AC Milan are solely round midway by their 2024-25 season, and but there has already been sufficient drama to fill a number of regular campaigns.
As write, Milan are often headline information even when issues are going effectively, however this season they’ve surpassed themselves on the subject of newsworthy occasions.
Summer time confusion
The debacle really started earlier than a ball was kicked, when Milan followers protested on the Julen Lopetegui hyperlinks. The administration turned to Paulo Fonseca, a determine not fairly as divisive however not as uniting as Antonio Conte or Thiago Motta.
Then, additionally throughout the summer time, Milan renewed Luka Jovic’s deal and gave him the No.9 shirt earlier than brazenly making an attempt to ship him off late I the window. Fonseca additionally acknowledged that he preferred Alexis Saelemaekers, but the administrators sacrificed him to get Tammy Abraham on mortgage.
Fonseca maybe knew that he was arriving and wouldn’t have full powers, however he was reminded of it. The coach stated that the market was closed in his eyes throughout August, then Zlatan Ibrahimovic responded. “The coach is the coach, the membership does the remaining. We don’t want any extra purchases, however the market closes once I say it closes,” he stated.
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Friction with Fonseca
Talking of feedback that raised eyebrows within the media, Yunus Musah admitted after the Parma recreation that he and his team-mates ‘didn’t know whether or not to press excessive or drop in deep’. It was the primary open signal that Fonseca won’t be getting his message throughout.
After that recreation, Fonseca left Theo Hernandez and Leao out of the beginning eleven in opposition to Lazio. It’s a very sturdy selection, and when he introduced each on they every stayed on the opposite aspect of the sector , removed from the remainder of the crew that the coach was chatting with.
Then there was the Fiorentina saga. Milan obtained two penalties in Florence and it was confirmed after the sport that Christian Pulisic ought to have taken each, however Theo took the primary from him, then for the second Fikayo Tomori handed it to Tammy Abraham. The worst bit? Each missed.
After the defeat in opposition to Atalanta in Bergamo, Fonseca criticised the referee: “The way in which the referee performed the match in opposition to Milan is obvious… Each week one thing occurs to our drawback. It’s a lack of respect for us.” The president Scaroni’s reply went in opposition to him: “I by no means give an opinion on the referees’ choices. The referees are at all times proper by definition.”
The Fonseca-Leao tug of conflict turned a weekly headline, to which the ex-Lille coach stated: “Possibly it’s unusual for you to not see him, however this have to be regular. It’s not regular to see Leao on the bench, however it’s regular for me once I say that the crew is extra vital.” He would add: “I don’t give a f*** concerning the gamers’ names.”
New period, identical incidents
After the 1-1 with Roma on December 29, the membership determined to fireplace Fonseca. It was a call that had already been made but the coach was despatched to do the post-match press convention, unaware of his destiny. Throughout the presentation of Conceicao, Zlatan stated: “The choice to fireplace him got here after the match, it was our mistake to have despatched him to talk, we apologise to him.”
When Conceiçao arrived, he instantly identified some shortcomings in character and strategy to work: “Theo and Leao are the identical as all of the others, when it comes to how I handle the dressing room. It will depend on what they do every single day in coaching. They must do their finest, which perhaps isn’t the perfect of their opinion.”
He would added: “The gamers aren’t youngsters however males, contained in the dressing room they must tackle the obligations too. Many gamers are already fathers however then they arrive on the pitch and they’re children who want somebody to get into their heads?… The gamers are too pampered, and so am I. It’s a job, not a interest.”
Lastly, we come to the newest recreation and the conflict between Conceiçao and Calabria on the finish. The victory in damage time over Parma supplied an adrenaline rush, however the coach went for the full-back having been after being substituted. Fortunately, the gamers and employees separated them instantly, but it surely was extra ammunition for the media.