Stefano Pioli’s fate is now sealed: at the end of the season he will say goodbye to AC Milan after nearly five years in charge. Thus, the mission to replace begins.
As Tuttosport (via MilanNews) writes this morning, elimination from the Europa League against Roma has drastically reduced the chances of Pioli remaining for next season, but he will remain in charge until the end of the current campaign.
The fans’ favourite is still Antonio Conte, at least in the eyes of the paper, but his name does not seem to be of interest at the moment to the Milan managers who are apparently looking for a different profile, more inclined for example to work with young players.
In this sense, Thiago Motta, Roberto De Zerbi, Julen Lopetegui, Paulo Fonseca, Francesco Farioli, Raffaele Palladino, Alberto Gilardino, Marco Rose and Marcelo Gallardo like them.
However, there is also another idea that has emerged in the last few hours: Mark van Bommel. The former Rossoneri midfielder is at the helm of Antwerp and last season they completed a league and cup double.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic knows him very well because they were team-mates at Milan. The Dutchman, who this year finished the regular season in third place (though he started the season season badly with three defeats), knows the club and Serie A well and would have no fears with the pressure of Italian football.
This is a very good idea, apart from him being a winner, he has a fighting mentality, he will obviously give our youth a chance, and he will improve on our technical and tactical play, and will use what is given. He will not be demanding, he is a modern Coach…..
If you look at his career from Sittard/ PSV, Barca, Bayern and Milan, well you will notice he has played and been coached by very good Coaches, even with the Dutch National team, so he knows how to balance a team, give reference to tactical and technical aspects, he has both European and Italian experience, which we badly need, out of all the Coaches mentioned, he will be the perfect fit, he knows the environment, is a Milanista,he will enhance our youngsters, give us a clear way of playing, and not demand too much spending, which we fans need to be realistic with this management , he knows Bonera, who is a coach in the team, he knows Abate and Ibra who wants him in the club, it’s a very good idea, he is a winner and fighter, both as a Coach and as a player…..let’s do it.
He was in Milan for a year and a half… I think calling him a Milanista is a stretch.
He played, fought and bled and won with Milan, he won 2 trophies, even if he played for just one game he is a Milanista, we need a clear and new direction, the most important thing is he can work with what we have at present, both the snr team, youth team, and the players we have o loan, then with very targeted and precise buys, we could have a good team, most of the players we have are good, it’s the Coach that’s not innovative enough, or incapable of bringing out the last bits from them that will push them forward, the most important thing is players like Kjear, Giroud and Florenzi leave, we can then repair the team and add key elements of our youth players into the team, no need to drastic cuts…
I remember he was very happy at Milan and publicly said so in the media.
He was very good, famously taking Pirlo out of the Allegri’s squad(I never ever forgave Allegri for his treatment of Pirlo) and showed tactical and technical quality in the base of midfield ,a departure from his “bullying bastard” days at his previous clubs.
He is a very interesting choice and I believe the club is in need of a tactically disciplined coach who can restore solidity to the side a la capello after Sacchi.
I’m the same. Allegri benching Pirlo still keeps me awake nights. Has to be top 10 one of the dumbest moves ever made by a coach in the history of football.
We did have excellent midfielders at the time and Van bommel was fantastic but not finding regular place in the squad for Pirlo was ridiculous and totally disrespectful.
He felt as such tooas he tore serie A to shreds with Conte afterwards ,for 3 years.
Yes but the player that he was doesn’t translate into a good coach necessarily. We cant gamble with the next coach.
well said.. but you can say the same of brocchi, seedorf, inzaghi but they all failed.. milan is not antwerp
Completely out of left field… but makes sense since TuttoSport is reporting this.
Seemed like everyone knows what zlatan wants or is thinking. Funny.
The story makes sense, and Zlatan is someone who has a taste of many leagues in Europe, and he understands that right now we need someone who understands Italian and European football, who has experience, and has won trophies I Europe, Italian coaches rarely have the courage to give youth a chance, we need Van Brommels experience, tranquility and ideas, and above all someone the fans will love and support immediately, because they share history, and he has fought and bled for our colours.
bringing in VanBommel is the equivalent of signing Jovic on the last day, for free.
Julien lopetegui or Paulo Fonseca is the idea for acmilan success
Find me a Mark van Bommel 2.0 for this midfield!
The bigger question is, can get still play DM? 🤭😅