Perhaps it is something that AC Milan fans need to get used to, but Sergio Conceicao did not hold back with his criticism after the 1-1 draw against Cagliari.
After the Supercoppa Italiana win on Monday night and the fact Lazio and Juventus dropped points before, everything was set up for Milan to take a step back towards the Champions League places.
Following a frustrating first half the deadlock was eventually broken by Alvaro Morata but the equaliser was conceded just minutes later and it would end up finishing all square.
Conceicao spoke to DAZN at the end of the game to reflect on what was yet more crucial dropped points and another frustrating game against a ‘lesser’ opponent. MilanNews transcribed his comments.
What did you think of the performance?
“The pace was low, sometimes our defenders could carry the ball because they had 20 metres in front of them. I didn’t like the first half at all, the second was a little better but we have to do more. There are many things to improve.
“We missed big chances, we are here to work even if the weather is what it is. We have to pass this message on to the players so that they understand and accept what needs to be improved, because it was all too visible. Even someone who doesn’t understand much about football can see it.”
What concepts are you pushing for at the moment?
“We need a bit of everything. We have to see every match as a final, we can’t let time pass and go to 60%. We have to go to 110%, not even 100%. There are moments in the game that we have to improve a lot because in the attacking phase when we lost the ball the recovery was always too deep.
“Even with the ball the rhythm has to be higher, we have to make movements to get the opposing defence moving. We have to be intelligent, work. Even on a technical level we made simple mistakes, complicating the moment when we could have played simple.
“It wasn’t all beautiful because we won the Supercoppa, it’s not a disaster now. We need to be balanced.”
In this Milan squad, do you have the perfect players for your idea of football?
“I have to adapt.”
But there is the transfer window…
“I want the team to make adjustments on the pitch. The mercato is another thing.”
The coach also gave an interview to Sky in which he was equally scathing, saying it was the worst first half from any team in any game that he has been coach for.
The last Attacking Midfielder we had after kaka was Brahim Diaz, Milan needs an attacking midfielder that can make blind passes and can break opponents especially smaller teams. Every club in SeriaA understands that our only weapon are from the flanks. It is a serious concern that needs urgent attention.
What about Ronaldinho, Kevin Prince Boateng, Calha, and Kessie.
I suspect ppl who make comments like this haven’t really following the club for long. Guy might be young and just regurgitating bs from other band wagon fans?
Kessie? Attacking midfielder who can make blind passes and break opponents? Kessie? Did I read correctly? KESSIE???? 😀 😀 😀 😀
He was in that position couple times, wasn’t he
He was but he wasn’t making ANY “blind passes” or “breaking opponents”. Zero creativity.
None of those were attacking midfielders except for Ronaldinho
Clear ideas from the coach…”I have to adapt…” vs a coach who would immediately shout for new players. We know there is room for another DM and an attacking player to help Puli/Leao/Tijji deliver goals…Abrams doesn’t offer much guarantees in front of goal and Morata at least redeems himself in the defensive phase. Time is against us, we hope the coach can find solutions fast.
Don’t worry. Fonceicao will save us cause he’s a tuff dude.
Learn how to spell..it’s Conseca..
haha, yeah sorry
He mixed 2 coaches at a time.
Another important observation from the coach is our movement off the ball…too static at times. We need to be clever in how we pull players away and create spaces for passes to be sprayed…we just need a clever ‘Pirlo-like’ player to help with that.
We need a Nr 9. We need Pippo. What is the purpose to split the defence with a perfect pass that puts Morata or Abraham wide open with just the Goalkeeper Infront of them only and they miss.
Just watch all highlights on Milans games and see how many open goals we missed and how many penalties we missed.
Milan is suffering from the Maldini curse. Lol. He did say we needed to invest in quality players but Cardinale thought otherwise.
Conceição needs to go to a 442 formation to unlock these low block teams. I don’t understand why he started the game with 4231 formation knowing Cagliari was going to sit deep and defend. Sigh. 2 strikers would have been better in the 1st half and 2nd half.
Get rid of Abraham who can’t finish for sh!t and sign Jonathan David and Boniface or Oshimen. But 2 quality strikers are needed.
Morata is on a 5yr contract so it’s not possible to get rid of him easily and he play as a 2nd striker. But Abraham has to go.
Next season 442 we should have Morata, David, Boniface or Oshimen. That will help Milan to the next level especially if we get Ricci as well.
How does 4-4-2 unlock low block teams more than any other formation? Please explain. We spent the final 20-25 minutes of the game in 4-4-2 and nothing happened. You know what did happen? Morata, Abraham and Pulisic all failed to score when one on one with the goal keeper. Then at the other end Fofana just completely shut down because he had a hissy fit about missing a pass and an Udinese player recovered the ball and strolled right down the field to provide an assist on a shot that 99/100 is save by Maignan. This is why we didn’t win. INDIVIDUAL ERRORS not stupid 4-4-2 or whatever.
A 4-4-2 allows an offense the flexibility to attack both from the wings (which we rely on too much) and up the middle, specifically Route 1 / lob passes to a holding 9 or 10 who receive the lob passes with their back to the goal.
Having 2 strikers gives the offense more targets to pass to and keeps the other team’s back line honest as the back line much focus more on covering the strikers against the lob passes. It was somewhat successful against Inter. We have 2 great wings who need the ball in space to be effective. The 442 will theoretically give leao and Pulisic more space.
The good news is that both Morata and Abrahms can be holding strikers. It’s a start.
The 4-4-2 requires a sense of urgency – hoofing the ball to the strikers before the defense sets. Our transition game is too slow, regardless of what formation we play.
Buddy, on paper in the final 20-25 minutes of the game, played a 4-4-2 formation, but in reality we played a 4-2-4 formation.
Leao – Morata – Abraham – Bob
Reijnders – Fofana
Theo – Thiaw – Tomori – Jimenez
However, I’m glad you also question how a 4-4-2 formation will preferably unlock a low block team. I also don’t see the rational, as I thought constantly engaging in wing play and pressure from midfielders against counterattack was the solution.
In this regard, a 4-3-3 formation would have been preferred.
Finally, there’s no much difference at all tactically between a 4-2-3-1 and 4-4-2 formation. If he has undergone a coaching course, he will understand this.
If you watch the goal against us, we were already playing a 4-2-4 formation, leaving only Musah and Fofana in the midfield, the moment Fofana lost the ball, there were no midfielders the prevent the counter attack, they freely ran through our midfield and scored a sloppy goal.
Buddy, Felici ran RIGHT PAST Fofans. I think he literally brushed him as he went past. If Fofana wasn’t throwing a hissy fit he could have stopped him. Heck, he could have stuck out his foot and taken Felici down for a yellow, and stopped him.
I mean I’m trying so hard not to be so hard on Fofana… I mean, that was a real schoolboy level football scene there.
It’s amazing how well Pioli had them ticking. And with fofana arguably a better team. Maybe he should’ve stayed lol
Yes Acmilan need a pure attacking midfielder and until we sign quality players we can’t get it right I’ve been saying it our problem is not coach is quality players that’s what we want Moncada sign players and stop telling us stories.
What we need is a STRIKER that can score and is at least 6’3″ and good in the air, nothing else. This side is incapable of breaking low blocking teams as it is built for counterattacking and nothing else. It has nothing to do with “an attacking midfielder”. Even Kaka can’t dribble 9 defenders in the box. We need at least one player who will simply be able to out jump and out muscle defenders in the box, so when we face teams like Cagliari we can just pump the ball into the penalty area and use that height and heading to score goals. Top of my list is Lucca, or anyone else who is 6’5″ and has shown the ability to get the ball in the next. Makes me roll my eyes at the fact Sorloth was purchased for only 10M by Villareal two summers ago before busting but and being purchased by Atletico last summer.
The poster you replied to is obssessed with attacking midfielders. Almost everyone of his comments is about us needing one or more attacking midfielders.
We waited so long to get exposed . So bad .When we say the management is our problem , many people say its coach. Its baffling that a club as big as Milan don’t have a top striker. Our so called chief scout also failed to notice the kind of players we need .
Why coach must adapt to players’ playing style, and not players adapt to coach style
At least he sees the problem clearly. Against the low block there’s no off ball movement everyone just stands around with the thumbs firmly planted in their a** waiting for whoever to send in a poor cross
We have to accept that players like Fofana who some of us believe are stars, are nothing compared to Kessie for instance, or even Bennacer, who would never make such huge mistakes. So with clowns Zlatan and Cardinale, neither Conceicao, nor Fonseca can save us. I hope Calabria starts in the remaining matches instead of the third clown Royal and Camara as well instead of the fourth clown Abraham…
everyone is a clown, hope you can actually kick a football..
I’m happy Conceicao is turning up the heat on the players.
What isn’t surprising is that we had a let-down after the Suppercoppa, and that after a bad game, our fans are acting like Fofana is a lousy player.
I see the future as bright.
The reason Milan can’t break down defensive teams is their stagnation in the attacking phase.
Players don’t switch positions, for example Leao is entrenched on the left wing, where he is isolated. He should switch positions back and forth with Pulisic.
The attackers should drop and draw the defenders out, creating space for the attacking midfielder to advance into. The full-backs should keep the game wide and be ready for losses.
In addition, Milan have been missing a good registrar for a very long time, who would control the siege and could shoot from a distance when space opens up.
All these problems are inherited from the Pioli era.
*regista