Retweet after retweet Nopetegui arrived at Casa Milan: a popular wave that overwhelmed the Rossoneri’s plans. A very high wave: the online petition launched by a community of AC Milan fans, MilanZone, had ten thousand signatures in less than 48 hours. The hashtag remained trending for a long time and the idea of removing the “follow” from the club’s official accounts was born on social media. The official position of the Curva Sud fueled the storm with the invitation to immediately relaunch the team’s ambitions. Furthermore, the hypothesis that the discontent of the organized fans would lead to some form of protest in the next matches at San Siro, starting from Sunday against Genoa. So the Lopetegui to Milan hypothesis has already definitively failed.
meetings
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The former Spain coach was the chosen one: Cardinale was ready to hire him. What convinced the owners and management was Lopetegui’s CV: international experience in top clubs, the ability to cultivate the talent of young people to the point of launching them into big football. But also a professional and human style in line with the ideal profile outlined by the club. The first contacts date back to last December, after the Rossoneri draw at Salernitana. Milan in a crisis of play, few results and many injuries. The last meeting a few days ago, when a draft contract was final: three years at four million per season, the idea of a long-lasting and successful project. A few weeks of waiting and Milan would have left again with Lopetegui, once they reached their destination with Pioli. The club’s esteem goes to the Scudetto-winning coach, which is why every indiscretion about the future was denied after the match in Turin by the CEO. Furlani.
the reactions
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Thousands had already joined the anti-Lopetegui party: the common idea was that the former Real Madrid player was not up to expectations. The video of the fainting live on television became a viral meme, the moderate current limited itself to teasing, the extremist wing to heavy criticism. Ungenerous or not: Lopetegui won the Europa League with Sevilla, the youth titles with the Spanish selections until he earned the senior national team. With Spain a sequence of sixteen wins and four draws to lead the team to the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The federation decided to fire him before the start of the tournament due to an agreement already signed with Real Madrid and announced by Florentino Perez. Lopetegui lasted four months in Madrid before being sacked. An experience already lived at Rayo Vallecano and Porto, and which he will also experience later at Sevilla. Work at Wolverhampton 2022-2023 was interrupted with the termination of the contract due to disagreements related to the market and the club’s financial problems. More than the distant successes with the boys from Spain or the more recent ones with Sevilla, fans look at the flops in the big European clubs. And Milan, which must relaunch itself, needs certainties.
feelings
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The club listens to the voice of the public: it will not be influenced, or even more so imposed, in other choices. Respect the feelings of the fans, especially in a moment of widespread despair. Despite the results of the season finale, San Siro was sold out, with a push that never ran out. The club prides itself on having the best fans in the world, so much so that it involves them in numerous initiatives. Their position, so clear, cannot be ignored.
profile
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The second casting will reopen shortly, although the club wants to reflect calmly. He has drawn up an identikit – a technician capable of enhancing young people, with international experience, collaborative in choices – now he is looking for the profile that fits perfectly. Including the economic cons: the next manager’s salary must not go outside the club’s guidelines. In the meantime, Pioli will arrive at the end of the season already confident of his fourth consecutive Champions League qualification. Last May he played in the semi-final of the Champions Cup, a year earlier he became Italian champion. To think that he had been welcomed with the Pioliout .
