AC Milan have once again failed in their season-defining period, but what has followed is a storm of epic proportions that has seen certainties swept away like sandcastles into the sea.
Make no mistake about it, the time for change is here. We have written extensively on how Stefano Pioli’s record in big games alone is enough for him to probably bite the bullet, as are other issues such as his rotation policy.
The straw that seemed to break the camel’s back for the management – the final straw that matters the most – is the Europe League defeat against Roma, a tie in which the Rossoneri lost both legs are were thoroughly outplayed.
Pioli was outthought by someone who is a rookie coach in comparison. Everything that Milan did was predictable and had a counter-plan from Daniele De Rossi, who in turn deployed certain schemes that the Rossoneri had no answer for.
The derby defeat against Inter – the sixth in a row in that particular fixture – added further salt to a wide-open wound. As the Nerazzurri celebrated the title in Milan’s home game, many fans wanted Pioli to be clearing his desk that same night.
What is clear is that Milan are now in the market for a new head coach; a man who can galvanise a talented squad, who can perform better in the moments that matter most and who can unite a club that needs everyone pulling in the same direction to try close the gap to the noisy neighbours across the navigli.
And yet, at the time of writing this, there could hardly be a bigger divide. The news emerged from a number of reliable sources that Julen Lopetegui is the man that has been chosen by the management to lead the post-Pioli era, and that things were moving fast.
This is where the supporters re-enter the frame, starting with an important point to make: Milan fans love a protest. They’re not the only ones by any means, but the ability to rally so quickly on key issues is borderline impressive.
Recent history gives us a couple of striking examples, the first being rather ‘full circle’ in nature as it concerns Pioli. When he was appointed as the man to replace Marco Giampaolo early on in the 2019-20 season, he was met with the ‘#PioliOut’ campaign which went viral on social media.
There are actually some similarities with today. In the eyes of a rather vocal portion of the supporter base there was an obvious choice back then (Luciano Spalletti) as there is now (Antonio Conte), without the realisation that things can be more difficult than that.
Then there was the sale of Sandro Tonali last summer. Once rumours became concrete and news spread that the fan favourite and future bandiera was heading to Newcastle United, all hell broke loose.
For many, it was a betrayal of the values that they hoped and presumed still existed at Milan, which was that attachment to the club meant something. Paolo Maldini’s sacking generated a similarly strong response, one entirely generated by shock, confusion and the evaporation of certainties.
Looking back after the dust has settled, the reality that followed is different from the doom-riddled prophecies that were banded about at the time.
Pioli, regardless of how his time is coming to an end, gave three very good seasons and must be given a good wedge of the credit for helping lead the resurgence back to being a consistent Champions League club.
Tonali, for as much as he remains adored and has obviously been impacted by off-field issues, has not been good investment for Newcastle United while Milan received a club-record fee that was then fully reinvested.
On that topic, Maldini and Ricky Massara exiting was supposed to mark the end of a Milan that used human logic to evaluate players and instead was allegedly going to result in an algorithm-led disaster. The 2023 summer window, with the benefit of hindsight, has statistically been excellent even if there are areas that were unaddressed.
That brings us back to the latest topic of outrage, the potential hiring of Lopetegui. There has already been a ‘#NOPEtegui’ campaign on social media, with a petition amassing thousands of signatures from like-minded supporters who believe so strongly that he is not the correct profile for Milan.
Regardless of which side of the fence you fall on and whether you have put your name down on the petition or not, every fan is acting under the same premise: they want the best for Milan as a club. The problem therein lies in the fact there are so many different ideas of what that is and how to achieve it.
It is impossible to avoid the anti-Lopetegui sentiment that is plentifully scattered throughout the Italian papers and on various platforms, and it seems as though that it the case for those in charge of the decision-making at the club too.
In a surprise twist that not even the creator of the petition could have envisaged, reports over the last 48 hours have made it clear that Gerry Cardinale is not only aware of the negative reaction to the Lopetegui news, but that it also seems to have disrupted things in a non-trivial way.
What is about to be outlined will be to some the most undigestible section of this piece, though it needs to be said with absolute clarity and certainty.
Numerous reliable sources have claimed that Lopetegui is not a recent idea for Milan and that he has actually been evaluated over the course of the last few months in a rigorous process before it was determined that he ticks the most boxes of any potential candidate.
If the management – and for the avoidance of doubt that means Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Geoffrey Moncada plus Giorgio Furlani and Cardinale as the higher-ups – really believe in the Spaniard, then their opinion not only should be the only one that counts, but in fact it is.
As the directors of a world-renowned football club with a trophy-laden past and a huge relevance in the modern game, they are paid to make the big decisions regarding the future. They are paid handsomely to do so, by the way, and that is why they must make them rather than defer to fans.
As the old corporate saying goes, why would they take advice from someone whose job is not on the line, as theirs is every time they make a call that will drastically change the course of the organisation they represent one way or the other?
Further to this, there are definitely differing levels of knowledge when it comes to people within the Milan fan base – and again it must be stressed they all want the best for the club – yet there is one certainty: Ibrahimovic, Moncada and co. know more about Milan’s situation than any one supporter.
They have perfect information, i.e. they operate under total transparency knowing all of the facts when it comes to the project Milan can pitch, what they can pay the next coach, what kind of a summer mercato is planned and all the other relevant issues therein. Fans, on the other hand, always form opinions under imperfect information.
With that being said, the point is not so much about Lopetegui as a head coach, but what the U-turn would represent. For what it’s worth, the strong doubts about the 57-year-old are more than justified and it is a bit perplexing to see him so strongly linked.
A quick scan down the resume shows that Lopetegui struggled at Porto as he failed to win any silverware in his two seasons there, then somehow got the Spain job off the back of this but was sacked because he didn’t tell them he had a contract with Real Madrid.
With Los Blancos he lasted just 14 games after winning only six of them and the coffin door was closed after a 5-1 defeat to Barcelona. Sevilla took a punt on him and he did win the Europa League during the Covid period, yet was then sacked because he had them 16th in the league.
Lopetegui did well to stabilise Wolves in his most recent gig, taking them from the relegation zone to fairly comfortable safety (a sign of how his stock had dropped), though he then left six days before the new season because he had concerns about their finances.
In spite of all of the above, going back on a managerial hire that those in a position of power and knowledge have decided on because of fan sentiment is dangerous. It isn’t about the idea of Lopetegui not being hired, it’s about what it represents.
Supporter power is important and it has an influence. Issues like ticket prices are a great example of this, given Milan fans campaigned against a huge hike in Champions League prices in the name of affordability for all and they were then reversed.
Speaking of ticket issues, Milan’s Curva Sud did not make the short trip to Turin for the Juventus game on Saturday, in protest at the ticket prices charged by the home side.
They also decided to make their feelings known in light of the situation that surrounds the club more generally, and it was packed full of punches.
“Almost 2 years have passed since the arrival of Mr. Cardinale, a transitory and adjustment phase was to be considered more than legitimate but now the time has come to get to the point and demonstrate with facts the real objectives of the club, that is, whether to build a ambitious team, or set up from year to year a team capable of scraping by in the positions that guarantee access to the Champions League while waiting for the new stadium to be built and nothing more.
“It must be clear to everyone that if the answer were the latter, we are not in favour of it! It is more than legitimate that we cannot think of spending the rivers of money invested by other clubs in other leagues on the market, but you can’t think of becoming great again by building the team solely through a few transfers and then reinvesting the money in non-established players.
“You can’t think of having a winning project if, now almost May, you still don’t know who the new player will be coach and consequently it becomes difficult to set up a team on the market that is compatible with the needs of the new coach. Total chaos reigns within the club between deafening silences, embarrassing communication strategies to say the least and lack of clarity of roles.
“Gentlemen, patience is over! Milan is not a product on which to speculate and Milan is not a place that is content to participate. Milan has a people behind it who by history and tradition are used to to be in the elite of world football.
“This ownership thinks it is up to these prerogatives and will demonstrate it with concrete facts (and the choice of the new coach will already make us understand a lot), will continue to enjoy the tireless support of a madly people. in love. If this isn’t the case, forget about living Milan as a happy island, as you have done up to now… Always with Milan in your heart!”
It can be argued that the club – and this is presuming that the discontent about Lopetegui is the main reason for potentially pulling the plug – listened to the Curva Sud more than the petition with a few thousand names on it. The same worrying indications remain.
If Milan have decided they do not want Lopetegui it should be a determination via their own process and the realisation that there is somebody better to come in and do the job, rather than a fan petition or a Curva statement.
Another example is the very vocal pro-Conte contingent, which almost deserves a separate discussion. In spite of the fact that he would arguably bring as many if not more risks than other candidates due to his demanding nature, explosive past and short-termist tendencies, there are a staggering amount who believe he is simply the only sane choice.
When it comes to making big footballing decisions, fans should have minimal to zero input or bearing. We are fickle by nature, opinions change after one bad result and managers/players go out of fashion quickly.
If you did not want Lopetegui in charge, as a lot didn’t, then feel free to celebrate. Perhaps in a few days, and depending on who the alternative is, it will be recognised what dangerous moment this is for the ownership and the precedent that it may set.
Cardinale and co. have been left with a lose-lose choice: stick to their guns and hire a manager who appears unpopular, or quickly try and scramble for another profile that there is less internal agreement about. Neither, any fan can agree, are the actions of a strong leadership.
Last time the fans were happy with a Manager appointment, Giampaolo didn’t last 7 match weeks.
Don’t trust fan’s opinion on this at all.
Thank you!
agree.
Agreed 👍.
Even though I don’t want Lopetegui I agree that the management should pay no mind to silly petitions or hash tags. Crowds don’t make good decisions. If they have unanimously agreed that he is their guy then they should go with him.
That being said , I still hope Motta becomes new Milan coach. 🤷♂️
Another thing. About Maldini and Massara exit marking the end of a Milan that used human logic to evaluate players instead of algorithm. That’s another ridiculous narrative pushed by the ignorant Italian media. Almost every transfer since 2019 was made based on the same system. The signings of Theo, Leao, Maignan, Bennacer, Saelemakers, Kalulu, etc are no different than the signings of Reijnders, Musah and Co. No one knew who they were when they were signed. I remember fans saying that we didn’t even signed the good Hernández brother.
Players that were young and unknown, or players who were undervalued were signed last 5 years. How is that different from last summer?
And algorithm is just a helping tool.
Instead of relying on sketchy agents recommending you players, you rely on analytics. The scouting process after identifying the player is still the same. They still watch the player in person a bunch of times. They still talk to family, friends and coaches before they decide to sign or not to sign the player.
Instead of having Serginho telling you that you should sign his client Leo Duarte, you have a data based system giving you names of players with characteristics that you are in need.
End of a human logic to evaluate players!?
The identification of players might not be made by human logic, but the evaluation is still made by human logic. How many articles we read that Moncada and Co have watched this or that player several times? Where is this lack of human logic? Is Moncada a humanoid robot?
Plus every club uses this system in every sport not just Milan, but the ignorant Italian media has a hard-on for criticizing Milan.
Danger Will Robinson, danger!
The issue with analytics isn’t in the recruitment process. It is the use of computers to fabulate the maximum wages or prices that could be paid to keep or sign one. That part of it is what cost us. FYIm Maldini had to argue for Tonali, because they thought his statistical metrics weren’t goood enough and didn’t have the correct characteristics to be a good player for Milan. Bennacer, Theo, Leao as well. He went to war with his finance and members of management who trusted a computer’s evaluation of a player’s value over than of a great football mastermind.
When Moncada, Furliani, Gazidis, Elliott and Redbird match Maldini’s title haul for our club, then they can win disputes over who, lfr how much and when players can be retained or signed. He understands and can forget more about football, buliding teams that can win, than they will ever learn together. Asking us to trust their decisions is idiotic.
The stats we had are from all our rivals and competition, besides Inter in the league, loosing their best players and many underperforming. Not because our signings were all that great.
A rebuilding team where 3-4 new starters will be brought it including the lone main striker, and anything less than 2nd spot would be considered a failure. That would be a tough spot for any new managers.
We should hope that the new striker performs at least at Giroud level, otherwise we’re going to have a rocky year, especially if also Leao or Pulisic have a bad patch of games.
You write about how fans usually have bad/incorrect ideas while also blindly believing that there will be a new coach next season. The real devils advocate opinion would be that Pioli won’t be getting fired next season. The CEO says he’s tired of rumours and this news source perpetuates those same rumours hahahah you essentially wrote this article about “fans” but you’re one of those same fans who is believing and advocating for sensational changes, without any idea of what’s going on internally. I don’t know either, let’s let it play out. Chills out until then
LOL facts 💯
The thing is Lopetegui is not welcomed at Milan and that is a fact. When you are given a fact, take it or leave it. Your belief does not matter. Why would the club bring in a coach who is not welcomed by the fans? If the club insist on bringing him in to prove the fans are wrong then it will be fcking Pioli’s philosophy all over again: “I was right and the rest were wrong.” Well, now we all see how that philosophy worked out for Pioli.
But why is he not welcome ? Did he insult or disrespect Milan or Italy prior to be contacted ? Does he hold ideas that run contrary to the fans’ value and ideas ?
Because if that’s not the case, then the fans (we) are simply not welcoming Lopetegui because we don’t think that he can make Milan win titles. If the management think that Lopetegui can make Milan competitive again, why are they changing their mind ? Because if it’s because of the fans, might as well let the fans run the club and decide who is gonna coach the team.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a fan of Lopetegui and I do think hiring him would be a mistake, but when I see the management seemingly so confident about him now all of a sudden hesitant, that means that they don’t know what they’re doing, which is very worrying.
100% agree.
Fans will quickly warm to him if he comes in and wins games. If they believe he is the right candidate that fits within their parameters (including salary budget). Then they need to back him.
I swear lopetegui,fonseca,martinez are the names that only cardinale’s ‘stats analizying app’ could throw out ,no one who watches and understand football would ever think to bring them to milan and that they could improve milan ,washed up flop coaches
I’m getting ready to judge the ownership. However we only have rumors of ehats going on. I hope they hire Lopetegui. I hope he succeeds. To do otherwise is to question their own decisions.
Though I think we pull out all the stops for Motta, I don’t own the club. I will not be judged for whoever they hiring being a success or a failure.
Does anyone really think that this is entirely about listening to the fans? If the fans have done anything here it is save these mediocre directors and management from themselves. Bad process but right outcome (so you take it for now).
Isn’t the problem, here, that the process that some how chose Lopetegui was fundamentally flawed, lacking any coherence? Reading between the lines, it is pretty clear that fan response is being used as a smoke screen. What serious people would buckle to fan pressure in this way?
Anyway, the process starts with Motta, which makes too much sense for reasons I have given here numerous times.
But then Zlatan put the kibosh on Motta, preferring Conte. Conte was then courted to the point that Milan knew enough to back off.
The rationale for these preferred candidates is almost diametrically opposed. We go from young up-and-comer who represents an evolution of the project, to proven old-fashioned coach whose system is not compatible with the squad as it has been constructed (particularly its strengths).
This is major problem 1.
In the time it took Milan to work out the obvious, which was that as good a coach as Conte is, he’s not a good fit, we got very close to losing Motta. So we floated the idea of retaining Pioli. That then collapsed because nothing had changed, as was obvious to anyone that watches us play as opposed to getting carried away with results. And so he was gone after we played the 1 game that tested Pioli (i.e. Eurpoa first leg against Roma).
Major problem 2: the process got confused and then started trying to replace Pioli with another Pioli as some sort of middle ground.
Now the ‘process’ is delivering mediocre development coaches, much closer to the end of their careers, than the start of their careers, whose systems and approaches have already failed at big clubs and which do not deliver trophies in any decent league. What happened to the dynamic / progressive evolution of the project, on the one hand? On the other, what happened to the winning? How has the end point changed so dramatically?
Major problem 3: the obvious and utter incoherence of what Milan has been trying to do takes over.
We hear this rubbish about needing a coach with an international profile, another apparent break from Italy (which happens to be the country in which Milan finds itself). While Italian players have lost their reputation recently, and despite being current European champions, the same cannot be said about Italian coaches. The clear majority of the best coaches in the world, high calibre senior coaches and young up-and-coming coaches are Italians. The up-and-comers play progressive European football – they’re writing the book on it, actually. But then what about Sarri and Spaletti, to name a few elder statesmen who also play European football?
These people expose their idiocy by the things they leak to the media.
But if we focus on international profile, how does Lopetegui fit that profile? Because he coached an U21 side a decade ago? Are we going to appoint a 70 year old Pellegrini as a statement of progression? What exactly is Fonseca’s international experience? Winning in Ukraine, ffs? He hasn’t done anything else and recently failed with Roma, a side exposed for its tactical naivety.
Hasn’t Sarri also won Europa League (with Chelsea), won a Scudetto and then lost at least one Scudetto with more than 90 points achieved with one of the most watchable teams of all time? What serious criteria, that wouldn’t embarrass the drafter of said criteria, could exclude Sarri from a process that delivers the names this process has delivered?
I agree that the directors and management are paid to make big decisions which is why I can’t understand how they landed on mediocrity that represent inertia at best and regression at worst.
Look at who was selected to coach Milan during its heyday, who worked and who didn’t. You’ll land on 3 key characters, a 41 year old Sacchi (no one had heard of and who hadn’t coached in the top flight before), a 45 year old Capello (whose coaching career consisted of Milan youth and a stint as senior caretaker) and a 42 year old Ancelotti (who was run out of Juve and who hadn’t really done anything with his career).
That’s what making big decisions looks like, identifying the right fit and new ideas despite the profile not being worthy of the job (on account of lack of experience).
Lopetegui and everyone else being proposed looks like every other failed coach Milan has appointed in the last 40 years.
I really like your post and I agree with the overall assessment, but did you consider that even this “news” of being “close” to Lopetegui is as much speculation as is management “bowing” to fan pressure and backing out of the deal?
Every day some new “article” comes out about this or that manager, or an offer that was made, or why one fits and another doesn’t. Along with managers that most people agree are not exciting, such as Conte, Lopetegui, Fonseca, Pellegrini et al., we’ve also been linked with Nagelsmann, Motta, De Zerbi, Xavi, and some other more “exciting” names. We’ve been linked with half the coaches in Europe it seems. But at no point in time has there been a statement from the club or any of the people responsible for this coach search with regard to criteria, candidates, offers, etc.
This article states “The news emerged from a number of reliable sources that Julen Lopetegui is the man that has been chosen by the management to lead the post-Pioli era, and that things were moving fast”, and yet, not one of those sources was quoted, and even if they were are their names Cardinale, Scaroni, Furlani, Ibrahimovic or Moncada? “The news emerged”? Come on. Wait for the official announcement. Until then everything is just speculation.
By the way, Sacchi was hired from Serie B. How about an exciting young manager at the helm of a club at the to of the Championship by the name of Enzo Maresca? Italian and nearly capped by Italy, big side experience as a player, uses 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1, and was also an assistant to Guardiola (think Mikel Arteta).
On the point about the Lopetegui reports, you’d have to have been living under a rock to have not seen the reports. They were everywhere from Sky to MilanNews to Matteo Moretto, all relayed on this site. There were simply too many sources to list, hence the simplification.
Pretty much.
The 2 page spread in the Gazetta which Milan has obviously paid for, in one way or another, is a pretty obvious give away.
It’s the articles which convey propaganda in a way that it can only really have come from the club. Look at the way the decision is justified, the unfavourable admissions. It was a really great process (it just happens to have produced a ridiculous result). Why would a journalist write a story in that way?
Journalists don’t just make stories up. What they do that looks like they make stories up is rely on sources who are not absolute authorities or uncritically report information.
Milan’s silence then becomes the key.
It’s like a way of triangulating what is real and what is not.
When it’s just one story about Naglesman, for example, even if correct there isn’t enough circumstantial support to accept it as being a true story.
See above.
I don’t know much about Maresca.
If the chosen candidate supports either of the initial goals it’s fine. It the candidates that get lost in the mediocre middle ground that I can’t stomach.
Whil there are valid points here, it doesn’t ultimately matter in this scenario. The READON this incompetent management deemed him the best choice is because they don’t care about actually trying to improve. It takes 1 look at Lopetgui to see he isn’t good enough to take this team to the next level. He was a lazy appointment, and a yes man who wouldn’t question the owners and would be just barely good enough to keep challenging for top 5. That it. When the lack of ambition in this obvious, fans have every right to call them out. But it is vital the owners get the message: your lazy lack of ambition won’t be tolerated, and you will know we’ve noticed. End of.
This site just posts the hype from other media outlets and articles often clash. One day he’s coming, the other not, then again he’s about sign, then fans revolt etc.
There must be something on it and it’s good to discuss but don’t give it too much attention until it’s official.
My main concern about foreign coach, the likes of Lopetegui, Fonseca, MvB etc., is the negative record of foreign coaches winning in Italy. Mourinho was the last foreign coach to win Serie A. And that was way back in season 2009/10.
Is Lopetegui the one who’ll break the stereotype? I have my doubts.
That’s why I vote Motta, someone who played Serie A and is now overachieving as a coach.
Let pioli see out his contract. Improve areas of the team that needs improvement e.g replacement for Giroud. Then we would have enough time to look for a new manager.