It was a shocking end of December for AC Milan fans as the Italian club decided to sack their head coach Paulo Fonseca and replaced him with former FC Porto manager Sergio Conceicao, who is set to make his managerial debut with his new club on Friday against Juventus in the semifinal of the Italian Supercup.
After sacking Fonseca, the Italian giants decided to appoint another Portuguese coach, making him the second new face only a few months after sacking Stefano Pioli, who left the club before the summer. Conceicao becomes their third manager in less than six months, and another decision that leaves many doubtful about the management of the club under the Americans who took charge of the historic side in 2022.
It's a demonstration of the current confusion inside the club that it was Fonseca who announced to the press he was about to be sacked after the AS Roma draw on Sunday, while no club directors faced the media ahead of the decision to appoint a new coach.
Official Statement: Sérgio Conceição #SempreMilan
— AC Milan (@acmilan) December 30, 2024
Over the past weeks tensions were elevated inside and outside the stadium as some of the AC Milan ultras reunited to display banners protesting against American businessman Gerry Cardinale and singing, "We are not Americans," calling on Cardinale to sell the club. The day after, on December 16, AC Milan officially celebrated their anniversary and the same scene happened outside of the place where the celebrations were happening. Most of the players were whistled, few were cheered, while club directors chose to use a secondary exit to avoid the fans.
Will Pulisic be affected?
UMSNT star Christian Pulisic, who is currently recovering from a calf injury, is set to be coached by his third manager in the last six months at the club, though it remains to be seen if Conceicao will affect the way Pulisic plays. The American winger, despite the issues that affected the Rossoneri's roster in this first part of the season and the negative environment that surrounded the team under Paulo Fonseca's management, was the best player of the season so far before he got injured.
Pulisic, up to now, has scored eight goals in all competitions, and also provided five assists so far. He scored some nice goals, including the opening goal against Inter during the Derby della Madonnina, which saw the Rossoneri finally winning against their cross-city rivals for the first time in two years.
Conceicao is unlikely to drastically change the tactical system used by Fonseca in this first part of the 2024-25 season, as the Portuguese manager recently shifted from the 4-3-3 to the 4-4-2. Pulisic won't have an issue adapting to the tactical ideas of his new Portuguese coach, who despite playing with a similar tactical system to his predecessor, has an opposite idea of how his team should play.
Fonseca opted to play the ball in the attack, but also conceded a lot when AC Milan were defending and that was one of the big issues the Rossoneri had in this first part of the season. On the other hand, Conceicao will likely start from the defense, working to prevent his side from conceding as before. His ideas are much more focused on an intense and aggressive defense while playing on the counterattack. During his spell at FC Porto in particular, Conceicao showed to be one of the best young managers around Europe and won three league titles, three Super cups and four Portuguese Cups from 2017 to 2024, when he left the Portuguese side.
For sure, Pulisic's tactical position won't be an issue for both the manager and the player. The recovery of his injury was the priority for Fonseca and will be the same for the new manager, who needs the American international back as soon as possible to start the new year in a different way.
