winning mentality. He made this with the philosophy of Porto, where historically value is created by winning.”
It’s like reading the identikit of the coach Milan are looking for…
“I would say so, yes. If Milan are convinced about him they could be on the right path, Conceicao has what it takes. The important thing is that everyone in the club agrees, the Lopetegui case teaches: the fact that a club like Milan gave in to the will of the fans suggests that perhaps there was not total unanimity on the choice. Having said that, if the decisions of the past had been made based on the mood of the fans, Milan would not have had Sacchi or even Capello…”.
There is another Portuguese in the running with Porto on his CV: does Paulo Fonseca convince you?
“The point in his favour is his knowledge of our league: Fonseca already knows everything about Serie A and has been missing from Italy for a few years. In the two-year period with Roma, he showed good things, a proactive style of play, an attacking mentality. With him there would be no need for revolutions, he is a coach who knows how to adapt to the players he has in his squad.”
Roberto De Zerbi also knows Serie A well. Is he ready for a big club like Milan?
“He’s a prepared coach, who asserts his ideas wherever he coaches, and has a highly respectable sponsor like Guardiola. Until now, however, no one has come forward despite his name being linked to the benches of the big clubs. And then with Brighton, he has a 15 million clause: honestly it seems like too much to free a manager.”
Mark Van Bommel will say goodbye to Antwerp in June…
“He also lacks experience at a high level: he won in Belgium, but Milan is something else. Of course, if he arrived he would already be able to swim in the Rossoneri sea, because as a player he won a Scudetto together with Ibra: this is undoubtedly an advantage, especially for a foreign coach.”
Let’s end with Roberto Martinez…
“If we talk about international experience, here is another profile that meets the requirements of Milan. Before leading Portugal and Belgium, Martinez coached in England and did well: he won the FA Cup with Wigan, a club that had never won anything, and then he had fun with Everton, coming close to the Champions League and finishing in front to Tottenham and Manchester United in the Premier League.
“Lukaku exploded with him, his Belgium entertained and climbed onto the podium at the 2018 World Cup. Since Martinez has been the coach of Portugal, Leao has also become a regular starter for the national team. Working with Martinez at Milan could stimulate Rafa to raise the bar,” he concluded.
Roberto De Zerbi, as well as Thiago Motta, has also been mentioned by the media but the Brighton manager appears keen to stay in England. The Bologna man, meanwhile, is being courted by Juventus who are ahead in the race.
Conceicao is surely a better name than most of the mentioned targets so far. His team has a style, brings stability, and pretty decent ucl experience for the coach his age. The potential problem might be his prefered formation (442), not really suited for current Milan squads. Don’t know if he can flexible with it or not.
Conceicao also plays 4231. Best candidate for because he has won three Primeira Liga titles, three editions of the Taça de Portugal, one Taça da Liga and three Supercups. So he knows how win titles.
3 championships in 7 years is not bad but also not that amazing. Mou did 2 in 2,5 seasons.
It‘s not Serie A, I hope none expects that to be his scudetto rate.
442 and 4231 is the same 4 defenders 2 holding midfielders 2 wingers 1 am or ss and cf
I’d perfer him over De Zerbi and after Motta. He at least has winning record and his team plays solid football. He also has Serie A experience as a player. The only thing is, he’s using double pivot midfield while we have bunch of mezz’alas and b2b’s but no proper #6.
People that need to be converted will be converted. At least, one proper DM will be secured, a CB and one CF too. He can do 442 with this squared.
He will have more than enough alternatives from the bench.
How the players will play isn’t the problem here. The problem is the serious clubs in need of new managers have (at least) reach a verbal agreement with their choice managers. But Milan?!😡 No way!! Not until the last minute when all the good ones have been taken, then they will start pretending as if they didn’t know that “speculations and interest” isn’t an agreement. They will then go for a test practice coach.
Sometimes, I get tired of reading Mercator reports here. You hardly get what is being said here.
Which “serious clubs in need of manager already reach verbal agreement with their choice coach”? IMHO it’s only Liverpool with Arne Slot.
Bayer Munich – Tuchel will leave and already rejected by Alonso, Nagelsmann, and Rangnick. Still no coach next season.
Juventus – Allegri stay or not is not clear. No agreement with Motta.
Napoli – they are worse than us, still no coach either.
Porto – they are still unclear whether Conceicao stay or not. Hopefully not.
Inter, Roma, Madrid, Atletico, Barca, Man City, Man United, Arsenal, Leverkusen, Dortmund, PSG, no need new managers.
Or are there any serious clubs left? Please inform me. Or are your comment just to hate on Milan?
Was it not here we read that Juve has a verbal agreement with Mott’s and Napoli with Pioli?
What do you know about hate?
You keypad warriors just come hear trying to ignite your bitterness on wtf doesn’t concern.
If you can respond with reason, stay off my opinions or responses.
Isn’t that exactly what you’re doing? 🙂 “ignite your bitterness” as you call it and venting? 🙂 You sound frustrated.
I just want to see the fans reaction in here if Conceicao became Milan manager but he ended up doesn’t call or even play any primavera players at all. Are the fans gonna complaint and scream he should be fired too? Lol.
Get Motta. If we cannot because we waited too long and he is already committed to Juve, then Conceicao would be a good choice.
We are not paying 15M for De Zebri and Brighton will not give any discounts.