Moretto: Milan ‘seriously’ interested in experienced Spanish manager

By Ben Dixon -

The rumours regarding AC Milan’s next manager have not been silenced, and with the emergence of a brand new name, it does not look like the situation will quieten anytime soon.

Although Zlatan Ibrahimovic recently stated that Milan are ‘happy’ with Stefano Pioli’s management of the club, there remain questions about when the Italian’s tenure will end and then, following that, who will be trusted with the reigns.

Recent reports have suggested that Antonio Conte has been ‘offered’ the job, whereas others state that the Rossoneri see Thiago Motta as the favoured candidate. However, today has brought a new name into the mix.

Matteo Moretto has reported on Relevo that former Sevilla, Real Madrid and Spain manager Julen Lopetegui is a name being considered by Milan. The Spaniard was last in charge of Wolverhampton Wanderers but left due to the finances of the Midlands club.

The report suggests that Lopetegui’s name is the one most favoured currently at the Diavolo, given his ability to implement winning mentalities and develop young players – which are two of the most desired traits for the new manager to have in RedBird’s eyes.

Tags AC Milan Julen Lopetegui

26 Comments

    1. You’re right. Why would we go for a proven winner of a coach given Juve are getting better and Inter are on another level…

      We should go for another gamble with the coach. 🙂

      1. A proven coach who will fight for one title, who will crash in Europe, all while spending way too much and leaving the check on the table…. all we will have built to pay for the new stadium, our financial situation that allows us to pay for decent players, all of that would go.

        Putting the future of the club on a coach for possibly one title: that’s the gamble.

        1. He’s definitely not a long term solution. But he could push Milan in the right direction. Current Inter and Juve have developed on top of the backbone he built at both clubs.

          Milan could use 2-3 years of winners’ mentality to then proceed to the next coach.

      2. Conte roasted publicly then abandoned his team. No class at all. Conte dominated a weak league, even at Inter the league was weaker than today

      3. what Conte has proven, is that he cannot handle mid-week games and flops in Europe games.
        Maybe he’ll change but his record is clear in this area.

        On the other hand, don’t expect miracles from him. Even at Tottenham, with two solid strikers like Kane and Son he wasn’t able to do a lot.
        Also at Tottenham, iirc, when we were playing against them, they also had an injury crisis with many players injured, so maybe his staff is not that great at solving physical issues (something that we currently blame Pioli and I’d expect we want to improve). I also don’t think that he’s left on good terms in many of the teams where he was, he’s a coach that likes to either get what he wants or starts flipping tables.

        I’m not saying he’s not a good coach, he can be great in the right environment, but let’s not see things black and white, there are a lot of factors to consider.

    1. I don’t think people are rejecting Conte because of his record. I think the rejection is one of style and transfer market operations. Are you prepared to sell Leao and embark on another summer of massive changes (although TBF, this may happen anyway)? Are you prepared to park the bus? And after all that, are you prepared to see him walk after two seasons? I would like a manager who is more like Guardiola, Klopp, etc., not more like Conte, Mourinho and Allegri.

      1. Good defense wins leagues. And honestly, for the “defensive ” approach yall people say he has , his teams almost always score 80+ goals a season

          1. You mean historically or recently ? Because historically A LOT of teams with defensive mentalities won the UCL including AC Milan.

      2. I am prepared to sell Leao and BALANCE the team. Not overhaul it. Lone 9 striker position is a dying. Players like Giroud aren’t growing on trees. We have to evolve and if that means playing with two up front under Conte, I’m good with it.

    2. Winning is not as simple as just appointing the coach that wins.

      How many billions more have to be spent by clubs before they understand the point that history can teach for free. Look at what was spent by Moratti at Inter in the 90s and the early 00s. Look at what Real spent on the ‘Galacticos’ for a return that might as well be jack sh1t. Manchester United has done nothing for 10 years despite massive investment. Chelsea is in the rut now. Milan has only recently emerged from a banter era spanning a decade in which it spent about a billion Euros. How many ‘winning’ coaches did these clubs appoint with nothing to show for it?

      Winning titles and creating dynastic success is discussed like there is a button that can be pushed, if a club has the right amount of money. This is despite the reality that it rarely works.

      You don’t just add Conte to Milan and expect success. Leao is not compatible with a 3-5-2. We don’t have decent strikers who function in a system. We don’t have the midfielders who can dictate the tempo of a game to play a 3-4-3.

      Sure, we can sell Leao to fund a complete change in direction to pursue a Conte project. But you can’t just assume Conte is going to win a title. Inter is 5 years ahead of us down that track. Juve is too and it’s going to get better.

      Where does that leave us in the 18 to 24 months it will take Conte to lose interest? With a squad built for a system very few of the best and even fewer of the brightest upcoming coaches play.

      Surely you have to assume we are as much a chance of becoming Tottenham as we are Inter.

      Milan’s current project is a good one and its producing good results. The squad depth is starting to fill out. There is going to be some money to spend to address the existing weaknesses at the end of the season. Primavera is producing very talented players.

      It takes time to build something sustainable.

      We are closer to the desired goal now than what we would be starting match day 1 next season with Conte and a revamped squad.

      Add the tactical innovation of Motta, the availability of a starting calibre CB pair each week (which is a matter of fitness not signing multiple players), a midfielder who can run the show and a #9 who can contribute tactically and structurally and I we’re every change of winning the Scudetto next season.

      Or does Zlatan not think Motta (who has won everything there is to win multiple times) is enough of a ‘winner’?

  1. How can we even consider scudetto with I ter winner, not long ago former inter coach a fcking interista as a future Milan coach. For god sake

    1. Stefano Pioli is a former inter coach and self-proclaimed Inter fan, as is most of his coaching staff.
      Do you imagine that Conte, an ex inter coach, and Motta, an ex inter player, will come to Milan and sabotage the team because of his previous ties with inter?
      These people are professionals.
      If Motta is hired and messes up with Milan his coaching career will stagnate and he will have to go back to coaching mid to bottom table teams.
      Conte left Juventus, where he spent his whole life to coach inter and win the scudetto. Conte reasoning why he wants to coach Milan is so he can be the first coach to win a scudetto with the Big 3 Italian clubs.
      So both of those coaches have incentives to make it work at Milan despite their ties with inter and Juventus.
      Sinisa Mihajlovic was also an inter player and an assistant coach, and yet he was Milan biggest fan while he was coaching Milan. No Milan coach from the banter era was loved by Milan fans outside of Miha.
      Who they played and coached for means absolutely nothing.

  2. Anyone but conte!
    Let him go somewhere else where he can cry about signing players that he wanted or blaming the players that he had.

  3. Conte would go against what the club has set. Short term success he’s the man but longterm, he’s not. Not to mention he’s argumentative. He’s worst than Mourinho when it come to turning the squad against him. Let’s not forget he’s the guy who made Costa sit for half season, he’s the same guy who criticize the board for getting in form Eriksen for a cheap and benched him.

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