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GdS: 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 – how AC Milan could line up under Conceicao

Photo by Selim Sudheimer/Getty Images

Sergio Conceicao has been named as the new head coach of AC Milan, and naturally there has been some speculation about how he will line the team up.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) reports, Conceicao will have the task of trying to build on what Paulo Fonseca achieved – such as an improved defence in recent games – while also raising the level.

For the game against Juventus on Sunday which will be his debut, there are some injuries to consider. The paper believe he will use a 4-4-2, with Alvaro Morata and Tammy Abraham leading the line.

Alex Jimenez and Christian Pulisic (currently a doubt) are down as the wingers, with Youssouf Fofana and Tijjani Reijnders in midfield Emerson Royal, Matteo Gabbia, Malick Thiaw and Theo Hernandez should be the back four.

Predicted Supercoppa XI (4-4-2): Maignan; Emerson Royal, Gabbia, Thiaw, Theo; Pulisic, Fofana, Reijnders; Jimenez; Morata, Abraham.

Regarding the team that he will play when everyone is fit, La Gazzetta foresee the same back four but with a midfield three that includes Ruben Loftus-Cheek and a front three with Rafael Leao and Pulisic either side of Morata.

Predicted typical XI (4-3-3): Maignan; Emerson Royal, Gabbia, Thiaw, Theo; Loftus-Cheek, Fofana, Reijnders; Pulisic, Morata, Leao.

gazzetta dello sport trincao milan
Tags AC Milan Sergio Conceicao

41 Comments

  2. Well he wont be starting Emerson if he plans to keep his job

    Also I expect he will prefer Bennacer over RLC.

    I just hope to god he shows some logic to his decisions.
    Lets be honest though the players are going to be soo fed up of all the turmoil, I’d say half of them have asked their agents to look for a new club by now

    1. “Well he wont be starting Emerson if he plans to keep his job”

      This. For sure. That’s the first clue on what he’s here to do. Benching Emerson would mean he’s serious.

      1. For who? I’m not saying Emerson is IT but he seems better than Calabria in several ways. Emerson’s main issues are in possession but defensively he offers more than Calabria.
        Calabria can’t even do the things he used to do well at anymore.

        1. How many goals came from Emerson’s flank this season? He was caught out of position many times on a counter and both Puli and Fofana had to fill in for him on many occasions. He’s a Sunday league substitute at best. Calabria is still better.

          1. Nah, Calabria has come on several times this season and shown himself to be worse than Emerson.
            He was called out by the pundits and the press against Juve, Hellas and Real Madrid.

          2. And what’s even worse he offers absolutely nothing going forward. And needs musah in front to not leak goals.
            Emerson bye bye

        2. Royal is not better defensively than Calabria. He relies on his physique to make up for his lack of football intelligence, and it’s not nearly enough. He looks lost out there.

        4. Before this disastrous season Calabria had been our starting RB for over 4 years and in that time Milan had one of the highest win rates in their history.

          Now I’m sure you lot put all that down to one or two of your favs.

    2. its the same system always

      we expect bennacer in good shape

      soo

      maignan
      jimenez tomori gabbia theo
      fofana bennacer
      reijnders
      pulisic leao
      morata

    3. Bennacer, yes eventually. He still needs to work up to match shape. Royal I’m not so sure he will bench. It would not make sense playing Calabria, as it’s clear the club is not going to renew him. There is Jimenez, and this is who I want to see at RB, but the club didn’t spend 20M to purchase him just 6 months ago. My gut tells me that Royal will remain the starter, until at least the end of the season, in a bid to see if Conceicao can get more out of him than Fonseca did.

  3. Leao will pair morata in attack for sure,abraham is lost case

    Anyway i would like to see jimenez as a RB , someone else as LM ,maybe rejnders LM and Benacer CM

    1. Bennacer doesn’t have 90 in him, barely had 45 the other day. Does Jimenez replace Emerson? Who plays LW? I think this is more a super cup line up…

      1. After a few games Jiminez will play LW and Leao will be benched. Leao’s work rate is not going to be good enough for the pressing that is needed

      2. Obviously with leao still out, puli plays LW if he’s fit, if not Jimenez. Calabria in for Emerson. If we have 2 in the middle it’s tiji/fofana, and put Terra either wide right in a 442, or next to fofana again in a 433. Emerson should be nowhere near the pitch if we want to win, same for RLC

  5. I agree with your points! Definitely don’t think he will continue playing Emerson. (At least i hope he doesn’t). Definitely would prefer Calabria. He can definitely be quicker and bit more physical. I like his work rate and effort. And plus, he’s Italian! Keep him in! See how he does under Conceicao!
    Hoping we get Ricci but that’s a long shot. Maybe Conceicao is the guy we need to set everyone straight, including management. He doesn’t take crap from anyone. His way or highway. This is what we need

  6. Mike
    Emerson-Gabbia-Thiaw-Theo
    Bennacer/Musah/RLC-Fofana-Reijnders
    Pulisic-Morata-Leao

    This will and should be the line up. Benny does not have 90 minutes but will be good for 45 minutes.

  7. With injuries I don’t know, the one on article is not bad. Just swap Calabria in for Royal.

    When everyone fit and ready ,i would do it like this:

    433

    Mike
    Jimenez Gabbia Thiaw Theo
    Bennacer Fofana Reijnders
    Pulisic (Anyone. I don’t like Morata) Leao

  9. He can line up how he want he just needs to fix the way we deffend. I’m tired of conseeding goals everytime our opponent attack and we need 15 chances to score a goal.

  10. Well, I will like to see players like Calabria at the back to Emerson Royal if the new manager really wants to keep his job.

  11. Yall keep quiet and watch.. RLC IS PLAYING RM,. Perfect position for him. Watch and see what will happen! He said formation don’t matter you have to play according to available players.

  13. We can’t predict the set up Conceicao will use. The formation given here is just a guess. Until all the players are in full shape, he will only be trying different set up till he settles for a particular formation.

  14. Bring back Tonali, remove loftus from the line up and you have a brilliant team.

    Maignan
    Emerson-Thiaw-Gabbia-Hernandez
    Tonali-Fofana-Reijnders
    Pulisic-Morata-Leao

    1. Calabria I understand but what did Thiaw did wrong for you to prefer Tomori over him ? Thiaw has been OBJECTIVELY better than Tomori this season and made way less mistakes overall so it’s up to Tomori to prove that he is our best or second best defender for him to gain a starting spot.

  16. Seing how Conceiçao likes physical players I can see him favouring R-L-C over Bennacer in a 4-3-3. Personally I hope he tries Bennecer as No. 6 and Fofana-Reijnders as mezzalas since they both been creating most goals for us with Leao and Pulisic abscent, and we need them higher up the pitch.

    I also hope he gives both Jimenez and Terracciano a chance as RB since either would do better there then Emerson.

    I think its a risk he favours Tomori over Gabbia too due to his speed but I hope he continues with Gabbia/Thiaw in the league and play Pavlovic/Tomori as backups in cup games.

    1. Since he has a different style of play, you can’t say for sure that the pairing that worked for Fonseca would work for Sergio. For all we know a pairing of Pavlovic and Tomori might be what works for the second half of the season. Basically, let’s wait and see what works for him and what doesn’t before making conclusions. No one expected Tomori to be where he is at in the beginning of the season.

  17. I hope RLC benefited and can flourish with sergio’s training method. he has a solid body, just need a good coach to polish it. others such as leao or theo might also get the benefit as to not dive easily.

  19. He plays more of a 4-2-2-2 like Brazil during the 2000’s. I expect him to be using Camarda a lot more than what people are expecting, he had a good look at him in the first training session. What we will most likely see is:
    Maignan
    Calabria-Thiaw-Gabbia-Theo
    Fofana-Tijji
    Pulisic – Leak
    Camarda/Tammy-the Spaniard

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