The coach after a stormy evening, amid rumors of dismissal, expulsion and the draw with Roma
Football is often wicked. If this really was Paulo Fonseca’s last match on the AC Milan bench – and yes, it was -, there is the additional treachery of having to justify his footballing past dressed in yellow and red, with the addition of a expulsion which forced him to leave the Meazza pitch after forty-two minutes. A sadly early exit from the scene, a curtain that comes down with sporting pain because saying goodbye to your coach at the end of December is evidently the failure of an important part of the project not only to keep Milan at the top of Italian football, but to improve it the results further. Fonseca bids farewell to Milanello after just 24 matches with 12 wins, 6 draws and 6 defeats. Average points: 1.75, too low for a club hungry for top-level stages. Comforting results in the Champions League, league standings in hysterics: eighth place, eight points from fourth place and five from fifth place, potentially useful for remaining in the most important cup.
“NO ACKNOWLEDGMENT”
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After the match, the super consultant Ibrahimovic, the CEO Furlani and director Moncada locked themselves in the usual room for hot discussions, but that face-to-face meeting has not produced any official decisions for the moment. So much so that Fonseca regularly appears in front of Dazn’s microphones and behaves with apparent normality: “A heated confrontation with Ibrahimovic? I haven’t spoken to anyone, I don’t know anything and I can’t comment because nothing happened.” Another question: do you feel safe on the Milan bench? “Yes. I haven’t spoken to anyone.” Then he adds: “Now it’s time to go home, then watch this match and the solutions we have in view of the Super Cup.” Rather surreal situation, especially in the lack of feedback from the management. Nobody speaks, but obviously this is also a sign of how much the coach has become – if possible – an even more lonely man. “I can’t say anything more, I can’t invent things that didn’t happen – Fonseca then says in the press conference -. What if I expect to coach Milan in the Super Cup? I can expect it, I have no contrary signal from the club. I have never been afraid in my life in football matters. It is important for me to have a clear conscience, to be honest with those who work with me. I’m not afraid of anything. Let’s talk about the match: I think we created enough to win it. The goal was missed, the boys had the right attitude.”
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