It would be fair to say that AC Milan under Sergio Conceicao are still a work in progress, given he has been in the job for less than one month.
Despite winning the Supercoppa Italiana after just two games of his tenure, there is still an awful lot of work to do in order to get back on track, especially in the league where the Rossoneri are averaging just 1.55 points per game.
Pressing proof
Milan, between injuries and the arrival of the new coach – who certainly needs time to work with the team and impose his principles – are experiencing a complicated moment and the proof of that was the match against Juventus at the Allianz Stadium.
A poor performance and a damaging result further complicated the top four race, just like getting a bad hand on live dealer blackjack. Interestingly, Conceiçao’s philosophy about an aggressive pressing phase does not seem to have been on display.
According to the data collected by Calcio Datato, Milan had not pressed with such a low intensity since the first derby of the season against Inter. Certifying this data is the average number of passes the other team had before winning it back, the Passes Per Defensive Action metric.
Against the Bianconeri on Saturday the PPDA number was 17.2 while against the Nerazzurri back in September it was 18.8. Against Como last week – the match in which Milan pressed the most – the PPDA was 6.7.
A system game
One of the interesting things to follow so far under Conceicao has been the various changes in formation that he has deployed across his first five games.
Conceicao has recognised early on that the 4-3-3 is not the right formation for his Milan, or at least isn’t the system to go all-in with. For now, though, it provides an important compromise between balance and the strengths of the squad.
We have seen the use of a 4-2-3-1 also, with Tijjani Reijnders pushed up to an attacking midfield role which in truth has never seemed to be his natural position. He is better driving from deeper without doubt, rather than trying to quarterback attacks.
A 4-1-4-1 system has been spotted when Ismael Bennacer has started games, allowing the Algerian to sit between the split centre-backs and be the focal point of the build-up play. However, it is during games that the biggest indication has come.
As we wrote about recently, the former Porto coach wants to eventually evolve into the system he has success with in Portugal: the 4-4-2. More specifically, it is a 4-2-2-2 whereby the wingers have license to drift infield and the front pairing consists of a striker and a second striker.
Some help from the transfer window is needed for this, to bring – above all – another forward, another midfielder and even a versatile defender, which Kyle Walker looks likely to be.