With Napoli travelling to San Siro tonight, there is naturally a lot of attention on Antonio Conte and his past against AC Milan.
Calciomercato.com even describes Milan-Napoli as ‘Conte’s game’. It is not only because he has faced the Rossoneri with Juventus and Inter, but also because he could have become the new coach of Milan over the summer.
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When with the farewell of Stefano Pioli it was time to change course but the management did not go with Conte and instead the choice fell on Paulo Fonseca, who will be the Italian’s opponent in tonight’s game.
From the wiretaps that emerged in recent weeks regarding the ‘Doppia Curva’ investigation, even the Curva Sud were pushing to hire him to replace Pioli. Conte addressed the topic a few weeks ago, clearly knowing nothing about it – having had no contact – but admitting he was flattered.
Another aspect to consider is that Zlatan Ibrahimovic made his thoughts clear in June when Fonseca was unveiled: “With the criteria we had, Conte’s name didn’t come up, it wasn’t what we were looking for. By taking Fonseca, Milan has a coach, not a manager.”
The reply was not long in coming: “I consider myself more of a manager, I want to have a say. Maybe somewhere else this could have been a nuisance.” It was a predictable exchange, given the strong character of both.
Who knows what would have happened if Conte had been hired by Milan. However, the facts cannot be distorted: the start of the Fonseca has been turbulent for Milan, while the Partenopei are top by four points and can deal a hammer blow to any Scudetto hopes tonight.
Ma,, Conte sure has a lot of friends in the media. So happy we didn’t get this guy. Everyone getting carried away with Napoli. They have had by far the easiest schedule so far. I think they have played 1 team in the top half of the table so far (Juve) and they drew 0-0. I think they’ll end up finishing 3rd or 4th by the end of things.
Good for you.
We also had easy schedule but couldn’t capitalized. That is the difference between Football Manager and High School PE teacher.
No, We’ve had a much harder schedule than Napoli. Look it up. They haven’t played Inter , Roma, Lazio or even teams as good as Udinese or Torino. They have played Como, Lecce, Empoli, Parma.. They have played 1 good team so far and they drew.
Good teams, bad teams. They’re collecting points. And we all know it’s the collecting of points what matters if you wanna be first.
And don’t forget this players have been pretty successful in collecting points just 2 years ago.
But whine some more how conte is rubbish and napoli hasn’t been tested. It’s cute.
And you keep on cheering for other teams and other coaches while hoping for “your team” to fail because you don’t like the management. That’s a true fan.
Wow, everything you wrote is wrong.
I don’t like our management this dude says. Then some other dudes call me a redbird lover.
Bunch of incels
Yeah, we drew against Torino, Lazio, lost against Parma and Fiorentina. Also in Champions league we’ve been bad. In the end, you don’t have to win all the match. As long as you are collecting more points than the others. And so far, we were dropping much points from lesser team
Conte will be out for blood.
Of course Antonio Conte “was not we want”… because he’s not cheap… that’s why.
Ibra could have handled that better. U don’t want to burn bridges like that especially on potential future coaches. He needs PR prep. He could have said something along the lines of he respects the work of other coaches but they’ve come to an agreement with all parties/ needs of the team or something similar..saying u want a coach not a manager is a direct shot.