AC Milan have decided not to invest in a high-level coach in order to focus more resources on the playing squad available to the man in charge, according to a journalist.
Various sources are claiming that Paulo Fonseca will become the new Milan manager soon, taking over from Stefano Pioli who coached his final game on Saturday, and it would be fair to say the news has been met with a mixed reaction.
In his latest MilanNews column, Antonio Vitiello confirms that ‘Fonseca is Milan’s choice’ and that the announcement could arrive at the beginning of next week. He will sign a two-year deal with an option for a third and a salary starting from €2.5m net per year plus bonuses to reach €3m.
He went on to give a further assessment on how things have been viewed from the management side versus the side of the fan base who were perhaps hoping for a bigger name or someone with a more impressive CV.
“As long as there are no signatures there is always a minimum percentage of variability, and the fans are in fact clinging to this, even with demonstrations of dissent,” he said.
“The anger increases when at the same time Antonio Conte, who was free from contracts, is about to join a team that will not even play in Europe. De Zerbi left Brighton, Conceição left Porto, Sarri himself could have been an option after his farewell to Lazio, while Juve played early on Motta.
“The choice to go for Paulo Fonseca brings with it many doubts, then it will be up to the coach to transform skepticism into enthusiasm, just like Stefano Pioli did upon his arrival in 2019. But unlike those dark years, Milan has grown and is now aiming for the title, which is why the fans were asking for a name with a better pedigree.
“But Milan’s strategy is clear: focus everything on the team. The coach will not be a top manager, but the team will have to be very competitive. We will focus on targeted purchases, not on the quantity but on the quality of the signings.
“Milan have the obligation to go all-in on the transfer market and strengthen the team to make it strong. A striker is needed, maybe even two, then a midfielder with defensive characteristics and two defenders (centre and right-back).”
Let’s see these “targeted purchases, not on the quantity but on the quality of the signings.”
Also if they say a striker, midfielder and 2 defenders, should we assume that no player would be sold this summer ? How are they gonna deal with the renewal of Maignan and Theo ?
That’s all fine and good. But if you don’t have a top coach to manage the team, how far is it going to go to have great players? It seems short sighted in today’s football
This day and age where players are mainly clones with only a handful of special ones, coach has never been more important. This strategy is not about resources it’s about what coach will be a yes man and bow down to Cardinale
I would’ve taken Motta or Conceição but let’s hope they give Fonseca the players he needs and we’ll see what he can do. Our star striker Origi’s returning so that’s one key piece of the puzzle solved right there.
Conceicao is tied to Mendez.
Motta, De Zerbi, Sarri, Conte etc. many would have been better choices
They picked Fonseca because they wanted a yes man
De Zerbi, Sarri, Conte all have their own issues imo, just like Fonseca. Is it better to have someone on the same page as the management or a grouch like Sarri or Conte throwing a fit when things don’t go their way?
’’Is it better to have someone on the same page as the management or a grouch like Sarri or Conte throwing a fit when things don’t go their way?’’
In other words: Management wants a yes man.
Kvara wants out of Napoli because the arrival of Conte does not excite him.
Okay dude – they want a “yes man.”
It is better to have a coach with balls.
This “management” deserves nothing more than a spit in the face & somebody should be there to remind them of that.
No!
If coach challenges management,the team will not move forward.
So the logic is to build a F1 team but to entrust the race car to an amateur driver?
Lol. Exactly
This management is so lost…
Looooool, so they ‘ll save lets say 5 millions per year form not hiring a “top coach” and these are gona help the squad…somehow…
Yep, not even a kindergarten level excuse, sorry…
Pathetic…
“But Milan’s strategy is clear: focus everything on the team. The coach will not be a top manager, but the team will have to be very competitive. We will focus on targeted purchases, not on the quantity but on the quality of the signings.”
*
I sincerely hope this is true. It seems to me to be an excellent strategic option for Milan at this point.
Broke clowns
They want a yes man
Fonseca is still an upgrade over Pioli, but they could have had De Zerbi for around the same wage
That said, this management knows nothing about football
I doubt they will construct a good team even if they do heavily invest in the squad, unless Ibra is consulted but even then I don’t trust Ibra fully either
Furlani fart…
If this is true, it’s incredibly stupid and it only shows that our management is clueless about football. Honestly, I can hardly believe this, there is no serious team which prioritises players over coach.
In modern football – and if we have learned anything from the bog teams, it’s that coaching staff is all it matters.
Just compare City and PSG and the difference is crystal clear.
If that was the idea, why not save even more cents by just keeping Pioli for another season and giving him the DM, CF and a defender he could have done with this year?
If this is true from the board it deserves condemnation. Straight up no chaser.
Spalletti: ‘Thank goodness Inter believe in Italian talent’
This hurts.
Milan is dead, just a team of moneyball mercenaries now.
They will sell them koraa
Honestly the fans have to have a positive mind frame, if we would have gone for Conte, it would not be a suprise for him to be sacked, or for him to leave at the end of the season, his over bearing attitude, his petulance would have sunk the club, we fans have to be realistic, and understand the kind of management we have, we have a very good base, it looks bad now because Pioli ran out of ideas , and the squad has lost faith in him, what we need now is a new direction, some key additions and we are good to go, no need for chopping up the squad.
Fonseca is an experienced coach, who has Italian experience, and what is vert important for us, he has European experience, and he has already won 3 straight trebles in Ukraine, some might argue Ukraine is a far inferior league, yes it is, but he knows how to win, what we need to do is hope and we stay positive, he should look at our young players carefully, even the ones on loan, all will be well.
Fonseca has Italian experience? So does Pioli
Conte will get sacked? Good, I’d rather have 1 good year with Conte than have 4-5 years with a fodder coach nobody wants like Fonseca. And you know it will be 4-5 years, he will get 2nd or 3rd place next season and management will renew him for another 2 years to keep the mediocrity going. We’ve been through this song and dance many times before.
I don’t understand your r******* arguments
My grandma could win in Ukraine
People need to understand Conte can never deliver us success in Europe, he is too rigid, his toxicity and eventual clashes with the management would damage us, just look at the trends of his recent jobs, Pioli is already dead weight, short of ideas, his timidity, and his attitude of burning and discarding of players has damaged us, we have lost very good players because of him, our last 10 matches have clearly shown he is finished
Neither will Fonseca.
Don’t know why you’re obsessing with Conte.
People wanted Motta or De Zerbi.
Thank you – finally some sense on this.
There is 0 sense in his comment.
No there is a lot of sense in what he said. And by the way, ask Tottenham how it went with Conte, the top coach everyone is raving about. Was actually clueless when he faced Milan or couldn’t be bothered since he didn’t have the players he wanted. And since when did De Zerbi and Motta become top coaches?..
We shouldn’t be forced to choose between a better option for the coach and going all in on the squad at this point in the process. Shameful management. We are and we should be financially more than capable of getting a better option for the coach and a good squad, not one or the other. We should not have to get a coach willing to do the job for half of what Pioli was getting paid to afford a striker, and if that’s not happening it’s either because of lousy management or they are just lazy liars that have zero interest in taking the club back to greatness; either way, 100% the management’s fault and unacceptable.
And even more damaging if true…how do you think top players would view a project that is constructed like this? Would they even want to come to Milan when the ambition is obviously not enough. These “targeted players” won’t come.
The targeted players will come.
Most of them are unknown French African players that Moncada knows about through his scouting network.
They won’t spend on top players.
Milan is being ran like Marseille.
Quite frankly, getting someone not at the top of their game and watching them develop into a top player is a lot more satisfying than buying a finished article for huge money. If the plan works, then exciting times, I’m just not sure we think it will.
That’s what feeder clubs do
Them saying they will improve the squad is just lip-service and cope.
The race and nationality is insignificant to me. It’s not l Ike Italy is producing a plethora of world class talent. But you are right in that they think you can win titles with mediocrity.
Then WTF they didn’t allow Pioli to work out his final year from his contract?! Fonseca is an upgrade?! That’s what they were all saying, is the reason why they’re sacking Pioli! What has this guy done?! Remember him in Roma?! They played well football, NOTHING WON! How about these years in France?! His gonna takes further away in CL and bring 2 star to our shield?!
Yeah right!
And what was their excuse not to. go after a coach like De Zerbi?! They can’t pay for his release! We’ll. now he’s released… how big of a salary yiu think he’s going to ask for?!
Just excuses…. They’ll focus on the squad?! The coach is the one who makes the squad good or bad! Look how Inzaghi transformed Inter into a team that’s steam rolling everything in front of them. Watch Arteta, watch Gasperini… but noooo, you’re looking at Man-U strategy, where they splash 200 million each year on players, and get ZERO from them, because the coaching has been tweeivle since Ferguson is gone!
BRING DE ZERBI HOME or it’ll ne a huge disaster!
Because you can’t keep a coach that dropped 6 straight derbies and crashes out of two European competitions. No matter how much of a yes man he was.
I see what is going on here
’’The Milan probe also threatens to spiral out of Italy: the search warrant includes claims that Elliott “appears to have a dominating influence” over French club Lille. Prosecutors say this would be in breach of rules set by Europe’s football oversight body Uefa. Elliott is also a lender to Merlyn Partners, which controls the French team. AC Milan and Lille competed in the Champions League in the 2021/22 season.’’
Elliott never truly sold the club and Redbird is just a proxy for them.
Fonseca is Lille coach, so Elliott are just transferring assets from club to club.
It all makes sense now, Fonseca’s low 2.5m salary too.
by that rationale we’re in good hands, since under Elliott we won the Scudetto. LOL!!!
Lucky Scudetto
And it had little to do with Elliott since they didn’t meddle with the sporting side
Hence why they allowed Maldini to appoint Giampaolo
All Elliott cares is about money, and they set the budgets at the end of the season
If it gets discovered that Elliott is doing that kind of illegal activity, then Milan could be punished
Fonseca is an undervalued coach. What he did in Rome given the context was quite good. He did very well in Ukraine and very well in the last two seasons in France. He is not a top level coach now, but he is relatively young and with potential to become a top coach. Having said that, my top choice would have been Conceicao due to international experience and strong defensive performance of Porto under his management. But as fans we should give full support to Fonseca and judge him for what we will see.
oh give it a rest. save your energy and time.
stop talking to us like people who have never seen serie a before. we know who this coach is we know who he was at roma and we know who he will be at milan because hes never been anything different.
he isnt good enough to be coaching a club like milan he proved that at roma and any other club hes coached
focus everything on the team. The coach will not be a top manager,….why did u sack pioli when u won’t bring in a top manager
It’s like speccing a computer with the best components and putting in a cheap CPU
Milan is a pathetic club by design.
I guess that Cardinale saw our recent history and said yes, top 5 works for me.
Following 10 seasons just to see just a single good one is a rip off of my time and money.
I’m sorry, I’m ready to follow when Maldini returns
I wonder what would have happened on here and our ultras if we were in talks to sign Vincent Kompany or Enzo Maresca or even Arne Slot?.. just curious 🤔