Sergio Conceicao has reflected on his time at AC Milan, admitting that the atmosphere inside the club was not the best.
It was just under one year ago that Milan made the decision to sack Paulo Fonseca and hire Conceicao. He achieved instant success by winning the Supercoppa Italiana in Saudi Arabia, beating Juventus and Inter in comebacks.
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The former Porto boss ended up taking charge of 31 games with Milan across all competitions. He won 16 of them, with five draws and 10 defeats. The Supercoppa win would be the highlight, while the Coppa Italia defeat to Bologna ended up sealing his fate.
‘There were things I didn’t like’
Conceicao spoke to La Gazzetta dello Sport to left the lid on what happened in his few months at Milan, also insisting that he will return to Serie A at some point.
Last year, you came, you saw and you conquered…
“Indeed, yes. I remember days of intense work, focusing on video analysis, motivation, and speeches to get straight into the players’ heads. We beat my son Cisco’s Juventus and then Inter, coming from behind. And I cried.”
And after the victory, a nice cigar…
“A promise. The players, who had seen videos, asked me to smoke it if we won. I had done it 11 times with Porto, that is, after winning trophies. The coach who won the most. So I did it again.”
And who would you offer one to this evening?
“I have no favouritism, and I don’t even want to talk about players because then they’ll write about us being interested in them in a moment. I’ll watch the match; Bologna and Napoli are great to watch. The match between Conte and Italiano is an advert for football.
“Antonio is obsessed, like me, and in fact obsession trumps talent. Vincenzo, on the other hand, plays good football, so much so that last year we lost the Coppa Italia final to him. A big regret.”
A summary of your six months at Milan?
“Positive. From 2016 to today, only two coaches have won trophies with AC Milan: Pioli, with the Scudetto, and myself. If we add up the points from our time, we’ve had a Europa League pace, fifth place.
“The results were there: I’m thinking of the two derby wins and the victory against Roma. It’s disappointing about the Coppa Italia final, but there were some things I didn’t like.”
Like what?
“There was instability at club level, the atmosphere around the team wasn’t good. That’s why I hold on to what we did. Furthermore, the management didn’t support me. I’ll give you an example: after winning the Supercoppa we played against Cagliari.
“At that time, there were already rumours that the club was pursuing other coaches. I was focused on working and winning, with the weight of results. I didn’t have time to work at all levels.”
Would you have stayed?
“Yes, but with some changes.”
Did the players betray you?
“Never, in fact, they were with me. Theo also said it in the interview you did: after the Feyenoord game, when people said he’d deliberately gotten himself sent off, I defended him. Many wrote to me when I left.
“I demand rigour, exacting standards, and then relaxation when it’s time to relax. If someone shows up a kilo overweight, arrives late, or anything like that, I can’t tolerate that. For me, in the end, all players are the same.”
Can you tell us your most significant speech?
“In 2012, at Olhanense, I studied my players’ passions and hobbies, something I always do. Before a match, for Father’s Day, I showed a video of the fathers talking about themselves.
“There were people crying, then they went onto the pitch and… 2-0 to the opponents. When I returned to the dressing room, I changed my story and went back to being a sergeant: we drew 2-2.”
Where does your faith come from?
“I lost my father at 16 in a motorcycle accident, my mother at 18 after a long struggle, and then a brother; I was the seventh of eight. Faith gave me strength and peace of mind.
“I want to show my parents that I’m here and that I’ve achieved all my dreams. But deep inside me, hidden, I have and always will have something dark, like a shadow.”
And is it for your parents?
“Yes. I have the photos with me and I pray for them every day. I’m a happy man, I have five children, I played and now I coach, but I know I’ll never be completely happy without my parents. That’s the hole inside me.”
Your children fill that gap a bit, though…
“Of course. Francisco is now at Juve and is doing well.”
Do you talk about football at home?
“As little as possible. The important thing is that they leave their phones in their pockets at dinner. I also required this at Porto and Milan. Cisco made his debut with me in Portugal. In 2020, during the lockdown, I told him: ‘If you’re hungry… then drink water.’ He was a bit chubby.
“Making a difference requires sacrifice and a good mentality. If I could, I’d lend him my hunger. Not that he doesn’t have it, on the contrary, but at 16 I brought home money to eat; it was different. But I’ve always believed in it. And he believes in it too.”
You won 11 trophies in seven years at Porto…
“The relationship with Da Costa was top-notch. When I arrived, the club hadn’t won for four seasons. We sold €600m of players and also did well in the Champions League, where teams would say, ‘Oh, Porto is in the round of 16…’. And yet we even managed to hurt the Italian teams: Juve, Roma, Lazio…”
Who tried to hire you?
“I’ve had contact with Lazio, but not only that. And even before signing for Al-Itthiad, I had offers. The league here is competitive, the ambitions are high, and we train in the afternoon, not the morning. You have to adapt to the cultural dynamics. But this is a challenge, and I love challenges like that.”
And would you return to Italy?
“Sure, I already know I will.”
I said it when they let him go and I’ll say it again- I feel that, even tho Allegri is doing miracle with this roster, Conceicao should have got a chance and a proper transfer window with players he wanted. I have a feeling that he was onto something with this team
Non the less, I trust Allegri now but i just feel bad for Sergio
Conceicao disrespected the captain and could f’ck off.
He should have been hired before Fonseca
Is the theme of this interviews (Calabria, Hernandez and Conceição) to rub salt in old wounds ?
Or to provide context into why the players weren’t reaching their potential.
If it’s one player it’s the player. If it’s 30 it’s the club.
Interesting to hear again how the club has been mismanaged, which inevitably led to poor performances by the team, manager and players.
People like Calabria, Morata, Theo, Kalulu, Bennacer etc etc have all been good professionals who fell out with management
Calabria, Morata and Kalulu, yes.
Bennacer hasn’t always been good. In the beginning of last season, he came in out of shape and a bit overweight and then got injured again.
Théo ? Come on man, I’ll forever remember his goals against Atalanta, Lazio and so on, but being a good professionnal is not Théo’s strongest point.
Please let me know of any disciplinary action ever taken against Bennacer or Theo before Pioli left.
Neither caused an issue
Also there is some delusion here about top players as though they are all angels. Top players often have ego’s that need to be managed, thats where a stable club and manager are important
Players, just like coaches and management, need to be held to a certain standard and be accountable for what they do.
We all (almost all) agree that this management is bad and that Cardinale, Furlani, Moncada and Ibrahimović have done a lot of damage. Fonseca & Conceição were also not good.
I can understand a player being frustrated, not wanting to renew, wanting to leave,… but leave the pitch of it.
The red cards that Théo got were a disrespect to his teammates and ruined our chances to go further in the UCL. And in his interview, he seems to imply the everything that happened is “someone’s else fault”, taking no accountability, minimizing his own mistakes,…
Also, still on the topic of Théo, he was pretty notorious for bad behaviour prior to joining us and even under Pioli got many stup!d yellow cards and red cards. And I suspect that this was the main reason why almost no big team in Europe went for him despite his undeniable talent.
As for Bennacer he was mostly professional, there is not a lot going on against him, but starting the season out of shape and overweight is something that has to be counted against him. I also didn’t like how he went for Marseille leaving us with no option to replace him in the UCL list, but giving how toxic the atmosphere was at that point, I can understand him.
First Theo didn’t get sent off “deliberately” (whatever that means). Conceicao even says in the interview above where he defended Theo.
Second Theo was not the only player who struggled. ALL of them did.
Third Theo’s mistreatment followed a pattern of behaviour that saw the club force out numerous key people in the club’s recent successes and history including Maldini, Massara, Tonali and Calabria.
In the case of Calabria and Theo the club forced out the captain and vice captain in the space of a few months.
In both cases showing a complete lack of respect.
And what does it say about fans like you that you supported and defended this?
Where was your loyalty to the people who brought you success?
How can a club hope to return to the top when the fans have no loyalty to the players?
And those same fans then demand loyalty from players to whom the club and fans show no loyalty.
I’ll answer the last few phrases first.
COMO Fan, you don’t have and never had any business lecturing me or anyone for that matters about “fans”, “loyalty” or anything like that. You just hop between clubs, and come back when the club is finally “italian enough” for you.
Your arguments about loyalty never made too much sense to begin with, but since last season you exposed yourself to every poster here. So drop that BS about loyalty.
Second, let me ask you about these:
What did you think of Théo and Leão cooling break incident ?
What did you think of Théo stealing Pulišić penalty ?
I never said he sent himself deliberately against Feyenoord, but he got a stup!d yellow then proceeds to DIVE, getting yet another yellow. This is irresponsible and incomprehensible for a 27 y/o player who is supposed to be one of the leaders of the club.
I said this and I’ll say it again, everyone in a club has to be held accountable of his action, be it the management, coach, assistant or players.
Contrary to you, I don’t treat players like kids that can only be praised when they do good, but can never be criticized.
Throughout the last years, I criticized the management HEAVILY for their incompetence. I criticized the coaches when I saw that their tactics or subs didn’t work. I even criticized Pocchetino or Deschamps when they called our players for unecessary games that lead to injuries. I don’t see why I shouldn’t criticize players when they perform poorly, get stup!d cards, disrespect their teammates,…
It’s really not surprising that people like you can’t fathom the position I took last season after the mistreatment of Calabria.
It’s also not surprising you can’t fathom why I believe it’s important for an Italian club to have Italian players.
Because you simply can’t fathom what it entails to support an actual football club based in Italy.
It’s all some computer game to you where players get traded like Top Trumps.
My loyalty is first to the players especially the players who have delivered success.
I have also loyalty to Allegri who has contributed to the history of the club delivering 1 out of 3 Scudetto this century.
The “history of the club”. The club has a history beyond the most recent transfer window.
That’s what gives it substance.
You can’t go from supporting Theo to hating Theo (or being indifferent to Theo).
That’s not how it works.
Otherwise you support a brand NOT a football club.
I don’t treat the players like children. More like pedigree horses. Or race cars. Or any other elite thing that needs to operate at the top of its game and where small details make a huge difference.
I’ll continue to lecture people on here about the basics of supporting an Italian football club. Until they start showing a modicum of respect for the players who play for the club they allegedly support.
You say that an Italian club should have Italians players yet you went for Como, the club that has even less Italian players than us last season.
You can pretend to lecture people all you want about loyalty and respect but you have shown neither and pretending otherwise (or lacking self awareness) isn’t helping your case.
You talk about supporting all the players but somehow you don’t support some players (Musah, Adli, Çalhanoğlu, Donnarumma & Kessié) that you either criticized for misperforming or out right called names. Again hypocrisy here.
A club is a WHOLE, it’s not one player, it’s not many players. I support the entity and if I see that one element is hurting the entity, then I either I call for that element to reflect upon himself or leave.
A fish rots from the head down.