Fabio Capello believes that AC Milan and Juventus are both in ‘crisis’ at the moment, as a result of the confusion within the respective clubs.
It has not been the season that Milan fans hoped for, with the declaration prior to a ball being kicked that Paulo Fonseca’s side would fight for the league title, only for him to be sacked just 24 games into his tenure.
He was replaced by Sergio Conceicao, who won a trophy after just two games. However, due to a string of inconsistent results, the Rossoneri are ninth in the table which means no European football at all in 2025-26 as things stand.
Capello spoke in a column for La Gazzetta dello Sport in which he touched upon the difficult seasons that both Milan and Juve are having at present.
“Last June, within twenty-four hours of each other, Milan and Juventus announced their new coaches, to whom they had entrusted a long-term project: both Paulo Fonseca and Thiago Motta had signed a three-year contract,” he said.
“At the end of March, the plate weeps: Fonseca was fired after 7 months, Motta after 9, the farewell took place more or less a quarter of the way through. It is the law of the big clubs where time is relative and where everything always depends on the results, of course, but this time, to fully analyse the problems of Juve and Milan, we cannot stop here.
“Because if for two teams that have made the history of Italian and world football, playing in the next Champions League is equivalent to a victory, then something is wrong. And if the two coaches who took over, Conceiçao and Tudor, are very likely destined to say goodbye at the end of the season, then we are beyond the ‘simple’ bad year.
“On both sides, mistakes have been made that should not be repeated, with responsibilities that should be highlighted and, in some cases, also identified. I think of Milan, where everything seems complicated to me: what is the chain of command, exactly?
“If the coach chosen at the beginning of the season ends up not convincing, if the market strategies have not worked, it should be possible to identify a management figure who chose those players and that coach, but at the Rossoneri it is still not clear who does what.
“Ibrahimovic is not a manager but an advisor to the owners, and yet some time ago he said that he is the boss and that he is in charge. However, the hierarchies in the choice of the new sporting director seem to be going in another direction, with the CEO Furlani in the front row.
“Even the fans are confused, they do not know who to really blame for a season that seriously risks ending without a place in the next Champions League. I repeat: patience in big clubs has limited horizons, it is a speech that is valid for the coach but also for the directors. And for the players.
“On this ground, the paths of Milan and Juve divide, because if in Turin it was a question of giving shape to a group with many new faces compared to last season – and the management of Thiago, who has not found his way, has had its effects on the players, almost all confused – at the Rossoneri they started from names that until recently were considered certainties.
“Maignan, Theo Hernandez, Leao, all people who did not arrive at Milan yesterday and who won a title with the Rossoneri: they should have pulled the group and helped their coach – Fonseca first and then Conceiçao – to shape the team, instead not only have they not taken control of the situation, but they have experienced their worst moments precisely this year.
“It is likely that there was an error of judgment on all three: they were thought to be leaders but they are not. For this reason the future seems even more uncertain than the present: should Milan sell them, turn the page and rebuild around other players like Reijnders and Pulisic or can they still rely on them?
“The paradox, for both teams, is that this season still has something to say. Milan have already lifted a trophy, the Supercoppa won in the Riyadh derby, and could lift another, Inter permitting: the Coppa Italia is an achievable goal but without qualification for the Champions League – now 6 points away – the season would still be branded as negative.
“What matters, however, is that Milan and Juve are clear about what is needed to start again: to build a winning group, algorithms are not needed, people are needed who are capable of understanding whether a certain profile has what it takes to support the weight of San Siro or the Stadium. Otherwise, you won’t get far.”
