Paulo Fonseca has been relieved of his duties as AC Milan’s head coach after what has unfortunately shaped into a disastrous first half of the season.
The Rossoneri have acted decisively, appointing Sergio Conceição as his successor in an attempt to salvage their campaign and restore faith among an increasingly disillusioned fanbase.
But just what were the reasons for making such a sudden change, given that the announcement of the new coach came just a few hours after the statement confirming Fonseca’s exit?
Choppy, inconsistent performances
Fonseca was brought in to build upon the solid foundation laid by Stefano Pioli, who had led Milan to a period of stability, capped by consistent Champions League qualifications and a surprise league title in 2021-22.
Fonseca’s mandate was clear: to build on the established foundation while adding his flair to the team. However, the odds were stacked against him from the outset.
Despite flashes of brilliance, such as the impressive derby win against Inter and an ecstatic Champions League triumph against defending champions Real Madrid, Fonseca’s tenure failed to deliver consistent results or sustainably propel the team forward.
After 17 league games, Milan find themselves languishing in eighth place, 14 points adrift of league leaders and eight points behind fourth-placed Lazio. For a squad possessing the talent within the ranks at Milan, this underperformance is inexcusable.
Fiorentina, Bologna, and Lazio – all with new coaches this season – have outperformed Milan, further highlighting Fonseca’s glaring inability to maximise the potential of his squad.
Failure to establish identity
The most damning aspect of Fonseca’s reign has been his failure to institute a cohesive playing style. Milan’s performances often lacked direction, with players seemingly unsure of their roles.
Yunus Musah’s infamous words indicating confusion regarding tactical instructions during the defeat to Parma and Rafael Leão’s more recent remarks about the team beginning to grasp the details of Fonseca’s proposed style were especially revealing, given the coach enjoyed a full pre-season with the squad to implement his ideas.
While some, like Tijjani Reijnders and Christian Pulisic, have flourished, others – including key figures like Theo Hernández and Leão – have regressed at an alarming rate. Fonseca’s rigid approach and inability to manage difficult personalities further alienated him from the dressing room.
Adding to the narrative of his struggles, Fonseca’s last game in charge against Roma epitomized his tenure. A red card issued to the coach during the match symbolised the end of a turbulent chapter.
Ironically, just as Pioli’s fate was sealed following a Europa League defeat to Roma, Fonseca’s dismissal comes after a poor showing against the same opponent, and his former club.
Conceição steps in
The appointment of Sergio Conceição is a statement of intent from Milan’s management. A seasoned and demanding coach, Conceição arrives with a proven track record.
During his time at Porto, he claimed 11 major trophies, including three league titles and multiple domestic cups, achieving a 72% win rate in the process. Conceição’s debut season saw him amass 88 points from 34 games – a testament to his ability to organise and motivate his teams.
Known for his defense-first, possession-based approach with an emphasis on verticality, Conceição’s style contrasts sharply with the lack of structure seen under Fonseca.
He is also reputed for his rigorous demands on players, both physically and mentally, and is expected to bring much-needed discipline and focus to Milan’s underachieving squad.
Fan sentiment and the road ahead
The decision to part ways with Fonseca and bring in Conceição appears to be as much about placating the fans as it is about improving on-field results.
Supporters have grown increasingly critical of the club’s management, citing questionable decisions and a lack of accountability or ambition. By bringing in a coach of Conceição’s repute, Milan’s hierarchy hopes to quell discontent and signal their commitment to turning things around.
Conceição faces a monumental task. While Milan’s current league position is concerning, the quality within the squad can be unlocked to achieve an uptick in performances and the team’s position in the standings.
If the Portuguese tactician can revitalise the likes of Theo and Leão, maintain the upward trajectory of players like Reijnders and Pulisic, and instil a clear identity, a top-four finish is still within reach.
A failure of vision
While Fonseca’s dismissal is justified, his failure reflects poorly on Milan’s management. His appointment, in hindsight, was a gamble that didn’t pay off.
Fonseca’s struggles highlight the risks of choosing a coach who, despite past successes, lacks the pedigree to handle a club of Milan’s stature and the expectations that come with it.
As the Fonseca short, turbulent era comes to a close, Milan’s management should ensure they’ve learned from this episode.
Conceição’s hiring marks a chance for redemption, but the club’s leadership must back their new coach with unwavering support and a clear long-term vision.
Conclusion
The Fonseca experiment at Milan has ended in disappointment, but the arrival of Conceição offers a fresh start. With his impressive resume and disciplined approach, Conceição has the tools to steer Milan back on track.
For the Rossoneri faithful, hope now rests on the shoulders of a man accustomed to winning. Whether Conceição can translate his Porto success to the San Siro remains to be seen, but his appointment propounds that Milan is ready to fight for its place among Italy’s elite once again.
Remarks about the team beginning to grasp the details of Fonseca’s proposed style were especially revealing, given the coach enjoyed a full pre-season with the squad to implement his ideas. – Most of Pre-season was on reserve players and youth players. The rest of of the squad showed up 7 or 8 days prior to first match of the season. The team didn’t have a full preseason at all and we got rid of players that been with us for 2 to 4 years to bring in worse ones.
Calabria, Kalulu, Salad, Adli and Pobega were more familiar with their teammates, also besides Calabtia who has been injured, delivered better performances at their new teams than Emerson, Pav, RLC and Musah. We spent on positions without ever replacing Kessie, Ibra and Giroud nor finding a Theo replacement.
Unless those who did the failed summer mercato and chose Lopetegui&Fonseca bear responsibility, there is no reflection from Milan’s management.
Sergio is promising but one or two buys are needed to improve the team.
There is really only 1 reason. We are in 8th place and the season is almost half over.
I.e. UCL revenue for next season is in peril.
And the timing was driven by the 6th month clause.
Exactly. But it’s ot only about money. We’re 8’th place after half a season, and that’s very far from good enough
Basically, you can’t blame the coach anymore at this point. if reinforcements don’t arrive or if the results aren’t there, you hold the players and the management responsible.
Lazy incompetent management, lead to a lazy incompetent signing for coach, and lazy cheap signings. And they have the audacity to act surprised when it all failed and they look like clowns…
I remember asking people last year if they’re really comfortable with 7th or 8th if Pioli left. They said they didn’t mind as long as Pioli left. It was hilarious to me on one hand and the responses were sometimes clearly reactionary due to perceived underperformance either of the team or coach. On the other hand I do understand the sentiment …it “felt” like his time was up… arguably. Limitation on tactics and constantly being bettered by a particular team (however, we do under appreciate that we also had Napoli’s number but these things get overlooked in the process). We were really debating the fine print with Pioli, with Fonsy we’re debating the whole blueprint.
Often people confuse sentiment and what-ifs with reality. It’s like going to a high school reunion and looking at how good your other friends have it when in reality you have it the best or better than most. This is the classic grass is greener I warned people about.
Pioli, for all his faults did remarkably well, one of Milan’s best coaches of all time. There’s no debating in that, the numbers speak for itself. Not many have succeeded at this club. Only a handful.
The Milan shirt is heavy and the coaching seat is like lava. Yet, he would have the team always competing for a UCL spot and gained it each of the last few years, not to mention good team spirit..the missing commodity currently in the team. We left that relative-guarantee in search or pastures greener.
Alot of people think it was and is easy to make top 4 much less compete for the Scudetto. Pioli made it look easy. We took competing for granted. The way fans think for not giving Pioli enough credit is exactly how management thought.
In fact, based on his recent interview at Harvard, in which Gerry espouses consistency and reduced performance volatility (ie consistent top 4 to achieve UCL money) to maximize revenue and brand value, then he should have kept Pioli. It’s actually against his own principles. Pioli was a less risky proposition than a new coach whose best result in Serie was never a UCL spot (…. and then wondered why we’re not in a UCL spot /s). He wants to satisfy shareholders first, make the UCL always and maybe compete for a trophy….that’s keeping Pioli written all over it.
And here we are. 8th. It was never that Pioli couldn’t be replaced. But to replace him must mean better than second and better than consistent top 4 or 5…and with that you’re heading into high class coach territory. That was almost never going to happen BUT I’m saying so only because our management is terrible and I just don’t trust their decision making (this after the overhaul of last season thinking it was brilliance and further to this summer where we were shopping for players with no planned or intended formation). I would have been surprised if they had gone for Conte tbh. Known quantity, raises the bar, competes, but we’ll need to pony up $$$. So they prefer to be pennywise, pound foolish. The irony in the money they saved on a proper coach only to lose even more (potentially) from not making UCL is both amusing and sad.
Management also seem oblivious to the phase of the product life cycle they’re in, for all the business acumen spouted. We’re no longer early days (intro/growth) where we were unable to attract talent and take a risk at punting on a coach seeing as we hadn’t seen Europe in a while. We were firmly at a point where a few quality but perhaps costly additions and an upgrade in coach would yield incredible results both sporting and financially (growth/maturity). Yet here we are, regressing away with Fonsy and with a considerable decline in the product itself.
Anyways, even with all that, I wish the new coach the best. I really do and I am quite optimistic. It’s a more sensible punt than a quantity known to be terrible in Serie A. Hopefully we can reach the same heights and better as before aka two years ago. As always Forza Milan.
Very spot on comment!
I couldnt agree more.
Another 2 points that i would like to add besides what you mentioned about Pioli.
1) After the dismissal of Maldini-Massara we never replaced them properly because again they thought that anyone would do the same work as they did with the same results (same logic with Pioli replacement)
2) After the scudetto-winning season we constantly revolutionize our midfield. Instead of building to that team with some targeted quality additions to raise the level of the team we ended up scratching at least half of our midfield every year and try to assemble a new one. This is also because of my first point, that if you had people who would understand the impact of constantly rebuilding a specific area of the pitch as a whole then you are going back and forth as a team instead of moving to the next level.
Thank you and I completely agree with you additional points.
The part that frustrates me is with Gerry bragging he’s a sports expert but hasn’t brought in sporting people to the club. I can’t tell you how much that aggravates me.
It’s also very basic economics he’s playing….a cost minimization approach to secure his objective for revenue maximization. However those two things might not go on hand in hand. His revenue max might need to be on that higher portion of the cost curve ie hire a coach with enough quality will cost your more but it would more likely secure you your UCL revenues
I feel bad for Fonseca. I think he’s genuinely a good guy, but was in over his head at Milan. I hope there aren’t any hard feelings, but with how fast he replaced it’s unfortunate.
He just wasn’t able to inspire this team and we need results. There were some very good games, but consistency was a huge problem.