Given the poor start to the season that AC Milan have made, there are some doubts that have arisen regarding the choice to appoint Paulo Fonseca as the head coach.
Milan were linked with a number of different coaches during the weeks that passed after Stefano Pioli departed, and the choice fell on the Portuguese after he left Lille once his contract was up. It was a gamble, a bit like playing Lucky Block Casino to help pass the time.
Background
Pioli departed as the head coach following the end of last season, the media began speculating who might be the new man in charge of Milan and there was a presumption that the club would turn to a more proven ‘winner’.
Nonetheless, Julen Lopetegui seemed very close to arriving but the fan reaction was that strong that the management seemed to perform a U-turn and he ended up at West Ham. Then, Fonseca became the main candidate and he eventually arrived having left Lille after two years.
Fonseca arrived to a very mixed reaction among supporters, those who believed that Milan needed someone with a bigger reputation to take the project to the next level, but the preseason was positive and excitement built.
A bad start
Points are what make prizes, and it would be fair to say that Fonseca is not in a queue to collect any prizes at the moment given the stuttering start that his team have made.
Milan have not started a season this poorly since 1938-39 and 1930-31. In both of these, they clinched just one point in the first three games, whereas this season they have two.
Not only that, but the defensive record is an absolute shambles with six goals conceded after three games. The new boss pledged to defend differently, yet things seem to be getting worse compared to the end of the Stefano Pioli era.
The Diavolo have conceded at least two goals in each of their first three games of a Serie A season for the first time since 1983-84, when Ilario Castagner was in charge during a very turbulent time.
The alternatives
Di Marzio spoke to Sky and he offered some of the background on how Giorgio Furlani, Geoffrey Moncada, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Gerry Cardinale settled on Fonseca, a name that certainly didn’t unite the fans in terms of being a statement of ambition.
“Many names have been mentioned, even though, in the internal process, the names were Lopetegui and Fonseca,” he said.
“The first was Lopetegui, then for a whole series of reasons, including the negative reaction of the fans on social media, even if I can say that it was for this reason that Milan said no to Lopetegui…”
The host said: “I’ll interrupt you: Allegri, Sarri, De Zerbi, Tuchel were available…”
Di Marzio added: “They were evaluated, but never contacted. None of them ever spoke to Milan or Milan presented them with the project.”
Will Milan live to regret that call? Time will tell.
