White roses dominated the image of the restart at AC Milan, but they did not represent hope. The Milan players were given a necklace made of beautiful flowers after their arrival in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where the Italian Supercoppa will be played in the coming days. For the second time in its long history, the competition is taking place in the desert, in subtly inflated mode as a mini-tournament with semi-finals and finals at the start of the year: Inter, Atalanta Bergamo, Juventus Turin and Milan are allowed to take part – they are the big club names should help with foreign marketing of Series A. Even if there is currently only three locations where there is a big name behind big football.
The Rossoneri have recently plunged into a crisis that appears so serious that the airport employees in Riyadh would have needed huge bouquets of flowers to cover up the anger. In any case, those involved didn’t seem too happy with their wreaths, who can blame them: eighth place in the league is the conclusion of the year, the national competition is over, the coach has been fired. And the sporting leadership is feeling the pressure of the Tifosi more than ever, which can also be seen in small details.
After the coach’s dismissal, Ibrahimovic was unusually meek
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has never been known for apologies, neither as a footballer nor in his new role as chief sporting advisor to Milan owner RedBird Capital. On Monday, however, the Swede appeared comparatively sheepishly in front of the microphones to ask the fans’ forgiveness for the antics that had previously taken place: After the 1-1 draw against Roma on Sunday, Ibrahimovic had decided that coach Paulo Fonseca would still be there Had to be released in 2024. Then, however, Fonseca was once again given the task of sitting in a press conference – when his fate was already sealed.
:The promise of Roman peace
The third act: At the age of 73, Claudio Ranieri once again takes over AS Roma, the club he loves, which recently sank into turmoil. He is the last hope, for the owners, for the fans – and not least for the hapless Mats Hummels.
If the situation is already a catastrophe in terms of sport, it should at least be about decency and dignity, according to the tenor of the critics: You should give a coach who always showed his best side as a person and in return received the respect of an initially very critical group Don’t expect a tribunal at the end. But Fonseca accepted his departure seriously. The last image that remained of him was that of an interview from the car, in which he smiled pleasantly and said that he had “tried everything” in his six months as a coach.
Former coach Paulo Fonseca made technical errors
However, a lot of it went terribly wrong from a technical point of view. His ongoing conflict with the duo Theo Hernández and Rafael Leão, for example, preoccupied the club: both may be egocentrics with a tendency to be lazy, but they also have outstanding footballing qualities that Fonseca was never able to integrate into his system. What he really intended to do with Milan on the field was mostly unclear. Only good performances in the Champions League, including a win against Real Madrid, saved him through the autumn. In the league it was a different picture: As inconsistent as the results were there, the Portuguese’s lineups were wildly mixed. Who should now be followed by a fellow countryman.
Sérgio Conceição began his first business trip to Riyadh on his first day in office, where there will also be a duel with his son Francisco – a winger at Juventus Turin – on Friday. Family connections probably didn’t play a role in the signing: the former striker Conceição coached FC Porto very successfully until June; he fits in with Ibrahimovic’s idea of preferring to do without big names on the bench as long as someone comes to northern Italy with a concept . The question, however, is whether it works that way at Milan.
Conceição has a past with Inter Milan. The extent to which this still affects him can only be estimated at the premiere at the San Siro, but a career phase with his city rivals has certainly never helped anyone. A look at the national competition and their coaches shows how much Milan has fallen behind after a lost six months under Fonseca.
Simone Inzaghi, a meticulous tactician, has been at work at Inter since 2021 and has built a perfect system over the years that seems difficult to beat. In Bergamo, Gian Piero Gasperini achieved the same thing; consistency and a talent for managing people combine to form a very successful unit. In Turin, Thiago Motta should be given enough time to reinvent an entire club.
And at Milan? An American owner is currently putting the entire club in the hands of a man who first has to prove his suitability away from the football field. Zlatan Ibrahimovic always wanted to be the powerful determiner, his wishes were heard: under the owner RedBird he now has extensive freedom in his sporting decisions, but so far little has come together at this big club.
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