After the game between AC Milan and Feyenoord, with the latter prevailing on aggregate, Sergio Conceicao shared his thoughts with the media. He took on full responsibility for the disappointing outcome.
Milan took the lead after less than a minute through Santiago Gimenez, who’s now on three goals in the last four games, and they continued to create chances after that. Before they could grab a second, however, Theo Hernandez was sent off for a simulation (second yellow).
Naturally, that changed the game and Feyenoord were able to find the crucial equaliser. Speaking to Sky Italia after the game, as transcribed by MilanNews, Conceicao took on full responsibility for the Champions League failure while defending Theo.
On the game…
“The disappointment is huge, we are all angry. We knew we were stronger. We made a mistake in Rotterdam and we prepared this one to win: we didn’t see how they could get to our goal, and we missed the second goal on several occasions.
“We are also to blame and now we have to think about the league. We have to be stronger and work harder. We played for a long time without a man in Zagreb and today: Theo’s red card changed the game, up until that moment they hadn’t created a chance.”
What do you think of Theo’s sending off?
“Today is a defeat for me. In the previous years, I made the round of 16 five times in six years with Porto: I made so many mistakes that you can’t imagine. My players also make mistakes, but the face of this elimination belongs to Sergio Conceicao and not Theo.”
Why did you take off Gimenez?
“The decision is mine. I made it because he arrived a week ago. If you remember he had a small problem before arriving. He played even risking injury. Why not Abraham? At that moment we were a man down, I wanted to start again.”
Could any changes have been anticipated?
“Yes, every coach sees the game in his own way. Changing for the sake of changing is not worth it, I have to understand what they can give at that moment of the game.”
Two silly red cards: a lack of maturity?
“There are definitely many things to improve on, including this. Sometimes being emotionally strong is the main thing. I understand the pressure of these big clubs and internally there is this work to be done: externally the environment doesn’t help the players either…”
Why is Theo so inconsistent?
“I’ve known him for a long time and I know he can do much more. His coach can do more too.”
Conceicao and Milan will now have to focus on securing a top-four finish in Serie A, otherwise they will miss out on the next edition of the Champions League. That would obviously be a huge disaster.
Los errores 1 fueron de ZLATAN y COMPAÑÍA además del mediocre de FONSECA q de herencia nos dejó el 7 PUESTO y ahora los HORRORES Y ESTUPIDECES de GABBIA, MUSAH, MIKE Y AHORA THEO!!! no es DIGNO. CONCEICAO LLEGÓ Y FUE CAMPEÓN DE SUPERCOPA EN DÍAS
I believe Theo did not dive on that play, but his past dives came back to haunt him. Did it cost us the match, probably. The main objective in any completion is obviously to win, matters not who you play or how much better one team is above the other. To win ,ahead or behind ,the main goal and objective is to take away hope . When Theo went off they were given hope.
callate 1d1ot4. Al menos Fonseca nos dejo con una clasificacion entre los 8 practicamente automatica, jugando con Girona y Zagreb los dos ultimos partidos. Que paso? Se gano de cul0 al Girona (nos salvamos del empate por un offside tecnologico) y luego el papelon de Zagreb y los dos partidos con el Rotterdam, todos responsabilidad de Conceicao…
Hello mister, I understand that you’ve not had enough time with the team but loosing in Zagreb when a win is needed to finish in top 8 and then failing to qualify against feynoord is just embarrassing even for you. There’s no excuse for that. Theo has always been immature he’s never going to change. He should be sold in the summer together with Leao and Felix sent back to Chelsea
Though he may have blamed himself for the loss, but we all know that Theo handed feyenoord the qualification. The game was in complete control, if one will predict a red card, it will be from feyenoord due to the constant pressure from Milan attacks.
We all know it was Theo? Without Maignan’s mistake we also wouldn’t have lost. It’s individual errors everywhere, not just one person.
Well said, mate. I actually felt Feyenoord might lose the guy who got a card for the foul on Leao, if he was not replaced. Theo killed the game for everyone, not the coach. Some players have had their bad attitudes unchecked for years, and, today, one of them cost us big time. It’s sad, and, shocking, for the club, the fans, and the management. Things just have to change. No more excuses for anyone, whether Leao, Theo, Felix, or even Jimenez. Not making any case for him, but, Fofana was one card away from suspension, yet, he played 4 to 5 matches in the league after that. The players need to put the club first.
Hahahahaha
Let’s us stop the blame on Theo, imagine if he win penalty on that dive? We all will celebrate him.
Our coach made mistakes from Zagreb, Now how can you star a man against his formal club within two week he leaves them?
He can’t come back and hurt them immediately isn’t possible. Our coach would have use better option which is second striker and he will deliver because he’s fighting for a spot
Well at least he is somewhat self aware
I don’t blame the manager at all for this game and I get why he don’t want to publicly throw Theo under the bus. It is a very big disappointment.We haven’t got time to feel sorry for ourselves ,we have to get top 4 and hopefully the Italian cup
What’s done is done. Maybe Theo will display a tiny bit of humility himself. I doubt it.
Let’s beat Torino. Forza Milan
I appreciate your sanity
There is only one person to blame for the mess that is AC Milan right now and that’s the American clown.
Sure he is, Emerson.
I get him trying to shield Theo as a coach should. But Theo doesn’t pass the eye test no matter what Sergio says. Tonight loss was 95% Theo.
Conceicao makes mistakes yes. I don’t think he should have subbed Gimenez and Milan still plays very badly. But this game was in control, everything was going fine until Theo got a second yellow. Two very stupid yellow cards, not one stupid and one unlucky: two stupid cards.
I was so glad that Fofana didn’t start tonight and i immidiately thought ”no not Fofana” when he came on. To just defend for what would have been 70 minutes with one man down in a knockout stage would have been nigh on impossible. If Arbraham would have come on instead it would have sent the signal that we aren’t just going to defend. That way a sense of insecurity would still have been present for Feyenoord. Now
They could just send everyone forward without risk basically so the goal was inevitable.
It is like coaches are walking Jesus. They all take some kind of blame for other people’s mistakes.
Conceicao made this team strong. We would have been on third spot if they hired him at the beginning.
He has a character and he is dangerous. Something that players needs to listen.
If they are smart they are going to keep him. And think only about summer mercato- which player to sell and which to keep.
Im sorry but also, how
Do you manage to only score 1 goals in 180+ mins with these “fab four”? Were they not supposed to be our attacking power all mighty saviours? Theo is to blame but come on we should have scored at least 3. Lol we were in control until the red card. What so if theo didnt get a red card it would have gone to penalties? And then still be dropped out of UCL?
lol this exactly why I said let’s not get ahead of ourselves with this fab 4 nonsense, players still need to adapt and there was nothing fab about leao and puli even before the others arrived (score more than 20goals in a season and you can be called fab otherwise you’re just a good player)
At least he recognizes his subs were awful. But blame lies largely on Theo. Lazy stupidity, which is basically all he contributes nowadays, cost us the game. We’re still terrible at finishing but things were still under control before then. Getting a 2nd yellow for a pathetic dive is unforgivable
Exactly. 80% Theo, 20% Sergio. But the mistakes the coach made only came because of Theo’s idiocy.
Too bad Theo ruined it all. Now it’s 100% certain he will leave next summer. There’s no going back from this.
Tammy who was coming into form before the new additions, should have come on earlier. Felix off. Felix is not the one you need when left with 10.
Let us focus on Seria A, we need to get in the top four. A lot is required especially in attacking, we control the ball but we do not create enough chances, we are too slow. Some teams in the front look seriously difficult mainly Atalanta and Juventus
He made mistakes when he pull out gimenez and pulisic. Abraham can’t doing nothing. Leao ? As always with minimum efforts. This summer Milan should sell Theo and Leao. These guys can’t level up Milan and I guess too much in comfort zone ..
Sad to say but I agree, I don’t see these two taking the next step and becoming world class, Milan actually tried to sell Theo in Jan so I think he and Tomori leave in the summer (management clearly don’t see them as integral anymore)
Hes betting on felix too much. I understand his trust on leao because hies always been a wild card. But to subs puli who definitely our most consistent player and keep felix. Oo dear, mr please dont save 2 of ur compatriots career for the sake of milan.
Today was a good day. The result is bad but Milan looked great. We have a reason to be very excited moving forward. Finally !
I totally agree with you
Conceicao has done everything to kill Reijnders and Pulisic’s form. He prefers flash in Leao and Felix. Its like the two are the only players on the pitch with their needless showmanship. I find myself yelling at the TV saying things like “make the simple pass, pleaaaase” or “yeah that touch was flashy but you cant finish”
Well, from now we must focus on top 4 and coppa, just that. Make no mistake on every game.
And players like Theo, he must be ‘grounded’, and make Jimenez, or Terraciano or Bartezaghi be mature as his successor. Its the time right now.
Sell Theo this summer is always better option, so we can get big money for another world class player.
And if Conceicao can realize, please benched Joao Felix too. He is not that good for the team. He is like Leao, sometimes play good, and then play bad, inconsistent.
Lets be humble on every game right now, and get rid of Milan with no stars like Leao, Felix or Theo. Play collective, and as a team, no hanging on individual right now.
Maximize players like Sottil, and Bondo when he is available, and Camarda, Abraham.
No Theo, No Leao, No Felix, try to play not hanging on them.
But I added, Felix more have encourage than leao. Leao too lazy and inconsistent. Bartesaghi ? Last night he played well but play with 10 men, what do you expect??it’s time to give more room to Felix and bartesaghi / Alex Jimenez.
If I’m going to be very honest I see felix going back to Chelsea he won’t impress Milan enough and I don’t think Chelsea will accept 35mill for him and Milan won’t pay 45mill, Sottil is going to flop sorry to say but I just have no faith, Bondo will do fine and Giminez will be a good striker for us. The whole management should be fired
Theo is certainly to blame but the situation warrants additional analysis. We just had the Dinamo game completely derailed by the two Musah yellows. The Empoli game almost ruined with Tomori’s two yellows. Theo had one yellow at the half, I wonder was he reminded about his card and given a strong caution by the coaches for the second half? Did Conceicão think to sub him? We all know Inzaghi would have removed him at the break.
We were dominating the match, the only thing that could have (again!) derailed our performance was a second yellow. It was inexcusable from Theo but I wonder how much attention Conceicão paid to the situation and if he’s learning anything, this is now the third time in the last three weeks.
I literally came to see the comments today
You should have stopped after the three first words though.
Brainless Theo, lazy, arrogant, useless, shameless,should be benched for the rest of the season.
Leao tried something similar in Rotterdam but earned only disgrace.
No even self respect !
Gimenez defends Theo, the coach defends Theo, Zlatan defends the coach etc
No one need to defend Zlatan because he’s…God!
Bunch of mercenaries !
What a mess !
What a shame !
Fabulous four, magic trio..
Magic sh..t, !!!
ONCE IT WAS A TEAM !
Looks like Portuguese players are getting a privilege under this new coach. Almost the whole team got subbed except (besides defence) felix and leao.?!?! I would prefer gimenez to stay in the game. And the mistakes of felix. i would say in the beginning reijnders was exeptional on 10 bring him back on that position
Just bring pioli back we say a lot of coaches. Just because some fans got spoiled and wanted more they got rid of him easily. Yeah he needed some improvement but he is human the whole club needs improvement let him grow with the club!
Please stop that, pioli would’ve crashed out of this ucl months ago. And we would be on zero trophies chasing top 4, pioli is mostly always 20 points from first place and only made the ucl rounds of 16 once in his career…
What makes u think he would’ve made it this time too?
Fonseca on the other hand would’ve struggled in the league. But he would’ve beaten Zagreb clean n easy, he also would’ve gotten his team more consistent by now if they didn’t sack him to protect leao n theo!!!
Imagine what Fonseca would’ve done with these January signings n zero reliance on theo n leao!
Very true mate, Fonseca would be in UCL right now.
I put 90% of this defeat to Theo and 10% to Sergio.
As a coach all that is needed is a win not a draw. when you are down to 10 men, you wont risk your main striker and brought in a Defensive midfielder, and later at the 70plus you now sub out a midfielder for striker. what make you remove a striker at the first place when you needed a striker to score. we all know felix cant get in the inside the box and give the FYD defenders tough time, he is moving around to get the ball, that is what he has been doing. but Gimenez and Abraham can as well. Sergio meant to sub out Felix of Abraham, you are not defending a win or a draw.
What is needed is goal. maybe just maybe after they scored with Gimenez and Abraham in the box 18 area with many crosses Milan might score a goal. it only take a brave coach to make such decision knowing all that is needed is to win with a goal and not trying to defend a draw.
it doesn’t work with Empoli at 10 men. they could not soak the pressure and threat.
We are Milan we are suppose to take the fight to them. cuz …..
Even at 10 men, FYD could not break the Milan defense. they could only score from a cross.
At the end of the day Milan got knocked out the UCL by Feyanoord the whole club should be embarrassed from the owner to management, from the players to the cleaning staff
I guaranteee you that almost no one is embarrassed, not even the pink haired imbecile. If they care one bit, they would’ve done a lot of things differently this season.
This.
I’m just crushed what has this club become
I think we underestimate the importance of Theo in this Milan team, because what I saw was that his going off the pitch didn’t render Milan numerically disadvantaged but rather quality disadvantaged, yes Theo is experiencing his all time low since joining us and we don’t give him credit for all his works, methinks he feels alone right now instead of us cheering him to evolve from this pit he’s fallen into. Sergio should do a Pioli esque move to help Theo rediscover himself because he gives himself wholly to the team, it feels like renewing his contract with a better package might be all we need right now because it is obviously a distraction and believe me Humans need motivation now and then
It’s one thing if you play badly. Then you should always support the players. But what he showed yesterday, with his conduct, it’s not accaptable.
@Noelcee22 You can’t seriously be saying this? What he did was inexcusable, stupid and reckless. Making excuses for someone who is paid millions to kick a ball. He was well past his marker and has the opportunity to make a cut back, but instead chose to dive. He is literally the second highest paid player in the team and a guaranteed starter. In what way has he been made to feel unimportant? This reminds me of when Leao had five terrible games in a row then scores one goal the next game and starts shushing the crowd. Primadonnas with weak mentalities. There is no excuse for what Theo did, he let his team, his coach and himself down. That was a disgrace.
Don’t be a clown, it was never a card.
Now who is the clown?
I’m not sure about this coach. Losing to Zagreb and Feyrnoord is not a good look. Joao Felix is an average player I don’t know why he kept him the whole game. There’s Felix hace been gettong loaned out his whole career and now he is a starter in Milan in just 3 weeks. Ww need permanent replacement for Leao and Theo.
At least the manager is not a pu**y like most “fans” here are.
Says the kid who has never even seen one. 🙂
Wow, you got me there. I understand you felt called out, you know what you are. You’re such a little bi*ch in general that it is impossible that you don’t’ have some female chromosomes.
😀 😀 😀 😀 😀
Holy f*** you’re stupid! Everyone has female chromosomes inside them. It’s called the X-chromosome. Men have XY, women XX. I guess you haven’t had your first biology course yet in your elementary school, eh? 😀 😀 😀
What a mess from AC Milan
The Milan board should just cash in on dis Theo, his mind is not here anymore. He wants a new challenge. It’s written all ova his body & it’s reflecting in his game. It’s high time to cash him & Leao
Apparently they tried, they had accepted Como’s offer
I mean if you only look at score line it might seem like Sergio should have done better, but it is impossible to win when every game there are players thas sabotage the whole effort. Gabbia slip, Musah red card, Mike horrible save, Leao and Felix messing up chance after chance yesterday in first half, and then Theo.
UCL is the highest level of the sport and at that level it’s alway about the thin margins. If someone thinks that Milan should be beating teams like Feyenord while playing a man down, then I’m sorry, but you have some unrealistic vision of what this sport is.
I didn’t think it was simulation, I felt he was Avoiding a hard tackle that could lead to serious injuries,
Interesting talks
Theo is partly to be blamed
But Milan’s coach lost it. After the red card on Theo he could have still maintenaned the 3defenders and switched to 3132 with another defender) defensive midfielder Infront of the 3defenders , keep your creative midfielders or replace some with holding midfielders and keep 2 strikers or 1 striker and a creative attacker upfront
Feyenord would hv lost
Tactical coaches know to keep the game in such situations
Remember mourinho s inter Barca (even etoo was defensive attacker)