It is truly embarrassing for Milan fans to look at the standings. Milan is in 9th place, and to think that at the beginning of the season, the word "Scudetto" was being uttered within the club.
Clearly, with excessive arrogance and great inexperience, the management team miscalculated, and the strategy put in place has been a complete failure. Mistakes of all kinds have been made, from money wasted on underperforming players to two coaches who have proven to be inadequate. Not to mention the confusion in managing key events and crucial moments.
The 'original sin' was not choosing Antonio Conte as head coach, who would have been a guarantee for finishing in the top four, as explained by Antonio Vitiello for Milannews.it. In an attempt to avoid investing in the salary of the former Chelsea and Juventus coach, Milan is now losing over 60 million euros due to missing out on the Champions League. And for those who claim that the issue was his transfer demands, one could easily respond that the club still spent over 100 million euros on transfer fees between the summer and winter windows—only to be in ninth place. Then, the third common objection concerns his strong personality.
Is Conte a dominant figure?
Well, it’s better to have a dominant figure than to make a terrible impression by finishing ninth, where the financial damage is significant. In any company, those responsible for such a failure would have been dismissed. We’ll see at the end of the season if there will be departures.
To recover, even if a year late, Milan must hire Conte—they need a certainty. However, since that path remains difficult for the same reasons as last year, Fabio Paratici could target Roberto De Zerbi, a completely different profile. As mentioned a week ago, the former Juventus director remains the frontrunner, and according to reports, he is already considering his next steps should he sign for the Rossoneri. Discussions with Giorgio Furlani regarding financial guidelines have already taken place. Especially without Champions League revenue, Milan will not have a large budget and may need to sell some players.
The club will wait a bit longer before making Paratici’s appointment official, but if things go as planned, he will be entrusted with Milan’s rebuild. Roberto De Zerbi’s name has resurfaced strongly after some inquiries last summer—he could be the future coach of the Rossoneri, possibly leaving Marseille to take the job.
