Arrigo Sacchi has shared some advice for the AC Milan management ahead of what is expected to be an eventful summer. Without Champions League football, following this season’s failure, the Rossoneri will need to start from scratch.
A lot can be said about the 2024-25 campaign so far, but it’s clear that it has been a huge failure for the Rossoneri. Curva Sud made this very clear in a new statement this evening, announcing that they won’t be present for Milan-Lazio tomorrow for the first 15 minutes.
The legendary manager Sacchi, just like the Curva Sud, is also very disappointed with what he has seen this season. He said this in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport this morning and also shared some advice on how to build a proper team.
Is Conceicao done?
“I don’t think the club sees a future with him, but that’s my impression. As an external observer and a lover of Milan, I point out a few things: in the summer, the Rossoneri wanted a coach, Lopetegui, who was rejected by the fans. They switched to Fonseca. They bought five foreign players. Then they sent Fonseca away, took Conceicao and signed five more players. The result is the same: Milan never became a team.”
Why, in your opinion?
“Because to build a team you need a club that has clear ideas, and these ideas must be transmitted to the coach who has the task of making the players understand them. I’ll give you an example: Berlusconi, when he hired me, told me that he wanted to win and convince through spectacular play. I explained to him what I had in mind and he supported me at every moment.
“He had already bought Gullit and Van Basten, I asked him for three boys who came from Parma, Mussi, Bianchi and Bortolazzi, one who had spent a lot of time on the bench at Udinese, Colombo, and I wanted Ancelotti at all costs, about whom the president had doubts due to his physical problems. I told him: ‘You buy me Ancelotti and we will win the league’. He obliged and I kept my word,” he concluded.
A new sporting director will likely arrive first, and then the new management will decide on the manager to replace Sergio Conceicao. Then, it remains to be seen what players will leave the club, as money ultimately needs to be collected from somewhere.
The problem isn’t Conceincao, problem lies within our so called management. First of all i would fire all 3 of our bright guys- Moncada, Furlani and most importantly Ibra. And then see what kind of path you want to go on. Im ok with evolving this squad for like 2 seasons(although it denies everything Maldini did but ok) and start all over. Theo and Leao’s time is certantly over and they have to go. I just hope whoever comes(sporting director, coach or whatever) will be picked carefully and that this current situation will be a lesson to Cardinale.
Problem is moneyball accounting buying players.
When they wanted to run a club with positive financial results they kept players like Krunic, Messias, Florenzi and 1 season Dest. It is because their low cost salary and ammortisation managed to cut costs and any better position in serie a than 5th, managed to increase operating value.
They also removed players who wanted higher than 5mil salary to have salary cap in the club.
But that’s, like Sacchi never clear idea about what club want. And what’s the goal. Theirs only goal is to have financial sustainability and in terms of game play you don’t have players that are ready to compete.
For the sake of a comments section I’ll type in english, although im also from Croatia(tako da nemoj srat previse 😆)
How is it moneyball buying players when they bought gimenez for 35mil, fofana was a good investition also for 20something mil. Yes, those are “small” investments. But serie a doesnt have funds for clubs to buy like city or real. Just to remind you, Milan spend the most money in the summer by far(and adding this winter window its 115mil total). So clearly money isnt the problem. Its a vision problem and no motivation or skills to get this club to its past glory.
Totally agree. Milan first need a proper experience sporting director who knows how to build a winning team. Then the right coach then the right players.
I do believe though that Conceição time is already over. Apart from the players needing to do more. His tactics, team selection and substitutions are awful to say the least.
Joao Felix should be on the bench and Milan really should be playing 433 because we have a lot of mezzalas in the team.
A midfield of Musah, Reinjders and Bondo/Fofana with those 2 doing the defensive dirty work would give Reinjders more freedom to support the front 3 players.
That would also help out our defense as well especially Theo who likes to push forward.
Exactly buddy!
I have been saying this for the longest time.
The only problem with our management is that we have refused to recruit staff who will raise the physical condition of our players, and this has been a problem for a very long time, our players are always weak, lazy and not aggressive in battle.
The other two problems are:
1. Conceicao’s insistence on playing with a 4-2-3-1 formation even when it’s very obvious that the team plays better in a 4-3-3 formation.
2. I think the players deliberately want to cost Conceicao his job as I think his man management has been grossly ineffective for a squad that has rather been pampered for the longest time.
Because you are not so smart. Nisi tako pametan.
When you buy player, you can buy 1) quality player, 2)opportunities 3) player with potential which can develope in future star.
Let me ask you a question what type of players Milan buy,?
Money ball players. Let me explain you how. Transfer fee divided by years of contract and gross wage.
Milan put salary cap so to not make big mistake if players flops. So When you buy Okafor for 16 million, on 5 years that’s 3 million of amortised value per year. So every year you can sell that player for 3 million less to capital gain.
I was surprised how they make deal for Okafor option to buy more than 20 million. So capital gain is huge for young player who flopped in Milan.
Let me take your Gimenez. They bought him for 35 million on 3 years. So every year his price drops in books for 10 millions. Eventually in his last year of contract, you can sell this player for 15 and have almost 5 of capital gain.
That is my friend moneyball – even if the player you buy, he still manage to show profit in books.
Which player would not be moneyball?
For example Lukaku, Buongiorno, Ricci.
Because last 2 are Italians. Not proven in any other league than in current Italian teams so the risk is high.
So my friend when you again start laughing about moneyball philosophy I will explain you how Florenzi, Kjaer and Messias are also moneyball players without profit on players sales of these three..
Look, i do not argue that they dont know how to make buisness. Bc thats probably the only thing they know. Im saying that you cannot expect players you buy for 20 mil perform on a level like Lautaro, Pedri, Van Dijk etc. They are saying that they want to win trophies and get back to CL glory, but transfer history in a last few years says otherwise. And if you want to argue me on that lets just see which players thst this managment got in last 2 years performed game in game out? You know which one? Only Pulisic. As much as i didnt agree with some Maldini’s actions which players did HE personaly got? Through his words and attitude? Leao,Theo,Mike,Thiaw,Tonali,Bennacer…… All players that were at their peak and that could have formed a great team has it not been those americans.
Buddy, moneyball in itself isn’t a bad strategy, it’s simply using sports data science in recruitment.
The only time it becomes a problem is when we have incapable set of staff who cannot make proper use of data provided in making informed decisions.
Take for instance Liverpool FC, who have strategically used moneyball to build a formidable team over the years.
Because of this conversation, I just did a little research compare some of their moneyball masterclass recruitment as against some heavy spenders with little or no success.
In 2011
Liverpool signed Suarez for 26 million and Salah for 36 million. These transfers compared with Kaka to Real Madrid transfer for 75 million only for injuries and Mourinho to make it a failure.
In 2016
Liverpool signed Wijnaldum for 23 million and Mane for 34 million. These transfers were hugely successful when compared to Pogba’s Man U transfer for 115 million.
In 2017
Liverpool signed Robertson for 8 million. That same season, Milan signed Bonucci for 45 million. Needless to rate how that transfer went.
In 2019
Liverpool signed Fabinho for 39 million, when compared to Frankie De Jong’s 90 million Barcelona transfer you will clearly see that spending big doesn’t necessarily guarantee success.
Doing smart recruitment with potential for improvement has always been Liverpool’s moneyball strategy and they have used that to build one of the strongest teams in the world.
Imagine Bayern Munich signing a prime Lewandoski on a free transfer, that’s gotta be the smartest football transfers of the decade.
Inter Milan seem to follow this pattern too.
Free transfer is at the very top of the moneyball strategy, and I wish our recruitment team are smart to capitalise when such opportunities arise.
Dudes it is a problem.
Until they change strategy, remove salary cap and stop buying only by accounting, they can not have different result.
Now imagine, what Milan team would be if they extend some crucial contracts back than. If they granted some of the transfers Maldini wanted. Milan would be much stronger team and on higher position. That means higher revenue but without profits. But they wanted Maldini act on their way, and not to give Maldini opportunity to invest max possible amount for players who would fit best in Milan. Example Botman.
This way Milan would be profitable on long run. Every year high ranking- bigger revenue that also means higher value brwnd.
But theirs, way what Red Bird and Elliott did, they went one step forward ( positive balance sheet) 2 steps back ( they returned on 8th spots and lost results, plus they loss revenue). This is actually a way to downgrade a brand.
All Milan transfers in last 2 years are perfectly calculated for team to becomed profitable no matter of final result. They are not bought to give best result.
You can see that very easily, even this Web page shoved total cost of squad.
But in their formulation, they didn’t add solution when team totally “flops”, or I would say shows theirs real character. And here, Red Bird and Elliott will enter on big doors next season, and said: we told ya, we invested 200 million and stayed without result, ie, there is no guarantee for result no matter how you invest”.
And this is crucial to understand is how you spend money and not how much. If they stop with calculations of who can they bring, and focus more solely on final result, – they would make more profit.
Sorry but you are conflating cost accounting (which you explain exceptionally well) with Moneyball.
There is a movie called Moneyball about the US Baseball team Oakland Athletics. Billy Bean came up with a way to read stats and predict what cheap players would perform far beyond their cost. Oakland won the World Series.
US sports teams do not have a concept of a player as a capital asset in the same way as World Football. So the idea that Moneyball has to do with capital gains on players is simply not true.
As John says below it’s the use of data to select players for a given outcome (e.g.a Scudetto).
Here is the problem as I see it. For such an algorithm to exist you’d need enough expertise in soccer to create it and then tune it.
Unlike baseball where there is minimal dependency between players a football team depends deeply on the interplay between individuals and departments depending on the location and direct of the ball
This is a far more complex problem to model (in the sense of creating an algorithm). We don’t have the soccer expertise in our management as proven by a poorly constructed squad (as we all seem to agree for the most part)
FWIW US baseball is a stats treasure trove and Bean was the first to realize how to put it to work the way he did.
If you care, my view of what Milan leadership is straight speculation (also explained very well by you)
My theory is that the fact that players are capital assets and that if the same player from Lecce worth $8m plays a year at Milan he becomes worth $12m due only to the power of the Milan brand.
This makes Milan (and other big clubs like it) a wealth generation machine. In this case a model (math sense) is easier to consider: so long as the brand has enough power to inflate the value of most players it buys then profit ensues
This is my theory on why so many private equity companies are buying soccer teams but not other sports where players are not capital assets.
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So far there is nothing wrong with this. Business owner makes money. Good.
But the Milan brand is eroding as results fail to come in. So the ability to buy a player and hold them just to have some Milan Dust run off and make them for valuable erodes.
This is what aligns the interest of the fans like us and the ownership.
The problem is we have management that is only picking players it can sell for a profit without thinking about the shape of the team necessary to be a great product on the field.
So I expect a revolution at the top this summer. Not with the players but with managemnt that cannot juggle the desire to buy player and sell them for a profit (speculation) while also buying the right players to ensure the power of the brand !another form of speculation where the term Moneyball can apply)
You don’t know what moneyball is. Stop trying to sound clever by throwing around terms you don’t know the meaning of, it has the opposite effect.
The problem is not the coach it’s the type of players we have. All talent no heart for 90% of the team. It’s hard to build a team or identity if you change every year and have a weak foundation. We need to sell Leao, Theo, Maignan, Tomori, Musah, Loftus-Cheek, Chuckwueze, Thiaw. Admit your mistake and go buy back Tonali for 50-60 million and make him captain. Let Reijnders play AM, sign Lewis Ferguson ( give Pogbea to lower cost) extend Liberali and play him as backup. Sign Pietro Comuzzo (Fiorentina), Samuele Ricci (Torino), Saba Goglichidze (Empoli), Jakub Kiwior and Jorginho (Arsenal), Victor Lindelöf (Manchest United Free Agent), Andriy Lunin (Real Madrid), And play academy players And sign a ST over 30 years old too. You need veterans with a good record of trophies to build a foundation that are not Prima donnas. Then you play boring soccer 4-1-4-1 ( two AM and 1 ST). If we’re not going to go for Champion League (the cup not just qualification like loser team do) or the Scudetto next year, build to foundation to be top 5 in Europe 3 years down the line.
GK:Lunin
DF :Walker, Camuzzo, Gabbia, Pavlovic, Goglichidze, Kiwior, Bartesaghi, Lindelöf
DM: Fofana, Jorginho, Ricci, Bondo
MF: Pulisic, Tonali, Tiji, Ferguson, Liberali, Sottil, Salemaker, Jimenez
ST: Gimenez, Camarda, Colombo, (old guy)
Couldn’t read anymore after the sell Leao.
Theo, ok, he should’ve went to Como for 50mil.
Okafor couldnt replace Leao, and Sottil can’t replace him either. Unless it’s hitting the 100mil+ release clause. Selling Leao is dumb sorry.
how can this team have a clear ideas of how they want to play the game when their management and ownership only focused on growing milan value as a franchise for the money…. if they don’t want to think about the technical area of sport, left it in the hand of professional who know those area well will be preferred. but nope, the team are left in the hand of inexperienced newbie who talk like know it all despite they know next to nothing about the area, about building a lasting-working-growing-engine. and now look, they go their own way and the team are in a strange place now.
Sprince the Acmilan said very good things but only one I don’t like because he said Leao have to leave but Leao do is job very good the big problem Ibra he have to leave when he was a player he s not good attitude in the field how he gonna truth the player good bring Maldini back and u gonna see
Sachi nailed it
There’s no clear idea from Gerry and his management. That’s why they keeps destroying what Maldini-Masara-Pioli has build in the last 4 year and here we are at 8th place with very little chance to qualified for Champion or EL.
The only solution is a new owner + management who loves Milan and has clear idea to build a strong team without abandon Milan DNA.
Don’t forget , berlusconi always wants Milan to play with 2 striker. He loves calcio and Milan.