Sacchi believes Milan should have hired Lopetegui: “Conceicao has not brought the benefits”

Arrigo Sacchi has made the rather bold claim that AC Milan hiring Sergio Conceicao has brought no benefits, and that Julen Lopetegui may have been better.

As a reminder, Milan chose to move on from Stefano Pioli after nearly five years at the end of last season. A total of 240 games, 132 wins, a Scudetto win and a Champions League semi-final run suggested what comes next will be tough to follow.

It didn’t take long for a storm to brew, starting when reports suggested Lopetegui was set to be hired. The protest from fans forced a prompt U-turn and they decided to go for Paulo Fonseca instead. The result? He lasted just 24 games.

Conceicao replaced him at the end of December and is actually doing worse in terms of points per game, goals scored and goals conceded since arriving. Milan sit ninth in the league and were knocked out of the Champions League by Feyenoord too.

Sacchi spoke to La Gazzetta dello Sport and gave his assessments of the current moment that Milan are in. It would be safe to say that he didn’t pull any punches aimed towards the leadership, just as he didn’t earlier in the week.

“The latest rumours coming from Milanello speak of Theo Hernandez and Leao being sidelined: out for the next match. It is difficult to establish whether the measure is right or wrong,” he began.

“However, since it is up to the coach to decide, it is correct that he is free to make his choices in complete freedom and without constraints. I cannot give an opinion on the current situation at Milan, because I experience it only from the outside: like a lover who, this season, has often felt betrayed.

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“However, I do not have in my hands the precise plan of what is happening, of the internal dynamics, of the relationships that exist between the players, and between them and the coach.

“Without a doubt I can say that the arrival of Sergio Conceiçao has not brought the benefits that all the fans expected. Milan is in ninth place, that is, practically in the middle of the table. It is certainly not a position suited to a club that has written the history of football.

“And we need to reflect on this seriously and with humility. The managers in particular must do so. In the spring, usually, we take stock of what was sown in the previous summer. I feel I can conclude that the result is, at the moment, negative and, frankly, I do not see how we can get out of a situation like this.

“It seems to me that Milan has entered a tunnel and cannot see even a glimmer of light. The objectives have become a place for the Europa League and the Coppa Italia: too little, even considering the economic investments made.

“Unfortunately, the mistakes, during the season, have come down with the force of an avalanche. It all stems from a lack of clarity in ideas. I remember, and I hope I’m not wrong, that Milan had identified Lopetegui as the coach for this season.

“Then, given that the fans rebelled, because they considered Lopetegui an unsuitable profile, it was decided to focus on Fonseca who, however, did not have a particularly impressive curriculum. There, that was the first wrong move.

“If you, president, sporting director or CEO, are convinced of a choice or an idea, you have to see it through and not give in to the moods of the crowd. If Berlusconi had to listen to what the fans or journalists thought of me, I would never have coached Milan: they called me Mr. Nobody.

“And it was the sweetest and kindest thing they said to me. But Berlusconi, who clearly had in mind what he wanted, did not let himself be influenced and continued on his way.

“I feel like saying that, looking at the results (mine was judged by FIFA to be the best club team in history), the president was right to insist on his project, even when, especially at the beginning of the adventure, things were not yet working perfectly.

“What Milan must do now is quite simple, and it must be done, first of all, by the owners and the managers. Choose the right men to lead the rebirth, entrust a coach they trust with building the team, let him decide which players should be bought and which should be sold, and give this coach full support.

“This is the best way to return to success. But is it possible that Milan buys a series of players about whom little or nothing is known in the summer, and then in January goes back on the market to make a sort of revolution?

“We must rely first of all on human qualities and then on technical ones: look first at the head and then at the feet. When a coach does not work with reliable people, and evidently the current Milan players are not (not all of them, mind you, but most of them), it is inevitable that problems will arise.

“For Conceiçao, now, it is complicated to get the ship back on track. There is confusion in the environment and, unfortunately, it can also be seen on the pitch. It’s not a question of modules, of athletic preparation, of playing with two, three or four strikers.

“The truth is that, this season, Milan has almost never been a team, and when you’re not a team you don’t get very far. The responsibilities, when things like this happen, in my opinion, are everyone’s. It can’t be just the coach’s fault, just as it can’t be just the players’ fault.

“Agreed: Theo and Leao have shown that they aren’t monsters of consistency, but have we already forgotten that they were the most important elements in the year of the Scudetto?

“Evidently they were managed differently, and so we need to do some serious reflection on this. And maybe even a ‘mea culpa’.”