Italian giants Milan have made the final major coaching change of 2024, moving swiftly to replace Paulo Fonseca after their draw with Roma. The Rossoneri have had a very disappointing first half of the season, so Sérgio Conceição has a tough gig to handle in the new year.
By Neel Shelat
Currently languishing in eighth place with a 14-point deficit to the league leaders, Milan are on course for their lowest Serie A finish in a decade. While supporters were happy enough to see Stefano Pioli leave at the end of last season after feeling that the side stagnated under his management, they quickly realised that the threat of going backwards was just as real as the prospect of moving forward. The club looked set to appoint Julen Lopetegui as his successor, but they were forced to reconsider after vocal fan protests. Eventually, they settled on Paulo Fonseca.
In hindsight, neither of those picks looks great. Lopetegui has gone on to have a rocky time at West Ham United, while Fonseca was unable to build upon a precious few sparks of promise in the economic capital of Italy.
Fonseca’s failures in an uphill battle
As someone who evidently was not the board’s first choice, Fonseca had to prove himself from the get-go. However, he failed to win any of his first three competitive fixtures in charge of Milan. Worse yet, he already seemed to be having disagreements with star players such as Rafael Leão and Theo Hernández – an issue that would continue to undermine his spell at the club.
The bone of contention seemed to be their defensive work rate, which possibly forced the Portuguese coach’s hand in terms of his out-of-possession tactics. From the very beginning of his tenure, he did not set his side up to press but instead asked them to drop into a very compact mid block. However, their organisation was often suspect, giving opponents the opportunity to slice through them.
Given the fact that Pioli managed to fashion a decent press and solid block with pretty much the same squad, Fonseca cannot absolve himself of blame for Milan’s defensive issues. He has never been renowned for his out-of-possession tactics, though, so he could still have gotten away with this by excelling at what he does best.
However, the 51-year-old coach never seemed to get everything clicking in the way of attack either. He devised all sorts of systems and structures in possession, but his side often struggled to break down disciplined defensive blocks. Ultimately, they mostly ended up relying on the individual quality of their attacking stars to make the difference. Christian Pulisic’s stellar form was a huge boost early on in the season, but his drop-off significantly impacted the team’s output.
Piloli, for his part, had regularly relied on the dynamic left wing duo of Leão and Hernández to make a telling difference for Milan. As a result, he pretty much built the team around them, adjusting all other aspects to get the best out of the pair. Even though Leão still bailed the team out at times, Fonseca’s determination to impose his style on those players likely cost him further. The Portuguese tactician went as far as benching one of them in recent matches, but his attack only took a hit in those games as his replacement options were mostly teenagers such as Álex Jiménez, Francesco Camarda and Mattia Liberali.
With issues both in attack and defence as well as star players getting antagonised, the writing was quickly on the wall for Fonseca. His approach had many similarities with Pioli’s but he did a significantly worse job of putting everything together, so his position became untenable.
The job at hand for Conceição
After Fonseca’s failure, a change in approach appeared to be the only sensible option for Milan. The appointment of Sérgio Conceição suggests that is the direction they are taking.
The 50-year-old coach has been in the business for almost 15 years after the end of his playing career. He spent about half of that time in his most recent job at FC Porto, winning ten trophies including three league titles.
Throughout his seven seasons in charge of the Dragons, Conceição was almost exclusively wedded to the 4-4-2 formation or one of its variants. Defensive solidity was his top priority, as his side averaged less than one goal conceded per game in every single one of their league seasons under him and let in the fewest goals in all but two campaigns. Their approach in big games quite often involved defending with discipline and absorbing pressure, so he could well try to replicate that at Milan.
Although the Portuguese coach has never been renowned for his attacking tactics, he did get the best out of star forwards such as Mehdi Taremi and Luis Díaz at Porto. Leão and company should also have a good time under him as a more transitional and counterattacking approach will better suit them.
With the January transfer window now open, it will be interesting to see how much Milan invest to shape their squad according to Conceição’s liking. They could ideally do with additions in various departments, though a heavy mid-season investment is both unlikely and inadvisable. While the Rossoneri have options in central midfield, some more depth could be useful for what will likely be quite a demanding role. More quality at the heart of defence could also prove handy, as could reinforcement in the full back positoins.
Conceição’s contract reportedly includes a unilateral termination option for Milan at the end of the season, so he too will be expected to deliver results quickly. He is quite used to such pressure, so as long as he instils his trademark defensive solidity in this Milan side, they could yet spring a surprise in one of the cup competitions.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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