Milan Early Season Despair: Fonseca, Ibrahimovic and a Summer of Blunders

When Milan appointed Paulo Fonseca as Stefano Pioli’s successor at the end of last season, they hoped the change was for the better. However, the opening three rounds of the 2024/25 Serie A campaign have doused every ember of optimism at San Siro.

For the first time since the 1940s, Milan have started a new league season on a three-game winless run. The team that won the Scudetto two years ago and finished runners-up to Inter last term looks in complete disarray.

The media and pundits quickly pointed fingers at Fonseca, identifying him as the main culprit for Milan’s catastrophic form in the early season. In all fairness, the former Roma boss has made his own bed.

It took two underwhelming results for the new Milan manager to wage a war against the most influential figures in the dressing room. Perhaps pressured by inflammatory headlines about Rafael Leao and Theo Hernandez after a dismal loss at Parma, he benched his dynamic duo against Lazio.

Leao scored off the bench to rescue a point for Milan at the Stadio Olimpico, but it didn’t alleviate any pressure on Fonseca. The Portuguese tactician seems to be losing allies in the locker room, while on-field performances are arguably Milan’s worst since Marco Giampaolo’s disgraceful tenure.

However, it’s unfair to put all the blame on one man. The more concerning question is about the people who hired Fonseca. Earlier in the summer, Milan had a chance to sign Roberto De Zerbi. Yet, Zlatan Ibrahimovic decided against luring the former Sassuolo manager back to Serie A and went for Fonseca.

Other than a relatively straightforward league success with Shakhtar Donetsk, the 51-year-old couldn’t make any standout success in previous jobs. Therefore, Ibrahimovic’s choice is dubious at best. As if that’s not disappointing enough, Milan had a scandalous transfer policy during the Swede’s first transfer window in charge.

Instead of addressing gaping holes at the back and the middle of the park, Milan spent most of the summer chasing attacking reinforcements. Barring the arrival of Strahinja Pavlovic, the Italian giants made all the wrong calls in the market.

Milan had to add a new right-back to displace underachieving Davide Calabria. Even though Emerson Royal flopped at every club but Real Betis, the Rossoneri hierarchy thought it was wise to splash out €15 million on the Brazilian.

Less than 90 minutes of play unequivocally showed Milan made a terrible mistake. Youssouf Fofana didn’t impress in his first Serie A start against Lazio. But unlike Emerson, the ex-Monaco star showed glimpses of his talent, suggesting he could be a dependable option in the midfield.

While there’s no doubt that Fonseca carries part of the blame for Milan’s embarrassing league start, Ibrahimovic shares the responsibility, as does the rest of the club board.