AC Milan’s draw with Feyenoord has seen the club make an early exit from the Champions League and considering what was at stake, the fingers are being pointed everywhere.
This season needed some sort of salvation and European football was the most obvious answer for this. However, this adds a level of pressure to a situation which is not always beneficial. On Tuesday night, this was very much the case for Milan.
As a result of the events, there has been blame directed to almost everyone – the obvious target is Theo Hernandez, but Gazzetta dello Sport claims that the head coach is as responsible, just as he did last night.
Whilst the tactics until Theo’s sending off were ‘perfect’, the Portuguese seemingly got things wrong following this. Taking off Christian Pulisic and Santiago Gimenez for Davide Bartesaghi and Youssouf Fofana, although the latter sub happened later on, were questionable, and this has been fronted by the coach as his own mistake.
Joao Felix’s positioning has been questioned, as has the Portuguese’s usage of the attacker, with some believing that he is ‘untouchable’. For many, Gimenez would have been better suited for the game, but Felix, who had ‘nothing left’ remained on the pitch.
Finally, there is the decision to bring in Bartesaghi, however, with other solutions not tested in a game situation, the Portuguese’s hands were tied.
Conceicao also admitted that the mental problems around the squad still remain, a problem which he needs to fix himself, as he claims.
Defending his squad is admirable, but how many of the same mistakes can be made before he is in the crosshairs?
MMMM YA!!!! MEJOR DICHO TAMBIÉN FUE SU CULPA EL HORROR!! DE GABBIA LA ESTUPIDEZ!!! DE MUSAH LA IGNORANCIA!!!! DE MIKE Y EL MERCENARIO!!!! DE THEO HERNÁNDEZ!!!.
14/15 PUNTOS GANÓ LA SUPERCOPA EN DÍAS!!!…. PERO SEGURO QUIEREN OTRO MEDIOCRE FONSECA!!! (HERENCIA PUESTO 7!!)
The main blame is Sergio’s, not Theo’s. Milan should have won even with 10 players; look at the technical difference between the two teams. Sergio is impulsive; such people are prone to making bad decisions in high pressure situations. Plus his yelling does not necessarily helps players stay calm. Since he became Milan’s coach, it seems to me that the frequency of red cards has risen.
Inzaghi loses his voice as he shouts at the players. He jumps like a penguin and rolls around the field
Have you seen Inzaghi do scenes with his players like the one with Calabria? Has Inzaghi ever had feuds with Marotta? Has Inzaghi’s family appeared on live TV to attack his critics? lol Sergio has a really rich record, and those who hype him are quite funny. The problem starts from above, and then goes down to some players.
Don’t even with this guy , he’s is a lying troll. He says he’s objective but what fan is objective with their rival. Earlier dude tried convincing us that Inzaghi doesn’t complain about refs 😂
Yep – his yapping makes no sense but what’s even stranger is that he does it on the wrong website.
To me it looks as if they agreed to play Felix when they loned him. He was bad yesterday and somehow he stayed on to do silly things.
Absolutely correct. There is an “over aggression” in the players since Conceicao has come in.
UNA RATA Q NO HA GANADO NADA!!! POR ACÁ
Can’t believe people are blaming Conceicao for conceding one goal in 40 minutes with ten men. Obviously he had his share, but it’s a collective failure….. Doesn’t change the fact we were dominant until the idiotic red card.
It’s his style of play is the reason for the red card in the first place. He has clearly directed the players to keep grabbing opposing players with both hands. They do it all the time since he took over and pick up about 5 yellows per game under him. He also looks to have encouraged this diving from his players to try and draw penalties. His favorite player Felix does it multiple times a day. This is typical Portuguese football. His Porto teams did this all the time. Now he is turning Milan into this type of club. They need to get rid of him immediately.
I’m sorry, I know the coach will always have liability, but look at the first leg with Magic Mike, then Theo.
Our players need to take responsibility guys, otherwise we will be like Man Utd, change all the coaches and systems yet the problems still persist.
In my opinion, this one is not entirely on the coach, it’s shared, with the players taking on majority of the blame.
I can’t fault Sergio 100% for this
This! Its always individual errors
TERRIBLE SUBBING BY THE COACH !!!! I AGREE THAT WE STILL SHOULD HAVE WON WITH 10 MEN ON THE FIELD …..
100% Questionable decisions from Conseicao…
1. You take out strikers for Gimenez and Puli, arguable better players to bring in Fofana (OK) and Bartesaghi??? An inexperienced kid at a critical point who ends up mismarking on the goal? Instead of bringing in Tomori for CB and moving Pavlo to LB (where he has played before)???
2. Then 15mns later you take out two midfielders to put two worse attackers back in Chuk and Tammy?? What the actual fcuk was that about?
3. You’re at home, you need a result, play 4-4-1 and keep your attackers on – you NEED to score. Instead, he made the subs that he made and completely derailed the team. They just stopped playing.
No one would boo or criticize Sergio for remaining offensive with a man down, even if we conceded on the counter, but you had to throw everything at it and get a result.
I genuinely did not understand Sergio’s plan …
I actually thought he wanted to park the bus when he took off Puli and Gimi. It’s the only reasonable explanation. Because he wanted to go with the basis of a back four and then add a defensive mid. Where that fell apart was when Feyenoord scored and those subs looked terrible because now he had to bring back on a striker…a waste of a sub.
I never liked that sub to begin with just want to make that clear. I rather we push to find the goal because we really didn’t have anyone in midfield except Fof and we’d grow tired in the legs anyway..so best to make a run for it. I’d taken off Puli and Felix and put Fofana and Tomori as you said..moving Pav to left back or even just have Tomori play Lb. The other option was a 3 man backlin aka 5 in defence. Walker can play a 3 as well and Pav 🤷♂️. Wingbacks would be Musah and Puli/Whoever.
Coach had options. I don’t know if he thought it through well enough. The oddest sub was Gimi for me
It was really baffling what he did.
Big deal we had a man sent off, that happens, you deal.
We were completely dominant and camped in their half, 1 less player would have made little difference, especially if it was Leao/Felix coming off
Simple solution – sub off Felix and bring on either Bart as LWB or Tomori and move Pavlovic to LB.
That way we have our midfield intact, our 2 wingers and striker and Tiji will enjoy his space. We also had Fofana for fresh legs.
Unfortunately the way the subs were done, we lost all control and momentum. Really really bad management
I would give 50% blame to Theo and 50% to Conceicao
Yes, and this is why he’ll probably lose his job or agree to leave. He’s made these mistakes in several matches already and it’s only been a few months. He has the players so wound up that in 3 champions league matches in a row at least one player has made a critical mental error. It happened to 3 players that are already prone to those kind of mistakes which makes it even more Conseicao’s fault b/c he should recognize that as a coach and reinforced their confidence. The panic in his decisions yesterday show that he isn’t the right guy for this role. Having said that, I’m not sure who is right to deal with this hot mess. We have to clear out the management team first and then bring in a sporting director who will actually select a coach they want to work with. They’ll also need to drop this moneybag nonsense and adopt a more practical approach. So yea he has to go but I don’t see them getting any real winners to coach this team right now. Their first choice was nopetegui and not Conte who WANTED to come to Milan. Not saying Conte was the right choice but it shows you the type of personality they want and it’s weak. If they try for another “revolution” this summer it could really be the nail in the coffin for this ownership. I doubt Redbird will be willing to go for 2-3 seasons where they lose money b/c of the performance on the field they’ll feel out of control of the situation and sell before the club’s value dips below their kind of “stop loss” point. Same equations they used for Tonali. They are using Milan as an asset like a stock not as a real football club.
See the handwriting was on the wall. The coach must take some of the blame. I warned about Theo on this platform that he was a waiting time bomb to explode with his inconsistencies and childishness. He exploded yesterday. He should have been dropped long time. Ancelotti improvised by turning a midfielder into a defender. What prevented the coach from trying Pavlovich or Bartesaghi at Theo’s position? You Nedd hunger and commitment from a player to perform well. Not aloofness and sheer hubris. My take on yesterday’s match. The coach should have pulled out Felix and brought on Terraciano and then send Tijjani forward as an OM. Pulisic shouldn’t have been replaced rather musah should have gone out for Fofana. Gimenez shouldn’t have been substituted. Leao and Pulisic should have been sending crosses into the box. At least,one of those crosses would have found him.
conceicao is showing he cant manage a big club. his man crush for J. Felix cost the match. subs were bad, taking of the players pushing up, milan was crawling to the goal.
Are you daft?
Not long ago, Sergio was getting praise for his subs and how he’s able to turn around matches from the bench.
Yes, we should have never begin games like we have, but he’s been applauded for how he substitutes and makes those changes, now after 1 game, everyone(no offense guys) knows best, and is this tactical expert that can easily make subs and it will work out? The man has shown that he can shuffle and work accordingly.
Our players though??? Nah man… over and over they have shown that they’re not up to it sometimes… the coach definitely was questionable in his choices, but he’s been here for just over a month… it hasn’t been pretty, but he’s gotten points in the league.
Personally, I’m holding the players accountable for this one… I was embarrassed last night.
I’ve been reading all kinds of comments over the years, and one thing I’ve noticed on this website is that most of you think every decision is easy to make. “Conceição should’ve done this, Conceição should’ve done that. João Félix this, Theo that, Maignan this…” and so on.
A football club is a business. If upper management doesn’t have a clear strategy, mission, or vision—call it whatever you want—the club will be a mess and go nowhere. Open your eyes: the problems start at the top. Gazidis, Maldini, and Massara had a clear vision and changed everything. The moment they left, all hell broke loose.
How many times did we see Maldini on the field, talking to the players? Leadership matters. Theo isn’t stupid—he knows his value in the market that can bring big cash to the club, just like Leão. They are backed from the upper management because of their potential revenu; otherwise, they would’ve been benched from day one for any mistakes or poor performances. Who want’s to bet that even if Theo does a major improvement as of today until the end of the season, he will still be sold. Same goes to Leao… Milan mission is not the same as when Elliot was in charge and let Gazidi and Maldini
This Champions League exit? Everyone is to blame, from Maignan to RedBird. If Maignan had saved that goal in the first game, we wouldn’t be discussing this. If João Félix had scored yesterday, same thing. Everyone had their chance to score, but no one did. Milan won the Scudetto thanks to the midfield—Tonali, Kessié, and Bennacer. They led the team, and everyone followed.
If Milan yesterday lost 4-0 because Conceicao changed the formation to 4-4-1, trust me all of you would’ve be bit*** on his decision and say who the hell use that formation or Milan never used this formation in the past.
You’re all wasting your time looking for someone to blame. The answer is right in front of your eyes since the begining of the season. Like Boban said, you need a balance in the team…
Seems we don’t know the full details of felix’s contract. Two statements give me concern: Felix – “I will play in my position” & ibra – “he must play then the coach decides”.
If his contract was negotiated with a pre-determined number of minutes per game or appearances in. 6months, It will explain why he remains on the pitch when he should have been subbed.
Sergio definitely did not help his cause with his subs this time around.