There are three coaches tied to the AC Milan job currently, and it seems a resurgence is occurring, in both senses.
Milan need change this summer, the season has only proved this. A sporting director will soon arrive, and that is, of course, Igli Tare. However, he is not the only arrival needed, nor will he be the only arrival.
The summer will be full of signings and sales it seems, with the Rossoneri planning a bit of a refresh, with none of the stars really ‘safe’ for one reason or another. But they will need a coach, and it will not be Sergio Conceicao.
At present, there are many suggestions of Vincenzo Italiano – and there is hope after a meeting between him and Bologna yesterday. However, Tuttosport writes that ‘the feeling is that he will remain’.
So, there could be a need to look elsewhere.
Maurizio Sarri, who was, at one point, the favourite, is losing his place in the running due to his relationship with Tare. So, three remain.
One, of course, is Italiano, then there is Massimiliano Allegri (though he has reportedly offered himself to Napoli), and finally, Thiago Motta, who could go from ‘darkness to renaissance’ with the Diavolo. A story that nearly saw a wedding 12 months ago, perhaps back on the cards.
The only one that bothers me, and not because he’s a bad coach is italiano. It just makes us look like we do not plan anything. He had one good game (a cup final) against us, and now he’s a frontrunner? If he is that good, why havent they assess him before? . It is so reactive, makes us look like we are just chasing the next shiny thing.
I’m not the biggest fan of Italiano, but credit where it’s due—despite Bologna selling their top players like Calafiori and Zirkzee, and losing their best-performing coach at the time, Thiago Motta, Italiano still managed to get the best out of the squad he inherited.
Remarkably, their best acquisitions last season—Pobega and Calabria—came through loan deals from Milan.
Now, imagine what he could achieve with a club filled with talent like Gimenez, Jimenez, Fofana, Pulisic, and Pavlovic. I’ve intentionally left out Reijnders, Hernandez, Maignan, and Leão because, realistically, 75% of them might leave this summer.
That said, if it were up to me, I’d prefer giving Conceição a chance to manage the team at least until January.
I’ll just copy a part of my comment from other post:
Italiano took Spezia to Serie A in his first season for the first time in club’s history and managed to keep them there for the second. He took Fiorentina to two consecutive Conference League finals. In 2023 he took Fiorentina to Coppa final and lost against Inter. Bologna sold Zirkzee and Calafiori last summer, two pillars of Motta’s team, and he still managed to take them to CL spots while winning Coppa in his first season.
No one said he’s going to be a hit. Might as well be another failure, but currently, numbers speak in his favour. Also, what has Pioli won before Milan?
You haven’t been paying attention. Italiano has been well regarded since his time with Fiorentina, reaching two European finals there and he was linked last summer before ultimately ending up at Bologna. Even if he hadn’t beat us to the Coppa Italia, his season with a club that is usually considered a mid table club and lost what were arguably its three best player from last season has been impressive. IMO, his CV is more impressive than Motta’s was at the point the latter was hired to coach Juventus and was being considered for our own bench.
Conte is the best option, then Italiano. The rest are a waste of time to discuss.
I wouldn’t say the same for Faroli or De Zerbi. The problem with Conte is how much he’s willing to compromise to come at Milan. Milan would definitely benefit without a doubt. We need someone that can blend experience with youth. We have the best academy in serie A
I’m just saying that our last legendary team was run by an ex-Italy international who had success at a lower level team, then failed at Juve, until he came to us…
If we has learns to be more social and flexible, I think his tactics are solid… interpersonal thing is to be fixed
I think the Motta-Italiano debate is a style vs CV one and either one is fine imo just as long as THERE’S A PLAN FOR EITHER COACH. I like Motta’s style (my personal preference). It was never suited to Juve. We play attacking football historically and he has a system that probably would have suited our players better. Italiano, as Ted listed above, has more sporting credentials than Motta. He has a decent set of results under his name. However I just don’t like how his team’s setup and the style of game he plays. And to me I think he’s not cut out for a bigger club, he seems very suited to a team with less expectations. San Siro is a heavy place to play both as a player and coach. That being said, it’s not like we’re going to have European pressure for the next year possibly 2 so he might be a good punt. I’ll also say, if the objective is to win the league and get straight back into Europe we all know who to hire
No problem with Motta personally – a year ago we’d have been delighted with him. I fear any modern coach will struggle with getting our forward players to efficiently press, so I don’t see why Motta would be any worse at that than anyone else.