AC Milan head coach Sergio Conceicao admitted his side weren’t at their best against Bologna, but was happy with how they found a way to win again.
At the midway point of the second half it looked like being far from ideal preparation for the Coppa Italia final, with Milan trailing to a Riccardo Orsolini goal and Bologna looking to be in control of proceedings.
However, three goals in the last 20 minutes turned the game on its head, with the Rossoneri completing yet another comeback. Santiago Gimenez scored twice either side of Christian Pulisic’s 17th goal of the campaign, with Milan ending up winning 3-1.
It is far from a knockout blow given that the final in Rome will of course begin from parity again, but it will be interesting to see what kind of an impact it has psychologically on both sets of players.
Conceicao spoke to Sky after the final whistle to offer his assessments after a fifth win in six games for his side and a positive result in view of the cup final, with his comments relayed by MilanNews.
How do you judge the performance?
“We didn’t play a great game. It’s true, however, that we won against a strong team that is doing well. Those who came on later gave positive responses and I really like that.”
Do you have a dilemma in the striker position now?
“We’ll start preparing for the final tomorrow. We have to analyse what we did well and what we didn’t. It will be a different match from today. Finals must be won, even if you play less well.
“Gimenez is working well, I’m talking to him a lot to give him what he needed. He came here with a small physical problem. We have faith in all the players. I’m happy with the two goals, we know that strikers live for goals.
“I never tell the press in advance who will start. We still have a few days of work before the match. Gimenez has a different game to Jovic. Abraham has scored important goals and let’s not forget Camarda either. We bought him for his quality, Serie A is difficult, he needs a bit of acclimatisation.”
The substitutes made the difference again…
“Those who came in did well, but not just today.”
Do you feel club’s confidence?
“Conceiçao is not important, what is important is Milan and winning the next match because for a club like ours it is essential to lift trophies. This is not the time to talk about me, at the right time I will speak.”
An honest assessment from him…
Milan is getting better. I believe the coach is not our problem. The problem is the players who have a lot of potential and sometimes they are lethal but the team is also very fragile and can break easily.
Yeah their is a mental weakness with the players. They dint know how to switch the levels on purpose. That is when you see a serious team, the system wouldn’t matter when you have team who can switch their levels a degree or two more when the game requires it.
That is something I have to admit Inter Milan has in their locker.
Kami tidak punya masalah dengan pelatih. Manajemen dari kepemilikan adalah masalahnya
The fact that Fonseca couldn’t get this team to come from behind on so many games, whilst Conceicao has done so for 19 out of 22 points this season, is criminal.
Absolutely criminal.
Management should have brought Conceicao in during the SUMMER and given him a pre-season to build this team.
Maybe we would have had 7 games unbeaten against Inter and be in a UCL final if that had been the case.
Keep dreaming
So as a ‘Merican who knows nothing about futbol, have to say y’all gots bunch o’ prima donna’s who don’t play well together. Take ya favorite (cause ya can’t like the’ Mercan too much…), Reijnders, great player, but his numbers point to wastefulness (10 goals from 73 shots, 27 on goal) vs Puli (10 goals from 46 shots, 20 on goal – with 4 less starts – prior to tonight’s game). We don’t need to discuss assists. I get it, the Paramount+ series on CP is cringe, but I’m sure if he had a choice he would have declined. Stop hating on the Mercian and pass him the f’n ball if he’s open.
Yes, but only when he is open. When there is a player in front of him no point in passing as he just passes back. He is lethal but can’t get past a child. Not sure why he isn’t played closer to goal, it would benefit him and Milan.
Where was that Milan i saw this night before?controling everything,take over the game this team don’t deserve to be ninth in the standing I swear!Give conceicao the keys of the next season please I begging you 🙏🏻
Agreed.
yes please give him some time. we give Pioli so much time even after we defeated badly by Atalanta 5-0. and after that, he can rebuild the team mentality and won us Serie A title. Sergio is more tactical mastermind than Pioli, and i believe many great things will happen next season for us if he stay
Yes, but only when he is open. When there is a player in front of him no point in passing as he just passes back. He is lethal but can’t get past a child. Not sure why he isn’t played closer to goal, it would benefit him and Milan.