Antonio Conte’s historic assistant Christian Stellini has given an interesting interview in which he suggests that AC Milan have a project that would be a good fit for the coach.
Milan have been linked with about a dozen different head coaches since the news broke from various sources that Stefano Pioli’s tenure would be coming to an end once the current season finishes.
Despite the fact that he is out of work and there are questions about whether he is a good fit for Milan, Conte’s name is one that has constantly emerged.
Il Mattino even reported yesterday that the Rossoneri management are planning to meet the agents of the Italian coach this week to see if there are the right conditions to potentially move forward.
In an interview given to TeleLombardia, Conte’s deputy Stellini answered some questions on the criteria for choosing both a project and a player while he spoke about the possibilities for the future. Radio Rossonera relayed his words.
Is Antonio ready to return to work?
“The desire to return is great. However, the year was spent in the name of work, of updating. A great deal of work was done in the winter because Antonio always wants to update and improve. In the next adventure, if there is one, there will be some tactical innovations: we have worked a lot on this. Conte wants to bring more unpredictability and modernity to the game.”
There’s a lot of talk about the fact that Conte is a difficult coach to manage…
“If we are talking about the difficulty of management, this is common to all important coaches like Conte, even those who are growing today. It is never easy to create synergies between club and coach, because the club always has results and economic needs that do not always coincide with the needs of the coach who wants to win every match.
“Then there are coaches who hide this thing and others who make it transparent: Conte is transparent, very demanding, but has always achieved great results. And this is the center of the discussion.”
It is also said that he has big demands when it comes to the mercato…
“If I look at Conte’s career, I see a coach who asked for ambitious projects, not players. And ambitious projects don’t necessarily mean expensive players.
“The only player specifically asked for by Conte was Lukaku, who then scored 60 goals for Inter and won a Scudetto: who wouldn’t have taken him at that moment? And then he was sold for double the money.
“This myth also needs to be dispelled: Conte has always made plans to grow, both in sporting and financial terms, and he has always achieved the result.”
Does Conte simply want a team ready to win?
“I don’t think there are limits. These are labels and sometimes these things about Conte make people laugh. Conte is like everyone else, not someone who would only choose certain types of projects.
“Lately, it has been mentioned that Leao was close to Inter, who wasn’t pursued in Conte’s time, but going back in time, if you signed Lukaku you wouldn’t sign Leao.
“What was the best choice at that moment? At that moment the best choice was Lukaku, then it was known about Leao that he was a big prospect, but a coach chooses based on his needs. It’s ridiculous to have brought this up.”
So does he still like Leao?
“I think everyone likes Leao a bit… he always likes great players.”
What would Conte choose between Milano and Turin [Milan or Juventus]?
“He would take the project, regardless of the economic issue.”
Could the Milan project suit Conte?
“I can’t tell you this. I’m just saying that all the big teams, like Milan, can become suitable projects for Conte: there is no preclusion on anyone’s part. Antonio and I have never talked about it, eh… Then how can you not associate a great team with great coaches, but this applies to all teams and to many great coaches.”
What kind of a team are Milan?
“Milan is a strong team, which is second in the table. Of course there is a gap with Inter that needs to be filled, Pioli has done great things and in Conte’s history these gaps have been filled. Conte arrived at Juve with Milan in front and Juve returned to winning ways, Conte went to Inter after Juve had won nine Scudetti and that streak was ended.”
Some interesting comments from his assistant…Conte’s PR team is hard at work. Whether Milan budge and give him a look in is a remote possibility.
Conte is very clear about his demands and his assistant does not do much to hide it. Let’s see how this ends.
He’s not wrong.
I said yesterday, even if he “did a Conte” and self destructed in year three, years one and two would probably be very fruitful and we’d be stronger for it.
He’s not my first choice but I’d 100% back it.
Milan MUST aim to win the Champions League, so we don’t need Antonio “CL FLOP” Conte.
Conte No we disagree instead Pioli should remain not conte
If we’re serious about Conte and he changes his salary demands I would definitely consider him. I can’t stand the guy but I have respect for him. He turned me when he took over the Italian national team and did wonders with them and every team after that he’s found success.
He may be a boring coach and demand things and put blame on owners but maybe that’s exactly what we need. We need these players to have a winning mentality and there’s nobody better than Conte for that