Sergio Conceicao spoke to the media after AC Milan’s 3-0 win against Inter, which secured their spot in the Coppa Italia. He expressed joy over the performance, but also made it clear that the work isn’t done yet.
Milan headed into tonight’s clash with a bruised confidence, following the defeat against Atalanta, but ultimately managed to beat their city rivals by three goals to nil. A lot of it was thanks to Luka Jovic, who kept his spot in Conceicao’s starting eleven.
After the game, Conceicao was interviewed by Mediaset (via MilanNews) and shared his thoughts on the performance. He also praised Jovic for losing ‘a few kilos’, while making it clear that Milan still have a final in Rome to play before they can celebrate.
Can we talk about a masterpiece? You surprised us with the Jovic move…
“The feeling before the match against Atalanta was positive, then all matches go in different ways. The small details are important. I liked the attitude, the compactness and the solidity. We suffered more than we wanted initially, we could have done better on the counter-attacks.
“We tried to improve 2-3 aspects and we played a very high-level second half. I’m happy, sometimes in the league, we haven’t shown what we did today. Technical quality must be combined with this humility, this attitude and this desire to win that you can see in every action.”
With the Coppa Italia, do you feel that you can stay?
“Conceicao is not important. It is important to win against Venezia and then, when the final comes, we will be happy to do it. It’s not that we have already won it. I’m the same coach as two days ago, it’s not that everything is beautiful or everything is ugly. We need to find balance also on an emotional level, not just as a team.”
Jovic’s moment…
“Jovic has been working really well in the last 3-4 weeks. He also lost a few kilos, which was important. He gives us that little something we wanted for the match. He doesn’t give references to the defenders, he works well with the midfielders.
“But I have total faith in everyone: in other matches, with other characteristics, maybe Abraham or Santi will play. It’s up to me to choose based on the characteristics that someone has. In Udine, for example, we saw that Tammy came in and gave an important response. I’m sorry that in the league, what we prepare doesn’t come out in the match, but that’s another thing.”
Pulisic gave so much balance…
“He sacrificed himself for the team, he had a good game. We had to balance the central areas, he and Jovic were important on Asllani. He ran a lot, he gave a lot to the team. Then it’s clear, he lacks a bit of freshness with the ball… When we spend more time without the ball, for players like Puli, it becomes more difficult. But great confidence in him.”
How do you feel after this 3-0 win?
“It’s a mix. I’m a fan of this sport. I suffer a little more than someone else. Even in my family, I bring football into the house, and my wife is not very happy. But now she is happy, maybe before the Venezia game, I will be a little more relaxed.
“But I have my feet on the ground, we have not won anything. We need to have a different end to the season in terms of image, I want a ‘team’ team. There have been league games in which we do not see ourselves because we have more quality than what we have shown.”
Venezia are up next for the Rossoneri, with kick-off set for 12:30 CEST on Sunday, and the Coppa Italia final will be played on May 14th. Tomorrow, Bologna will play the second leg against Empoli, but they have a 3-0 win on aggregate from the first leg.
Forza Milano…grande ragazzi.
Grande Sergio Conceicao.
I said throughout long time that we need to respect this coach. it’s professional guy – no any silly boy. he knows what to do to improve team. Forza Milan!
With all due respect it was a great win but we are getting less points pr. match under Conseicao than before and that wasn’t even good enough to begin with. And if he has figured out to improve the team it has pretty much taken 5 months for him to do that. Not especially bringing a lot of confidence in my book. I do generally believe that consistency and coherency is of great importance to any team and a great deal of players has either under performed or simply hasn’t given what could have been expected from pros but Conseicao hasn’t either except for a few matches here and there.
@Martin your comment is pointless because they are baseless against Sergio. When was the last time Milan beat Atlanta? When was the last time Milan played in super cup final? When was the last time won super cup? When was the last time Milan defeated inter 3-0? So please get your facts together before condemning someone. You talked about the league performance and you said 5 months is enough to build a team that can win always
Now let me tell you want you don’t know about football. You see the preseason Tour matches they play helps a coach to build foundation of his structure and The Base of his Season pattern system formation in the league. So it’s wrong to expect a coach who came in the middle of the season to perform magic
What a bunch of bs you write as I did recognize the win today but dont come and say it removes the blemish of this season whether it was under Fonseca or Conseicao then we are still 9th. Yes we won the Super Coppa and we might win The Coppa and that is all fine but also missing out on cl. This is a bust of a season regardless of some good wins here and there, but i did also elaborate that I believe in consistency and and coherency so I wonder whether you lack some basic reading skills or what.
CL? are delusional? AC Milan can not succeed in CL under this management. Wakeup
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Toni, delusional ? You do realize we was placed 2nd last year and also played cl this year which Conseicao magically managed to get us expulled from even when we should have qualified directly in top 8 but in the cl we first lost against Zagreb and then against Feyeenoord. Not to mention we have qualified for cl for like 5 years in a row or something.
Sure we should settle for the Super Coppa and a potential win in the Coppa Italia, all right buddy boy guess we have different priorities then.
When was the last time we were in 9th place? A couple of desperation trophies and a couple of wins against Inter and suddenly we have the second coming of Arrigo Sacchi.
And we haven’t even won this trophy yet.
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I agree with your commented regarding with Coach.
Sergio Conceicao’s futbol managerial skills may very well fit the Milan squad with time given to train and prepare. Sergio Conceicao’s
men management skills may not fit the current make up of the locker room. There’s a big difference between these two.
P.s Fonseca was a moron.
Long ago I know and believe that Sergio is a good tactician. He just needs aka Obra to fukoff his ears. Discipline these lazy players and do some cleanup. You can’t judge a coach based on a 6-month contract! In fact, these management buffons should appreciate the fact that Sergio accepted their offer. End of story
I feel Sergio is one of the best Coaches in the modern era and should be respected. Yeah, I agree with you he hasn’t had the best season but has brought one trophy for us and he is about to bring the second. I feel strongly that he deserves to be given a full season before we can judge him. Best coaches also have their bad moments.
Remember Bologna can winning over Inter, I hope we can lift this trophy.
The Major problem of Milan is owners & management not coach . Sergio is best coach .
Agreed he was stubborn not to have changed tactics four months ago, but since he has found the right tactics, he remains the best man to start with the team next season.
If anything, Conceicao has shown that he truly understands tactics, unlike Pioli who once he was figured out, despite deploying from 4-2-3-1 to 4-3-3 and 3-5-2, the team always moved thesame. But we can see clear shift in implementation of the 3-4-3 with Conceicao, the defensive solidity is evident.
If we can’t have Klopp or Gasperini, I honestly believe Conceicao is capable to contend for the Scudetto next season.
If we can’t get Ancelloti, or Klopp, or Gasperini, than give Conceicao one more season.
And also give him the players he want, so he can build the system.
And also Ibra, Moncada, Furlani, please don’t interfere in the squad. Just let the coach and team work.
Good job team, at least this season we have 2 silverware (Coppa Italia we will win).
Milan setup in a 3-5-2 shape for a while when RLC & Abraham came in for Pulisic and Jovic respectively. In those moments, I saw Leao and Abraham driving forward together and they both looked sharp.
And reverted back to 3-4-3 when Felix came in for reijnders and played and the right side of the attack.
Conceicao is cooking!
Management has to offload some fringe players and go for quality (not quantity).
The team needs atleast 2 quality CBs and DM
Keep Salad (solid wingback) and Adli (very good progressive passes which is part of what reijnders offers) would be useful in a 343/352, plus they’ve both improved.
Milan would be cooked if reijnders ever gets injured for long. There is ‘absolutely’ no substitute for reijnders in the squad; RLC and Musah don’t have the ‘capacity’.
Don’t be under any illusions, we beat a poor Inter side last night. They were right off their game in all departments and still had us in trouble in the first half.
Jovic is a big plus in that formation; he can hold up play and is very confident and precise in his passing, so dropping deep, he gives us something in our link-up play in the final third.
The DM position is important to resolve in the summer. Fofana isn’t it, as he is clearly a CM.
Anyway, if we can play the way we did in the second half we can take Bologna in the final…
The key was 3-4-3 letting Theo run free with Leao. Sometimes the best defense is strong offense. Some critics are upset as Pulisic is away from the box, so what ,too many players in the box is no good sometimes.