Grass not always greener: Numbers force Milan to reflect on Pioli and Fonseca decisions

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·07 de abril de 2025

Grass not always greener: Numbers force Milan to reflect on Pioli and Fonseca decisions

AC Milan decided to make a change midway through the season, sacking Paulo Fonseca in favour of hiring Sergio Conceicao.

However, there was a choice that came before that: to move on from Stefano Pioli at the end of last season. Milan are currently in ninth place and are currently set to not participate in any European competition next season, reaching lows that haven’t been seen since 2014-15.

Vídeos OneFootball

It is a sporting failure which would also have economic consequences, because not playing in the Champions League, the Europa League nor the Conference League in the 2025-26 season hurts the accounts. Thus, another revolution seems imminent.

The comparison with Pioli

As highlighted by that stats outlet Opta, furthermore, Milan have amassed less than 50 points after the first 31 games of the season in Serie A for the third time in the last 10 seasons, after 2015/16 (49) and 2019/20 (49).

In those cases, the Rossoneri closed those season in seventh and sixth place in the table respectively. Moreover, at this point in the season, Milan – then coached by Pioli – were on 68 points, a whole 20 points ahead of what has been managed under Fonseca and Conceicao.

The Rossoneri closed last season second place and qualified for the Champions League. Another interesting fact is that with 68 points Milan would be at the top of the table currently, battling for the Scudetto with Inter and Napoli. Maybe the grass wasn’t greener after all?

Fonseca also axed

After being sacked just 24 games into his Milan tenure at the end of December, Fonseca has found the magic formula to revive the fortunes of Lyon and get them into the Champions League zone in Ligue 1.

Although suspended from being on the touchline, the Portuguese coach has led the team to a very respectable run of form since taking office: in his first 11 official matches, Fonseca has recorded eight wins (six in the league and two in the Europa League).

He is the third coach to achieve such a start at Lyon after Domenech in 1988 and Houllier in 2005. As things stand, Fonseca’s Lyon – now fourth in the French standings – are just two points from second place (awaiting the match between Marseille and and Toulouse).

To make a comparison with his time at Milan, Fonseca will with his next victory in the league match his tally with the Rossoneri (seven league victories) and he is currently on course to do it in less than half the games.

The Conceicao choice

After Fonseca’s dismissal, the choice fell on Sergio Conceiçao because those at Milan were convinced that the Portuguese coach could give some compactness and identity, that his predecessor was judged to have lacked.

Excluding the Supercoppa Italiana, things definitely did not go as expected. On the contrary, they got worse and worse, with Milan now in ninth in the table and out of any European competition as mentioned.

Compactness and solidity are the cornerstones of Conceiçao’s successes as a head coach, as seen with his Porto sides. Yet, in 22 games at the helm of Milan, he has only obtained three clean sheets, further confirmation that he cannot organise the team.

Conceicao’s media style has drawn scrutiny, as has his management of individuals like Yunus Musah. It all points to a common theme: he will leave at the end of the season after just six months, leaving Milan questioning if they made the right call.