It has been one month since Sergio Conceicao was announced as the new head coach of AC Milan and yet, by his own admission, it feels like a year has passed.
In many ways, Conceicao’s brief tenure is simply holding a magnifying glass over what has been a tapestry of chaos in 2024-25 so far, starting with a strange summer and continuing down the rock road to a nuclear winter
The first warning sign arrived that Milan were heading for a turbulent path when the reports surfaced claiming that Julen Lopetegui was set to be hired as the new head coach. This in turn was met by protests that were so vocal that the management pulled the plug.
The people’s court was back in session not long after when it emerged that the directors had turned to Paulo Fonseca rather than an established winner like Antonio Conte or an up-and-coming profile such as Roberto De Zerbi or Thiago Motta.
If the head coach hire might not have gained unanimous approval, there was still the opportunity for the summer business to do a lot of legwork towards an entertaining season, yet confusion rained down on this front two.
In addition to signing Emerson Royal despite widespread scepticism (and even celebrations from some Spurs fans about his exit) and turning from a €40m deal for Joshua Zirkzee to a 31-year-old Alvaro Morata, headlines were made by the outgoings too.
For example, Milan renewed Luka Jovic’s deal and gave him the No.9 shirt before openly trying to ship him off late in the window to whomever expressed even a slight interest. Fonseca publicly stated his desire to keep Alexis Saelemaekers as well, yet he was sent to Roma in order to get Tammy Abraham on loan.

It didn’t take long for the first cracks to appear in a structure that wasn’t even close to being fully built yet. Fonseca perhaps knew that he was arriving and would not have full powers, but he was reminded of it when he declared in August that the summer business was done in his eyes after Youssouf Fofana’s arrival.
Then, Zlatan Ibrahimovic responded at the presentation of the same player, stating: “The coach is the coach, the club does the rest. We don’t need any more purchases, but the market closes when I say it closes.” In short, a message not to speak out of turn.
A dramatic 2-2 draw against Torino to start the season would be the sounding of the starting gun. A defeat to Parma followed, after which Yunus Musah admitted he and his team-mates ‘didn’t know whether to press high or drop in deep’. It was the first open sign that Fonseca might not be getting his message across.
After that game, Fonseca left Theo Hernandez and Rafael Leao out of the side against Lazio. Both of them came on, and the now infamous ‘cooling break saga’ resulted where the left-sided duo stood on the other side of the field while the coach spoke to the team. It led to accusations that the Portuguese coach already had faltering support in the dressing room.
Things would get even worse in Florence, during the defeat to Fiorentina. Milan got two penalties at the Stadio Artemio Franchi and it was confirmed after the game that Christian Pulisic should have taken both. What happened could only be described as mutiny: Theo took the first from him, then for the second Fikayo Tomori passed it to Tammy Abraham. Naturally, both missed.
The list goes on and on. Fonseca would wage war on the officiating crew after the loss to Atalanta which Paolo Scaroni then went against, the tug-of-war between the coach and Leao became a weekly headline and – the factor that counts above all – the results were never good enough to offset the ammunition being given to the media.
When Fonseca was eventually relieved of his duties following the draw with Roma on December 29, he looks an exhausted figure. It had been only 24 games in charge but it might as well have been ten times that amount.
One of his most striking quotes came after beating Red Star in the Champions League, when he very openly with the attitude that he saw from his team, especially in a second half which saw them surrender a lead and find it difficult to establish dominance against – with respect – an inferior team.
“I’m tired of struggling with these things, I’m not satisfied with the team’s performance. The problem is that our team is a roller coaster. Today we are fine, tomorrow I don’t know. It’s like tossing a coin and waiting to see what happens. It’s almost impressive,” he said.
“I know that I work every day to prepare the team, to do well. I don’t know if everyone in the team can say the same. We had the obligation to arrive today and do everything to win the match. And we didn’t do it.”
An insight into his man-management was given during the spell in which he repeatedly benched Leao, too. The ex-Lille boss visited the ex-Lille winger while at the training camp with Portugal ahead of the European Championship, yet from there things seemed to gradually skid downhill.
“Maybe it’s strange for you not to see him [on the pitch], but this must be normal. It’s not normal to see Leao on the bench, but it is normal for me when I say that the team is more important.” He would add: “I don’t give a f*** about the players’ names.”
The parting shot came from Fonseca when spoke to reporters as he left the stadium in his car following his sacking: “Yes. I left Milan. That’s life, that’s how it is. I have a clear conscience, I did everything I could do.”
Il saluto di Fonseca a Milanello: "Un abbraccio a tutti e grazie per il sostegno e il rispetto".
via @AntoVitiello pic.twitter.com/dWa2xfqP6G
— Milan Zone (@theMilanZone_) December 30, 2024
To provide some symmetry, we fast-forward to the present day, and more specifically after Milan suffered yet another damaging defeat, this time at the hands of Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League.
It was said that Conceicao appeared ‘almost resigned’ in his post-match press conference. A fighter like him, someone who by nature never gives up, forced to accept all this with the phrase: “I try to do what I can, but if there’s no fundamentals, if there’s no passion…”
Here we arrive at the more controversial basis of the article: Sergio Conceicao’s approach to tackling the difficult situation he inherited. To simplify the above, the former Porto manager took over a flawed squad with injury problems yes, but also a demotivated and listless one that was drifting week by week towards a very forgettable campaign.
The start couldn’t have been any better. Comeback wins against against Juventus and Inter to lift the Supercoppa lit the touchpaper and had many thinking that Milan had somehow landed the right man, just a few months later than they should have done.
Then came he difficulties in Serie A (a home draw against Cagliari and a defeat away against Juventus), with a more recent upturn through the victories against Girona and Parma, even if the most recent game was in itself chaotic.
When Conceicao arrived he signed a contract until June 2026, and Milan have an option to extend until 2027, but also a clause to unilaterally terminate the relationship at the end of this season. Thus, he effectively had six months to show he was the right man, an ‘audition’ of sorts.
Many might tread carefully in these circumstances, examining and analysing all aspects of the situation before proceeding with caution. Conceiçao has done the only thing that seems logical in his mind: to take on this half-season with his ideas, his rules and everything that comes with that.
As we lifted the lid on a bit more in a recent Substack feature, the 50-year-old has a tough character that some would say borders on abrasive, but it comes from a burning desire within to push the standards higher and to create a team that the fans are proud of.

The directors knew who and what they were hiring, while the players are learning it the hard way. The warnings and the scoldings have not been lacking in recent weeks, meaning the Rossoneri have gone from a ‘yes-man’ like Fonseca (who was also tough at times) to a bulldozer.
The Saudi Arabia trip ended up being like a boot camp of sorts, with double sessions to try and rectify the sub-par fitness levels the new coach spoke of. That was only the beginning, though, as Conceicao begun work at Milanello changing the entire culture of how the squad do things.
Some of the changes have already been reported in the media, such as flip flops and sandals not being allowed at Milanello. At first, the players were almost in a state of shock at being faced with a military sergeant who wouldn’t just do his talking in the media (as Leao suggested Fonseca did) but would tell you things from a yard away too.
Speaking of talking in the media, Conceicao has done plenty of that and this is where the more contentious aspect comes into play. For example, when he arrived he immediately pointed out some shortcomings in character and approach to work in his first press conference, referencing the two stars his predecessor clashed with.
“Theo and Leao are the same as all the others, in terms of how I manage the dressing room. It depends on what they do every day in training. They have to do their best, which maybe isn’t the best in their opinion,” he said.
“The players aren’t children but men, inside the dressing room they have to take on the responsibilities too. Many players are already fathers but then they arrive on the pitch and they are kids who need someone to get into their heads? […] The players are too pampered, and so am I. It’s a job, not a hobby.”
After the first home league game he took charge of – the 1-1 draw against Cagliari, the game before which the Supercoppa trophy was presented – he began to further intensify his criticism of the team’s attitude. As a reminder, this was after just three games.
“I expected much more at all levels. I’ve been a coach for 13 years, comparing the quality of this group to what we did, it was the weakest first half of my coaching career. We lacked rhythm, quality, and they were all in front of the goal,” he stated.
“What is lacking? A bit of everything. A bit mental, a bit physical, we have to do a lot of work to improve. There were many periods in the game that I didn’t like at all. A draw is losing two points, I’m angry because if we had done everything we had prepared there would have been… We have to improve and work.”
After the defeat against the Bianconeri – as game where Milan were totally at sea, especially in a wretched second half – Conceiçao confessed to those close to him that he has ‘never coached a team with so little character’ and such little desire to win, according to one newspaper.
Finally, in terms of quotes, we come to what was said after the Dinamo Zagreb defeat on Wednesday night, referenced above. Conceicao claims that he is ‘trying to do what he can’, and we don’t doubt that for a second, but can this kind of uncompromising results really fix such a delicate mess?
An analogy that springs to mind is the necessity for someone to pick up a dismantled jigsaw and put the pieces back together with a bit or care and precision, yet what Milan actually have is an industrial excavator determined to go for the very roots.
Don’t get us wrong, there is plenty about this club that is rotten and needs overhaul, starting from the very top. It means Conceicao has come into a very difficult situation, too, one that he is no doubt learning more about with each passing week. And yet, we must also question where the signs of progress are.
On the pitch, the Rossoneri have started games poorly and continue to do so. There are only two games so far in which the team have gone ahead under the new coach (against Cagliari and Girona), despite the five wins racked up.
This is something that must be changed sooner rather than later, which doesn’t take someone with a UEFA A licence to figure out. Yet, the issue remains uncorrected and seems to be a mental block that Conceicao – despite his very harsh words and focus on mind over tactics – has been able to bust through so far.
Christian Pulisic conceded after the defeat in Croatian that Milan are continuing to dig themselves a hole by going behind in the first half of games. His answer when asked why that might be? “We also expected a different start, but I can’t explain it, I don’t know.”
Rather than diluting his point by paraphrasing, we refer to the words of Franco Ordine and his recent column on the state of affairs at Milan. He became one of the first respected journalists to turn the microscope towards the coach as well as the squad.
“At this point we must ask ourselves with great realism what Sergio Conceiçao has given to this Milan in the few days available, with very few training sessions (about ten in total)?
“Judging from the facts lined up we must start from the series of comebacks after some disastrous incipits, and the Riyadh Supercoppa that cannot be forgotten but in terms of organised football and tactical balance almost nothing.
“All with the surplus of nervousness, also transmitted by his attitudes, which is not always a good ally in healing a group of young players left without a leader.”

It’s true that Conceicao has only had nine ‘normal’ training sessions to this point, so we are far from reaching any definitive judgement on the tactical side. But it is a good job in some ways that this is the case, given the team have already offered up halves under the Portuguese (by his own admission) that were below the level of anything witnessed under Fonseca.
In fact, there have so far been more clashes with players than there have complete performances. The incident at full-time after the Parma win involving Davide Calabria was in the headlines for days to come, and while there may have been reason, it isn’t something you want to see unfold on the field as a fan even if emotions were high.
This piece is not intended to criticise Conceicao, because his ways are known and they will not change. Instead, it serves to ask difficult questions. Will this approach get the best out of a deflated squad now? Will it do so for a sustained period of time, perhaps with the coach putting his stamp on things with signings? Is mentality the most important aspect to fix, before anything tactical?
It is also quite apt to point the blame elsewhere. Yes, the squad is poorly constructed, and the management that put it together should be in the docks. The mindset of the players probably isn’t right and needs a lot of work.
However, there are complex human dynamics at play, and until bigger overhaul can happen the focus must be on salvaging the current season so that the next one isn’t compromised with a lack of Champions League football.
Everyone should want Conceicao to succeed because that means that Milan succeed, and having to find another manager in the summer would be hitting the reset button again. The early signs though, which nobody can ignore, show a combative figure trying his best to firefight by lighting more fires.
La Repubblica reports Conceiçao didn’t clash only with Morata after Zagreb fiasco but also with Theo and Pulišić.
So, who is our coach coming summer?
Republicca likes to pull siht out of their a$$. At some point we have to stop blaming the coaches and hold the players accountable. Been pampered since Pioli. Time to grow the fcuk up and act like men. The atmosphere around the club might not be dreamy but that’s when you roll up the sleeves and work …
Three coaches same problems. Poorly built team. But since the management doesn’t know what they are doing (or going anywhere anytime soon), let Conceicao gut and reorganize this team into a cohesive unit …
Xavi is the best candidate. He’s good at developing youngsters. Players from the Primavera will play for the shirt.
How dare Conceição all them out? They are all starlets and superstars. Insta influencers and youtube rap stars!
This is why Milan is failing, it brought together a bunch of spineless, ambitionless crying babies instead of professional athletes that would rather die than lose.
Mister has the right attitude, whoever can adopt that mentality, should stay, rest can go on their merry way.
Well said brother
Based on the evidence it sure looks as if the players have decided to settle on mediocrity. Concencaio wants to win at all costs but only a few players are with him. Others just want more Insta-followers I guess.
Sudah Saatnya Pemilik Klub beserta Direksi mengundurkan diri dari sekarang. Musim panas semuanya mesti di reset ulang. Dari Si AMERIKA pemilik hingga pemain yg merusak suasana tim mesti di ganti semuanya
“The players aren’t children but men, inside the dressing room they have to take on the responsibilities too. Many players are already fathers but then they arrive on the pitch and they are kids who need someone to get into their heads? […] The players are too pampered, and so am I. It’s a job, not a hobby.”
There was a lot of fans calling for Conte to be hired in the summer and I always said that if they hire him he will either sell the couple players everyone wants to put on a pedestal or he will break them mentally. Conte is even a bigger drill sergeant than Conceição and in 6 months both Napoli “stars” are playing elsewhere while he is on the rop of the table with lesser known players but players that actually give their all every game.
No matter what coach Milan hire, as long as you have the divas on the team there will be a conflict.
Milan is inconsistent because the team is built around players who are inconsistent. Your pillars in the squad has to be your most consistent players, not your most inconsistent. That’s Milan biggest problem and biggest mistake, building a team around players like Leao, Theo, Tomori.
Inter is built around Lautaro, Barella and Bastoni. If those 3 are their worst players in the majority of the games inter would be right next to Milan on the table and every other player in the squad will look poor. But Simone Inzaghi doesn’t need to wonder every game which version of those 3 will show up, while Milan coaches wonder what version of Theo, Leao or Tomori they’ll get from 1 minute to the other. At Milan fans are too busy overanalyzing the fringe players performances while they have a long list of excuses why their “super stars” are playing worse than the fringe players.
Time to move on from them.
Conte would probably have changed how we play in a good positive way. But the problem with Conte is that he can resign just like that if he doesn’t like something lol.
With this administration Conte would not get the players he would like so he was not a fit for Milan
Well said.
The Napoli /conte comparison makes no sense.
Osimehn has been in dispute with Napoli before Conte arrived. Kvara asked to leave and Conte expressed how disappointed he was to see him leave
Isn’t Theo in dispute with Milan about his contract, Maldini being fired, Pioli being fired, Castillejo and Brahim Diaz being gone, or whatever other excuse people use to justify Theo being the worst player on the team?
They had 2 “stars” that thought they were better than they actually are and didn’t want the hard nose coaching, arguing with the previous coach Rudi Garcia. A lot of similarities for not to make sense.
Also, the point that you missed is that Napoli is doing better without their 2 “stars”
Gotta agree with you. Flashes of brilliance and inconsistencies are being rewarded by expensive wages and renewals, while the hard workers aren’t being reinforced. Sends out the wrong message.
Hello
Listen up listen up everybody
We are not one of feyenord, city, utd or pool
Who are we?
A mediocre midtable “team” (ie. bunch of individuals). That’s who we are.
We have so many rotten eggs theo, leao, morata, pulisic,
While some players need tough love, too strict could also kill the team’s mood. Look at Ancelotti; he is the most calm and chill coach and players play and die for him. Even Mourinho who is such a controversy is loved by almost all his players. Conceicao needs to thread with care.
Sell Leao, Theo and Tomori
“given the team have already offered up halves under the Portuguese (by his own admission) that were below the level of anything witnessed under Fonseca.
Exactly. Tactically Fonseca was superior. His supposed problem was not reaching the players and getting them to play hard on a consistent basis.
Now under Conceicoa, we have poor/no tactics and we still can’t can’t get the players to play hard on a consistent basis.
Should have let Fonseca finish out the season and see if he couldn’t have improved the results because the performances were definitely better.
I hear Ancelotti is leaving Real MAdrid at the end of the season…Maybe that’s why Milan only gave Fonseca and Conceicao six month deals.
We can dream at least.
The problem under Fonseca was that he is a coach who likes to dominate possession, while Milan is full with players that are only good for playing on the counter attack after playing provincial style football under Pioli fof 5 years. Fonseca didn’t have the players with characteristics that fit his coaching.
It’s hilarious that some fans wanted De Zerbi, Xavi or Sarri, who also want to dominate possession, with this set of players. Outside of running with the ball they can’t do much of anything else. Cant make the simplest passes or crosses. Thats why even Conceição says that they lack fundamentals.
Setuju dengan tulisan di atas tetapi artikel ini tidak akan pernah cukup untuk menjelaskan bagaimana keadaan milan kami. Kami dukung pelatih, kami juga mendukung seluruh pemain karena kalian lebih memahami diri kalian sendiri, tapi untuk manajemen kami mengharapkan Ricci dan Gimenez untuk kalian berikan pada kami berapapun harganya
than let’s kick off these miserable ‘stars’ and buy new players. I have first idea about players to sell: 1) Calabria; 2) Tomori; 3) Leao; 4) Abraham. I could give more names next time.
.
bravo Sergio Conceicao. 100% support for you. someone need to back order in the club.
AC Milan thrives on discipline, structure, and a winning mentality—values Sergio Conceição embodies. His hard-line approach is not the problem; it’s the solution. Success demands intensity and accountability, and those unwilling to adapt must question their place at the club. Milan is bigger than any individual, and under Conceição, the Rossoneri can build something truly special.
3 coaches same issues. I fully back the coach and am fine with these lazy players leaving. Every game is undone by individual errors. The players are the common denominator. Milan are out ran by the likes of Parma and company? Like shevchenko said they don’t work hard on the pitch, it’s not the Milan way. I’ll take the six months of tensions.
Milan have tried three different coaching personalities and gotten the same results. It’s time for a bulldozer.
In Australia we had highly influential prime minister in the 1970s that came to power with a radical change agenda. When we ran into difficulties he famously said “I will either crash or crash through.”
I think Conceicao has a similar approach.
From his perspective management can either support his agenda or sack him and continue to flounder.
This team does not want to play…
I wanted to make sure I have this a good read before I commented. This read reflects exactly my thoughts especially the questions being asked at the end (“Will this approach get the best out of a deflated squad now? Will it do so for a sustained period of time, perhaps with the coach putting his stamp on things with signings? Is mentality the most important aspect to fix, before anything tactical?” …all fundamental questions). However I’ll put it this way. For me it starts at the top. If you don’t have a proper management structure, goals and objectives that come with it then the rest fails. I questioned during the summer the squad construction, even after the hype once more of having achieved a “positive” transfer window. I just didn’t see any formation which we built the team around. We still haven’t btw. It was all “opportunities ” and this is from the top.
Next was the coach. We really need to define a coach based on the type of players we have and the responses thereof. We had two coaches so far…one a soft spoken hard man and the a hard spoken hard man. Maybe this team is not for hard men (we after all played well and were in harmony under Pioli…this is the reason I believe there are different levels to man management when it comes to coaches). They might need a Pioli/Ranieri type and all that is fine and dandy but again….this comes from the top. And having the ability to know your personnel is key to solving your jigsaw puzzle. However if it’s the hard man type your are trying to employ then you need to stick with him. There needs to be support..again from the top…to show the team the new path being taken. But undermining your coach from the get go like with Fonseca and now with Sergio (not being by his side in recent times) sends signal to players that they’re in charge and perhaps it’s not worth their effort to get behind the coach. Even the length of the coach contract indicates a lack of confidence in his abilities. Perhaps a page from Berlusconi’s book is in order….whoever was not going to play for Sacchi will have to find a different team….and that’s a speech with some of the best ever players in the history of football. Simple…yet quite effective.
In terms of actual game play I haven’t seen an improvement but there are some mitigating circumstances (no preseason, unfit players).. however even with that being said, I don’t really hold out much hope for meaningful improvement in the table this season. The writing is on the wall and these are the fruits you reap from what was sown a long time ago.
Just to add to the coaching part. I don’t mind if in the summer we made a punt on Motta, De Zerbi or Sarge. Any three would make sense from various points of view. Motta, new and up and coming plus our team seemed built for his style. DeZerbi also along the same lines and one of the younger coaches. Sarge has a good resume albeit in the Portuguese league. BUT to gamble on Fonseca is criminal. We knew exactly what we’re going to get. He wasn’t great at Roma, and proved us correct by not being great with us either. That move didn’t make sense from that perspective and it’s a struggle to see how they justify that hire
I think Calabria was made an example of. Somebody mentioned what conceicao has brought to this team and I agree.
While everything looks doom and gloom at the moment the dust will eventually settle. But if they’re doing this they better stick with conceicao though the good times and the bad because there’s probably going to be very bad times coming.
We’ve had privelaged, babied players for a very long time and with a new coach this season and things not going well th players flexed their muscles and fonseca in as sacked.
In came conceicao who is a man of absolute discipline and he wants his players to show some respect and discipline and players bit back and they got canned. I think Morata and Calabria were signs of this. Why else would you get rid of a player you just brought in 6 months ago and get rid of a captain whos been here their whole career?
It made a statement that if you aren’t ready to give your all to this team and be disciplined, there is the door. No matter who you are. We know conceicao demands a lot and he has the right to do so. His way won him many trophies and we’ve went off the rails. Give him what he wants and in the future maybe milan can finally actually be a force of a team again. I thought conceicao might be a little too much for the moment we’re in but I also don’t know behind the scenes.
The only way this can prove fatal is if the management go and fire conceicao come end of season or next season. Give him what he wants and let him work and I’m sure there will be light at the end of the tunnel. Look to Conte for example who’s very similar. Hes got his team fighting for the scudetto who finished 10th last season. Without osimhen and kvara. Top players will come and go but they’re never bigger than the team.