AC Milan’s decision to hire Paulo Fonseca during the summer as Stefano Pioli’s replacement was met with a mixed reaction, and that divide continues to exist in the second international break.
When Pioli departed after nearly half a decade at the helm, many presumed that the Milan management believed it was the right time to take the ‘next step’ in their project, hiring a head coach that would be a big name and an indisputable upgrade.
In actual fact, the names that floated around in orbit were never really that. Julen Lopetegui looked like arriving before a fan protest put a stop to things. Fonseca’s eventual appointment was therefore a bit of a surprise, given that he too is not exactly a glamorous name.
Seeds of doubt
It has been a relatively tough start to the season for Fonseca, given that Milan have won just three of seven games in the league and three of nine when extending it to all competitions.
There have been a number of factors that have played into this, but the bottom line is that there hasn’t been the hoped-for ‘new manager bounce’, all while incidents such as the penalty mutiny in the Fiorentina game suggest he hasn’t yet fully got a grip of the dressing room.
The numbers show how much he is struggling. In these first 9 games of the season, the Portuguese has in fact collected an average of 1.22 points per game which is not a positive average, it goes without saying.
For example, Marco Giampaolo (1.29 PPG) had only taken charge of seven games at this point in the 2019-20 season (3W, 4D), two less than Fonseca who is already at nine (3W, 2D, 4D). A win rate of 33% is not going to cut it for Fonseca though, moving forward.
The next two games against Udinese and Club Brugge will be crucial in order to determine the coach’s future and Milan’s seasonal ambitions. The hope of the fans and management is that he can continue to show tactical intuition like the derby victory, and that his side maintain those levels of performance.
The failure to upgrade
However, a more in-depth analysis is also needed on the decision that led the Rossoneri owners to replace Pioli with Fonseca in the summer. The idea of sacking the previous coach was welcomed by fans and insiders, not so much for the results obtained but because there was the feeling that the era was over.
For Milan, it could have been the opportunity to make the first major upgrade of their management by replacing a ‘Cinderella’ coach like Pioli with an already established and winning one. There were plenty of names out there, too.
However, what the Rossoneri leaders decided to instead was to replicate what they had done previously by focusing on yet another ‘underdog’ time with a virtually empty list of major honours when it comes to top European league.
What should worry Milan fans is that it may well be a choice linked to reasons that are not strictly to do with on-field performances and trying to lift silverware at the end of each season, which is only a reasonable expectation after the years of being told repeated top four finishes build the platform.
Firstly, the economic aspect: Fonseca receives €2.5m net per season in salary, while Pioli at the time of his departure was on €4m net. For the new coach – the one supposed to take Milan to the next level – to be earning substantially less than the man shoved out of the door might be the most alarming display of ambition (or lack thereof).
The other aspect is corporate: Fonseca is not like Antonio Conte, Thomas Tuchel, Maurizio Sarri and some of the other big names that were free in the summer because he does not have the personality nor the contractual power to make demands of those above him and ask for investment to guarantee results.
The project and the odyssey
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was asked why Conte was seemingly not considered by the Milan hierarchy during the presentation of the new season back in June, and his answer made it clear.
“Milan needs a coach, not a manager. We didn’t discuss Conte because with the criteria we had, he wasn’t what we were looking for, his name didn’t come up,” he said.
It is a response that contains the essence of the decision to focus on Fonseca, a corporate ‘yes man’ and therefore less controversial in the media, a characteristic that both Elliott Management and RedBird Capital have suffered in the past with both Zvonimir Boban and Paolo Maldini.
The reason for this? The ownership have chosen a specific and cost-cautious project, one consisting of purchases not exceeding €20m and with a salary ceiling that ensures a certain balance in the dressing room.
More specifically, any coach must be willing to work with players who – with some exceptions – must be between 20 and 26 years of age and with a potential that is still unexpressed because, as has been said in every way, it is at Milan that they will have to become stars.
It is a precise policy that must not be contested by anyone or anything, especially by those who will have to coach those aforementioned players. Fonseca certainly had a say in some of the signings such as Alvaro Morata and Emerson Royal, yet he was likely presented with a list that hardly contained blockbuster names.
In this context, the Milan project is a ship that travels on autopilot on its own route without accepting changes or advice. A sort of ‘odyssey at cruising speed’ that includes only a few pre-established stops aimed at changing the now worn-out servitude.
