Sergio Conceiçao was visibly frustrated after the Champions League exit against Feyenoord last night, expressing unhappiness at the way he is compared to other coaches.
The evening could not have started any better for Milan, who drew level in the tie after just 36 seconds when Santiago Gimenez netted from close range after Malick Thiaw’s header back across goal.
However, everything fell apart early in the second half when Theo Hernandez got a second yellow card for simulation. Then, Julian Carranza came off the bench to equalise on the night and send the Dutch side through.
After the loss in Dinamo Zagreb saw direct qualification for last 16 of the competition go up in smoke, there must be a real worry about the knock-on effect of another opportunity being squandered.
Conceicao spoke to the reporters present in the press conference room at San Siro to offer his thoughts on what was a disastrous night for the club, with MilanNews relaying the comments in full.
Is this a failure?
“It’s definitely a failure, we wanted to get to the round of 16. This match showed that we are stronger than our opponents and that the deciding factors were the incidents, like in Zagreb: the red card there, red card today.
“You could say that the referee was too harsh, but we had to be stronger mentally. I’m the one responsible, not Theo. Then we’ll see in the dressing room. Theo has given a lot to Milan, I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my career.
“We’re angry. Until Theo’s red card, Feyenoord didn’t know how to get to the goal. We’re disappointed and angry.”
Why did you take Gimenez off?
“We had one player less, eh… Then we had to manage Santi: he had an adductor problem and we have to manage him. I put Joao Felix up front who was fine to try to counter-attack. But in any case we were controlling things.”
Are you afraid of the backlash from this?
“I arrived a month and a half ago, but they make comparisons with coaches who have been here for years. We haven’t worked with the first team, we work in small numbers with those who do different things.
“We won the only trophy we could win, we are in the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia and in the league, since I arrived, we have obtained 14 points and Napoli 15. It’s not perfect.
“The atmosphere here at Milan is not the best and the red card proves it: we have to work on this. Believe me, it’s not easy, it’s not easy.”
What happened?
“We showed again today that we could have shots on goal and create chances. Then there was Theo’s red card. And that leaves us really angry and disappointed. You know better than me that we have to change the atmosphere.
“I’m not talking about the fans. To change the atmosphere you have to win. Now there’s the next match in Torino. We must win that one, the one after that and the one after that. And think about the Coppa Italia.”
Team spirit, something intangible that we had and was destroyed by the actions of those in management.
Thats what happens when people who do not understand football are in charge
Conciecao is not responsible for any reason he’s simply been hung out to dry by Elliot / Redbird 💰 that’s all they’re interested in.
This should be the final straw with the fans to get these con men out however people with influence for whatever reason don’t seem to have the BOTTLE TO DO IT.
Things are getting worse both for Milan as well as the Italian league and sadly not just outside of Italy but inside that’s exactly what certain partys want.
Sure, they’re only interested in money which is why they balanced the books and invested as much as possible in the squad without getting the club back into debt. Stop making a show of yourself.
Problem is systemic…it is called weak mentality and it is pervasive throughout the Milan structure. If a team with 10 players out, a newly appointed coach and their top striker shipped out still manage to get past us then it shows what a little bit of motivation can do…maybe we can learn something from this.
“If a team with 10 players out, a newly appointed coach and their top striker shipped out still manage to get past us then it shows what a little bit of motivation can do”
EXACTLY!!! The right attitude compensates a helluva lot. They wanted to go through more than we did. That made the difference while on paper we should have qualified even with our b-squad (in theory). You can’t replace the right attitude with flashy dribbles with zero end product now can you? Apparently not.
I don’t see anything special from this guy. He fool me , I recognize that at the very beginning in Supercoppa, but after this months I don’t see his “work” , no playing schemes, no relations between players in camp, team has no identity. Just random passes and panic changes when game don’t work and score is not in our favor. Just PR from his super agent , Mendes but no real quality.
At this point, with Gerry at the helm and Furlani, Moncada and Zlatan in the management, we deserve Bonera for a coach. Or, at best, Giampaolo.
I hope he learns from Inzaghi how to manage players on yellow cards. This is the third time in three weeks we’ve had a player sent off for two yellows. Some of that blame is on him.
Doesn’t matter what he says in public. What’s done behind closed doors to remedy this is more important. not sure what Theo can say or do in the locker room to atone… Probably not a whole lot. “thanks, it’s been fun”
“The atmosphere here at Milan is not the best and the red card proves it: we have to work on this. Believe me, it’s not easy, it’s not easy”
Welcome to coaching a big club. Good luck