The Coppa Italia has become AC Milan’s last resort at the end of a miserable season, and the month of April has not even ended yet.
Calciomercato.com confirm that barring any big surprises Sergio Conceicao will leave at the end of the season, but they also ask a question: what is the difference between the Portuguese coach and his compatriot and predecessor Paulo Fonseca?
Fonseca’s stint
To analyse how the two respective paths went, we must take into consideration that Fonseca took charge of 24 games across three competitions, while Conceicao also had the chance to coach in the Supercoppa Italiana which he won.
The current coach of Lyon won 12 (exactly 50%) of his games with six draws and six losses. It produced an overall points per game average of 1.75, with 42 total points obtained out of the 72 available. Fonseca’s Milan scored 44 times, conceding 27 goals in all competitions.
At the time of his dismissal, the coach left behind a team that were eighth in Serie A, but which beat Inter in the derby after six consecutive losses to the Nerazzurri, while they also won 3-1 against Real Madrid and were one step away from directly qualifying for the Champions League round of 16.
Conceicao’s tenure
Conceicao arrived at Milan at the end of December and right away he entered the history books, winning a trophy (the Super Cup) in his second match in charge, the 50th major honour in the 125th year.
It was an excellent start for the Portuguese, but things went badly from there. The Coppa Italia provides another chance to win a trophy but the Diavolo are ninth in the league and miles away from the top four, while they were dumped out of Europe by Feyenoord in the play-off round.
The numbers show that Conceicao since arriving has won 11 matches, drawn five and lost eight, conceding 30 goals and scoring 37. The Average? 1.58 points per match, inferior to Fonseca.
Further comparison
The aforementioned numbers show the reality reality: in the same number of games, the statistics of Conceicao’s Milan are lower than those of the team with Fonseca at the helm.
There is actually other data that reinforce this thesis: Milan have had fewer successful dribbles (140 against 157), less shots on goal (83 to 92) and have lost possession more (1684 to 1781).
In essence, it is a team that creates less and has seen its production and attacking danger decrease. Furthermore, there is another to bring under the magnifying glass: Milan suffers from a real taboo in direct clashes.
Fonseca, in seven games against sides higher in the table, won one, drew three and lost three, with seven goals scored and 10 conceded, gaining six points at an average of 0.86 per match.
Conceicao, on the other hand – with two big matches against Bologna and Roma still to play – has not won any head-to-head clashes, drawing two and losing on five occasions, with four goals scored and 10 conceded. The result? Two points obtained from 21, at an average of 0.29 per match.
