AC Milan have chosen the man that they want to become their next head coach and it is Paulo Fonseca, who in turn is very eager to return to Italy and start a new challenge.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport report, there was no shortage of competition, in both senses. Milan could have given a contract to Conte, Flick, Tuchel, De Zerbi, Conceiçao or Galtier, while Fonseca could have extended with Lille and or gone to Marseille.
However, they chose each other and in a few days everything could become official. There is no total agreement yet, there are no signatures, but the path is clear. Fonseca has always been in Milan’s mind and is appreciated for his style, on and off the pitch.
On the pitch he loves attacking football, he works with young players, in the last season he strangely lost some attacking effectiveness but he reduced the number of goals conceded. Away from the cameras he is considered a coach ready to work as a team and share the club’s choices, without asking for the moon. This was also important.
Milan immediately considered him a candidate: Fonseca was the first alternative to Julen Lopetegui when Pioli lost the bench, and he surpassed the other welcome coaches when Milan ended talks with Lopetegui and looked for an alternative.
Continuing Pioli’s legacy
Milan made the parting with Stefano Pioli official yesterday, which certainly wasn’t a mystery. Pioli remains the coach of the Scudetto, of the Champions League semi-final, of the recovery from mediocrity.
Today the fans will applaud him at San Siro on a strange evening, much more linked to next season than to the current one, which for Milan ended almost a month ago. Fonseca’s choice can also be explained this way, because there are many points of contact with Pioli.
Milan clearly wanted to focus on a man who, in his approach to the profession, resembles Pioli in some ways. On the pitch the differences are many and evident but the basic choice is the same: both build with harmony, not with disruptive choices.
The timing
Everyone believes that next week will be the week where handshakes and signatures come. Milan and Fonseca spoke a lot and found an agreement on almost everything. The next few days will be used to define the details and perhaps arrive at an announcement.
When? It’s difficult to say now, but Milan will play a friendly match against Roma in Perth, Australia on Friday. It is a commercial initiative and Pioli will not coach – Daniele Bonera will – but it is possible that Milan will wait for that to be done before announcing the name of their new coach.
In any case, it is possible that Fonseca will end up signing a two-year contract with an option for a third year. In all of this, it remains to be seen how the fans’ reaction will be.
Milan fans on social media have always expressed themselves clearly and, to respond to Inter’s dominance they asked for Antonio Conte, Sergio Conceiçao or Thiago Motta. Roberto De Zerbi was also appreciated by many.
Milan listened to the fans when they asked not to sign Lopetegui but then (logically) remained faithful to their principles and focused on Fonseca, on the list from day 1. There was an exploratory phone call with De Zerbi, with Thiago Motta more than one attempt, but the latter preferred the Juventus project.
Work to be done
Fonseca will watch on TV tonight and, barring any unforeseeable surprises, he will work on his Milan throughout June. He will have a new No.9 and a right-back, almost certainly a central defender.
He will have to evaluate the injury issue, which has been a problem for both him and Pioli, and understand how to use Rafael Leao, Christian Pulisic, Theo Hernandez and Ismael Bennacer if they also remain.
He will have to give Milan shape and after all, it runs in the family: his father, who was a metal worker, did the same with metals.
Good luck to him.
“I have in mind that Milan must always be in the Champions League. That’s it, I have no other goals. You ask me: do you like winning the Scudetto? Yes, very much. But it is not our number one goal. We are a global club, we must be in the Champions League because we want our fans around the world to see us. That’s how I think.”
Scaroni, 2023
Ih my goodness.
He really said that?
That is Scaroni.
Bro that’s a direct quote. 100% no lies detected, from the horse’s mouth. Copy and paste in google and it will show the article and all 😁
When folks say here they’re only interested in top 4, its true..enjoy 🤗 lol
(Which makes the firing of Pioli baffling but that’s for another day)
I think maintaining Pioli as a coach has become more and more difficult considering the atmosphere of distrust that started to surround the club following our failures in october/november and then in april.
But this quote is one of the reasons that I’m scared that the management is looking to reach UCL with the most profitable way and the most agreable coach to them rather than a vision to improve the current Milan.
Why did they move on from Pioli? He’s been a guaranteed UCL finisher.
Scaroni is equal parts puppet and idiot… What an absolute waste of a figurehead…
Boring🤭
Hahahaha 😂😂😂 I’m running out of popcorn 🍿🤣
🤣🤣🤣😅
Fonseca will get fired before Christmas and they will rehire Pioli again.
Out of every coach available, Fonseca?
It’s the Zlatan effect
I am just dissapointed because i really want milan to hire de Zerbi instead of him.
But if fonseca is milan coach for next season, then let‘s support him, let him do his job first..
Let‘s see how the team perform before judging him..
I remembered a lot of milan fans were against Piolis hiring back then. But Pioli proved them wrong. He did a good job except for the last 2 seasons where he was quite predictable and reached his tactical limit..
At the end thanks Pioli for scudetto and everything you did..
I don’t want a repeat of Pioli though (a scudetto followed by 6 consecutive derby losses). I want Milan to win UCL, scudetto, and derby regularly.
We won’t have a choice but to get behind Fonseca if he is the next coach. And who knows, maybe with Milan’s players he’ll work better and get better results.
But it’s the decision to bring him of all the available candidates that’s hard to process. There were better options.
Inter confirmed Taremi and Zielinski already.
Juve – Di Gregorio, Motta, Calafiori soon maybe Zirkzee
Milan – Zoro from Mozambique
u sacked a coach that finished 2nd in italy just to hire a coach that finished 4th in Portugal…is this a joke or what?
All of you that supported red bird, when they came are foolish ingrate, the same ungrateful beings who were okay with maldini leaving, the same stupid people who were okay with tonali being sold, the same idiots who are okay with leao leaving (coming soon), and you people now are okay with pioli leaving, for a useless coach, if the manager where really serious they would have gotten de zerbi or a world class coach, i no longer support any club, because my team ac milan are going to be a arsenal for the next 5years
5 years? That’s extremely optimistic. We’re probably in for “at least 4th” for the next 10 years. And even that’s optimistic.
Thanks, Elliotazzuri…. No one insults those of us who aren’t wailing at the sky all day long, right Ted?
Pioli wanted to much after the scudetto. Startet to experiment with different tactics and stuff. We were used to go alm out attack and play free football. I clearly remember the games that came the season after we won the scudetto and his change in tactics.
So we had to improve our performances and move away from Pioli’s tactical limits… BUT… apparently Fonseca is to be our next coach in whom Milan want
“a man who, in his approach to the profession, resembles Pioli in some ways”…
In other words we are moving on from Pioli to Pioliball 2.0? I’m having a hard time computing this decision.. Does Fonseca not have ideas of his own?
Let’s give him the chance to show is coaching skills… Before you judge him. And if he is not doing well enough let him be fired