Fonseca's 200 days in Milan: unfulfilled promises, pre-match dismissal is a fate

The reporter reported coldly After a surreal match, Fonseca was notified of his dismissal at the San Siro at midnight. The Milan management left him alone to feel the ruthlessness of capital. At 0:33 on the 30th, Milan time, Fonseca drove away with his wife Caterina and said goodbye to the waiting reporters: "This is life, my heart is very calm, because I have done my best. "As Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said, this is football and coaches have to be prepared to be sacked. But Fonseca's real powerlessness, I'm afraid Ancelotti can't empathize, because the Portuguese's fate in Milan was determined before his final game in charge.

Half an hour before Milan's match against Roma, Italian media revealed that Fonseca had been dismissed. Fonseca was sent off for protesting against the referee, and the red card was like a tarot card that foretold fate. The Italian media claimed that in addition to the poor record, the reason for the determination of the Milan management was the huge difference in compensation. Fonseca earns €3.5 million a year, with a clause in his contract that he will be released in 2024 and only pay for the rest of the season. Now the dismissal is only 2.2 million euros, and after January 1, the entire salary of the remaining three-year contract will be paid, totaling 9.2 million euros.

Of course, the Rossoneri's poor results have given Milan's management plenty of reasons to change managers. I still remember Fonseca's first press conference in charge of Milan on June 13, Fonseca's bold words to build a "brave, attacking, dominant and strong sense of identity", but except for the Milan derby and the Champions League against Real Madrid, Milan's performance in the remaining 22 games this season has not "fulfilled" Fonseca's promise.

Fonseca's post-Pioli era has failed completely, with Milan sitting in 8th place in Serie A, 14 points behind leaders Atalanta and Napoli with one game less, Lazio in 4th place 8 points and 6th place Juventus 5 points. Not to mention the championship, even European qualification is in jeopardy.

Only Fonseca, who was kept in the dark, was still denying the quarrel with Ibrahimovic in the post-match press conference, looking forward to flying to Saudi Arabia with the whole team on the 31st to prepare for the Italian Super Cup. Asked if he was afraid of being a "victim", Fonseca also pushed back: "I'm never afraid in football, in the past and in the future. As long as I work hard and have no fear. But apparently Fonseca's efforts did not impress more people, at least not as a factor in the evaluation of whether or not to change the manager, and Fonseca was only informed by the media an hour later at a high-level meeting at the San Siro. From the swagger of his debut on 13 June to the bleak end of the San Siro night party on 30 December, Fonseca's trip to Milan lasted exactly 200 days.

The decision to change the coach was made by Cardinale, the owner of the Red Bird Group, who was far away in New York, the CEO Fulani, the technical director Moncada, and Ibrahimovic, who had just joined the Red Bird Group. They evaluated homegrown coaches such as Maurizio Sarri and Allegri before finalising Conceição. Conceição had already been contacted by Milan management before Christmas, with the former Porto coach who had been on a break this summer in contact with Wolves and the Brazilian giants in recent weeks, but opted for the Rossoneri.

Milan and the Portuguese coach have reached an agreement on a contract for one and a half years, and the Italian media even broke the news that the two sides completed the signing of the contract text before the match against Roma. Conceição arrived in Milan on the 30th, and on the 31st, he officially took office and went to Saudi Arabia with the whole team to start preparing for the Super Cup.

The 50-year-old played for Lazio and Inter Milan as a player, and after retiring as a player, he spent seven seasons in charge of Porto, winning 11 trophies for Porto and being voted the best coach of the Portuguese Super League three times. In addition to his excellent results, Conceição's other advantage is his earning ability in the ball market. Militão (7 million buy, 50 million to Real Madrid), Dias (7.25 million to buy, 52 million to sell), youth elite Vieira (32 million to Arsenal), Fabio Silva (40 million to Wolves), Vitinha (41.5 million to Paris) and Otavio, who was not signed by him but still sold for 60 million. Milan's American boss also wants to buy low and sell high to make a huge profit from player trades, and it is clear that Conceição is the ideal candidate.

It is worth mentioning that Conceição's fourth son, Francisco, has been loaned to Juventus by Milan this season, and the father and son will be rivals for the first time in Riyadh on January 3. Previously, Francisco and his second brother Rodrigo both played in Porto, where his father coached. Now that the focus of the Italian media is on this "father-son battle", Fonseca is a thing of the past, and this is the incomparably real world of football, which every coach has to accept.