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“I just think, collectively, we failed today” – Fnatic Head Coach Milan on Failing to Qualify for Masters Santiago
The conclusion to the much-anticipated Lower Finals between Fnatic and Team Liquid ended with a resolution few expected and yet bears similar beats to the previous years. Coming off the back of the previous day’s performance against Gentle Mates, a timeline where Fnatic fails to qualify for Masters Santiago appeared so improbable, and yet we find ourselves here. Liquid’s showing in yesterday’s series was nothing short of masterful, dominating the series from start to finish to snap the final spot to Santiago.
Following the conclusion of their series, Strafe Esports sat down with Fnatic Head Coach Milan “Milan” de Meij to speak on the series, Fnatic’s preparation coming into the rematch, and so much more in this exclusive interview.
*The following interview has been lightly edited for readability
“Embarassing”
Fnatic’s start to Kickoff was far from ideal. A dominant lead against BBL to kick off their season quickly turned sideways as the Turkish side rallied to complete a reverse sweep, upsetting Fnatic and immediately dropping them into the Middle Bracket.
Despite the early setback, Fnatic quickly found footing, finding wins against FUT, Team Liquid, Natus Vincere, and notably Team Vitality. Heading into the Middle Finals, Fnatic was tasked with facing an enraged Gentle Mates, who had just failed one qualification round the previous night against BBL.
In a night filled with record-breaks, Fnatic and Gentle Mates exchanged heavy blows, but it was the latter that eventually emerged victorious, sending Fnatic to the final rung and one final chance to qualify. Their opponents - Team Liquid.
Despite heavy predictions siding with Fnatic considering their form through most of the tournament, the team was a shadow of themselves in the rematch against Liquid, with the latter charging ahead to a clean 3-0 scoreline in the deciding Bo5.
Commiserations on today’s loss. Tough series to lose. Apologies, I know it’s generic, but I’d like to start by asking you what your immediate thoughts are coming off of this series.
Milan: Embarrassing. Like, I think it was just bad, you know. I think they did some good stuff. Like, there’s some rounds where they’re just inevitably going to win because they took good risks, or maybe informed risks. I’d have to watch it back.
But I think overall, if I look at all 3 maps, we are losing so many rounds today that we just shouldn’t lose. And that just pisses me off.
And that’s yeah, I don’t really know. At the current present time, I’m not sure where the issue lays – whether it’s, you know, tiredness from playing a long Bo5 yesterday, or some other factors. But yeah, I just feel embarrassed, honestly. I think this was just not a good showing. And I’m not angry with anyone in particular. I just think, collectively, we failed today.
Putting aside today’s performance, how do you view the entire Kickoff run that Fnatic has put up?
Milan: It’s always quite hard to not let, you know, the ending define something, right? But I think all together, I’m pretty happy. Right now, it’s just like I said, if I take the last 2 days together, like, obviously, I’m just going to feel gutted you know.
I think we were so close yesterday. And then to have this performance today is just a bit of a bummer. I’m happy with how we scaled into the tournament.
But I think we were all aware that there are still, like, some obvious gaps in our play. And we didn’t really get that punished for it. Because I think the general level of play seems to be quite low.
But today, we just fell short in so many ways. And Liquid capitalized well.
From the level you showed in that first match against BBL to yesterday in particular, the team ‘scaled’ fairly quickly. Would you identify any particular match that became a pivotal moment for your run this tournament?
Milan: I think the Vitality game was good. The NAVI game was alright. The thing is, I feel like, apart from maybe the first Liquid game, I just don’t feel like we’ve had a consistent tournament here, you know?
And if you want to be the best, that’s the most important factor. And that consistency just lies with the basics. And the basics are just horrible, you know? Today was a prime example of it.
There are so many, so many dumb rounds that just showed that when we’re not locked in, we just don’t look good. And yeah, like I said, Liquid just did a good job at punishing that today.
“Everything today was just quite chaotic”
Rising to the helm of a pre-decorated roster is never an envied feat but rise to the challenge Coach Milan did. Originally the assistant coach for Fnatic, the departure of Elmapuddy following a failed qualification for Masters Bangkok in 2025 saw him elevated to the role of new Head Coach for the team.
His run with the team (as Head Coach) in 2025 is notable for consistency with three international Grand Finals showings (Toronto, EWC, Champions) as well as a win in Stage 1.
As a Head Coach, when you see your team’s not quite performing up to the level that you guys normally are at, what’s your approach during those timeouts, during those times in between maps, halftimes… How do you go about broaching this sort of topic with the team?
Milan: So, me and Desmo (Fnatic Assistant Coach) always try to give them something to work off. But I think everything today was just quite chaotic. Normally, they’re very good at listening. They’re normally very good at taking things into consideration, just listening and doing that.
But today, there were so many people just talking and coming up with ideas. And I almost felt like sometimes there would be more confusion coming out of a timeout. This was like 2-3 times, I think, where maybe not more confusion, but there was definitely some confusion on what the actual plan was, just because people started like, adding ideas.
And I think that’s kind of where we just panicked today. And ultimately, that’s what it comes down to. That’s when everything starts falling apart a little bit. And that’s what I’m most, like, frustrated with. Because it just sucks to go from having a really good year to having a start like this. And that’s going to take some adjusting.
But it’s also, I’m trying to see the positive as well. We have some time off to really work on things and set ourselves up for Split 1 now. But yeah, I just didn’t think this was good enough. This was just simply not good… not good enough.
Coming into today’s game, there was obviously not a lot of turnover time considering how late the Bo5 ran yesterday. What was the focus of the preparations coming into today’s match against Liquid, especially considering you already played against them earlier in this tournament?
Milan: They changed a lot right. So, Corrode was a comp change, but then they changed it again. They changed on Abyss even again today. They just turned everything around. So, I think we just got rid of the majority of the prep at some point.
But the emphasis was just energy you know? Coming home around like 12 last night and having to be at the studio the next day relatively early. Restoration. When it came to like pure bodily energy restoration, I think we did a fine job.
I think it was just a matter of when you lose rounds that you know you shouldn’t be losing, it’s hard sometimes to mentally come back from that. And that’s where it all kind of spiraled out of control.
Heartbreak for Fnatic two nights in a row. (Credit: Wojciech Wandzel/Riot Games)Was there anything in particular about Liquid that you perhaps didn’t expect coming into today?
Milan: No, I don’t think they showed anything out of the ordinary, especially after we started on Corrode. But we looked at that comp and we’re like, well, they’re just going to send it. And they did.
I think we made some fine adaptations. But even on Corrode, I think we ended on 5-7 half… and there’s again, 2-3 rounds where we’re just not playing together.
And that’s ultimately what’s so frustrating, you know? Because I know that we have the player quality. I know that we have the substance. But yeah, today, we just fell short. It’s that easy.
I asked this to Boaster earlier in Kickoff as well. And I’ll ask you this because I believe I saw some replication of that instance happening on Bind and Abyss, where you guys were in a forward position, a position where you could close out a series, but the team almost appears to collapse or not capitalize on it. Can you take me through as a head coach, you know, what’s happening behind the scenes in the comms?
Milan: It’s so interesting because we had a talk about this as a team this morning. That the tipping point of a series is when you start winning and you need to close out. And at that point, it’s very important that you don’t switch mentality. Because you did some things that got you towards that point. And then once you actually are winning, what a lot of teams tend to do is they change their approach because they start – they’re scared to not win, basically. And yeah, maybe that’s what happened today.
I think Bind maybe… on every map, there’s like 4-5 rounds that come to mind that we just shouldn’t lose. And I think ultimately, that puts us in the position that we’re in. Maybe Corrode not so much. But I think we should have just won both Abyss and Bind honestly.
A New Fnatic
Coming into 2026, there were a lot of questions surrounding the roster. For one, just weeks after making the Champions Grand Finals, the Timofey “Chronicle” Khromov roster move was largely unexpected by fans looking in.
Then there was the question of Sylvain “Veqaj” Pattyn. While he was undeniably good on his previous teams, the void he was recruited to fill was spectacular in size. Their SOOP run during the off-season lent some first positive impressions of the player but at this Kickoff, he has truly blossomed with stellar performances throughout the event.
Two questions related to what you brought up. Firstly, the departure of Chronicle also signaled a huge loss of experience for the team. How much does losing that sort of player change? How does it impact the stability of the roster, of the mid-rounding, of the way you guys close out games? Does it have any impact at all? Am I reading too much into things?
Milan: I think Chronicle has always been very stoic. And when it comes to those sort of things, yeah for sure. But I also think that when you have a team with this many experienced players, you should not have to rely on one person to do that job. We have three people who’ve been to what, 5-6 international events, who have won internationals, who should at this point be able to deal with their emotions in a way.
And I think in that regard, this event has kind of shared that line of, hey, emotionally, I just think our emotional regulation hasn’t been that good this event. And that gives us something to work on. That’s why we have our performance coach who is able to help us with tools. But it’s just rough sometimes to see how players implement those tools. And yeah, that gives me a lot to think about for the future.
Second follow-up question. Veqaj has been quite the revelation this tournament and has shown himself to be an amazing pickup for the roster. As the head coach, what’s probably the biggest thing that’s impressed you about him so far?
Milan: I think he’s very eager to learn. He’s just very moldable. And he’s just a good player. I think he takes everything you say to heart. He really tries and he’s very enthusiastic about things. And it just takes time. I think that’s ultimately what Kickoff is for. And I would have loved to go to Santiago here. But ultimately, it’s not the end of the day that we don’t go.
And now we just use that time, or I want to use that time to set ourselves up for the future, and Veqaj is obviously a big part of that. But I think it just makes sense to view this tournament and see what was working, what wasn’t working. Where our biggest gaps are… and those can be on an individual level, but also, more importantly, just on a team level.
By the end of 2026, what do you want Fnatic to be most noted for?
We did a bounce back last year. I think we again had a s**t Kickoff. And then we just bounced back and I want to do the same thing this year. Because that’s ultimately what we set out to do.
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Featured Image Credit: Wojciech Wandzel/Riot Games
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