Sky journalist Peppe Di Stefano has given the latest updates on AC Milan’s pursuit of a new head coach, confirming that Julen Lopetegui has now been crossed off the list.
News broke over the weekend that Milan were set to hire Julen Lopetegui, a coach who has had spells with Porto, Rayo Vallecano, the Spanish national team, Real Madrid and most recently Wolverhampton Wanderers.
This was met by a ‘#NOPEtegui’ campaign on social media, with a petition amassing thousands of signatures from people who are against his potential arrival.
The management have seemingly now done a U-turn on what they felt was the correct course of action, something which deserves to be discussed separately and at length, but where do they turn now?
Di Stefano spoke outside Milanello this afternoon and focused mainly on the process of hiring a new manager, with his comments relayed by MilanNews.
“It is a phase of deep reflection, the choice of the new coach cannot be wrong because they have to replace a coach who, at the net of all the criticism received, he has brought great results in these 4 and a half years,” he said.
“In addition to making the most of many players, Pioli brought Milan back to the Champions League, won a Scudetto, reached the semi-finals of the Champions League. There were also some negative notes such as the six derbies lost in a row, but I think the balance tips more towards the positive aspects than the negative ones.
“If Milan has decided to change they cannot afford to hire a coach who does not try to improve this Milan both in terms of results and performances. The reflections have been going on for months, the contacts with some coaches – in particular Lopetegui – start from afar.
“Moncada spoke with several coaches and the one who had gone through the most steps was Lopetegui. The Spaniard was considered by the Milan leaders as an almost normal choice and for this reason it was somewhat shocked by the fans, the reaction and the protests.
“On Sunday against Genoa, the organised support could protest or remain silent because they want clarity from the club on what Milan will be.
“The choice of coach is not just a technical choice, but an all-round one because it is the first time that Cardinale, Ibrahimovic, Furlani and Moncada have to choose. It won’t be an easy decision. The ideas must coincide.
“The names are the usual ones: I think Lopetegui is almost definitively gone, we’re keeping Fonseca high, we’re keeping De Zerbi even if there haven’t been any contacts between the parties yet. Then pay attention to outsiders.
“There is talk, for example, of Van Bommel, who remained very close to Ibrahimovic, of Thiago Motta, who however is closer to Juventus than to Milan. We’ll see if other names come out of the hat of the Milan management. It will be a very intense month between the field and above all the coach market.”
Takes about a week to compile a list of candidates (free or under contract) then you kinda interview them and within a month you got yourself a new employee.. it’s really not that hard.
4 example if your target is motta you contact the agent he talks to motta and if there is interest from him you start talks (the interview). It’s that fûcking simple
They did that with Lopetegui, right? But it all got leaked and the fans started crying (we don’t know how to do anything else)
I don’t get why there is an outcry about Lopetegui. He is a solid name after all. I am not saying people have to love him but he is not a truly weird choice or anything like that.
He is not a bad coach, but Milan need to do better than Lopetegui.
We don’t really know if it’s “It’s that fûcking simple”. That’s why we coach from the couch and spit out theories.
it is do. hiring process is the same anywhere
It’s not because in a normal hiring proces the company doens’t have to take into account the opinion of the fans and most of all the wishlist of the new coach. You don’t just hire a coach, you have to thoroughly know his plans and which players he needs to accomplish them. Top coaches don’t sign if those promises aren’t made. It’s a very elaborate project which takes time. It’s almost the same at every other club, so it’s inherent to today’s football.
companys dont care about their fans either.. think apple gives a f who they hire to run sh*t?
From a tactical aspect replacing Pioli with RDZ wouldn’t make a lot of sense, RDZ is more radical than Pioli in his approach.
Pioli´s plan B doesn’t always work but he is more pragmatic than RDZ, and with Pioli his lack of pragmatism is already the most common criticism.
RDZ has two things that people like in him. One he plays good-looking football, and sometimes he wins against stronger teams.
Two, some young players have grown a lot in value with him as coach.
The main con, is that he’s stubborn in his ways, and as you said not as pragmatic as Pioli. If you think that Pioli can’t kill a game, I don’t think that RDZ is different in that.
Also his soccer might be pretty to outsiders, but if you’re a fan and want to win the game, you can end dissatisfied if you have 70% of the ball and 10 chances and don’t score (some fans will blame the coach on that)
From management point of view, he’d be enticing in the context that he’s a popular choice with fans and can raise the value of players (less money to build the team, and more money to sell players = profit).
RDZ, on the other hand, is less of a yes man, which in the eyes of management is a serious issue. Have the feeling that RDZ wouldn’t have a problem speaking candidly in front of the cameras and giving a list of issues that management has done wrong and that’s not how corporate teams work (CEO gets all the glory, the minions get all the blame 😉 )
Well, RDZ’s choices may be down to the kind of players he has. Do you think Brighton has players to match the Milan squad?
Put it this way, will a Milan with RDZ fail to score or put 7 out of 10 chances away with this set of players?