Sergio Conceicao spoke to the media after AC Milan’s 1-1 draw against Inter and stated that they ‘lost two points’. However, he also expressed optimism that the remaining four months of the season will be strong.
Milan broke the deadlock just before half-time through Tijjani Reijnders, who made the most of a loose ball in the penalty box, and the rest of the game was a matter of counter-attacks for the Rossoneri. They had a few half-chances, but ultimately succumbed to Inter’s pressure.
After the game, Sergio Conceicao spoke to Sky (via MilanNews) and shared his analysis of Milan’s performance. He admitted that the Rossoneri are disappointed with the late equaliser, while highlighting positives and negatives from the game.
This Milan today contradicts itself in a positive sense. Did you see the foundation you referred to yesterday today? Despite the draw…
“We coaches see both positive and negative things. This is the attitude we want. The players were good at interpreting what we asked for, Inter are a strong team that create a lot of difficulties for the opponent. We also had to explore their weaknesses.
“We are disappointed, we lost two points. You could see all the joy they had at the end. But in the end, the draw was the right result, the individual mistakes of the young players cost us dearly. The next match with the transfer window closed we will be more relaxed and from this match, we can start again with four strong months.”
What did you say to the guys in the locker room?
“I said a bit of everything. I did a mix of positive things and things that didn’t go well, but it stays between us. They accept what we proposed, it’s not easy because there are moments when they don’t have the ball and it’s difficult to make them understand it from the video.
“The aggression that I want without the ball is achieved through training, I haven’t had time to do it. Their characteristics aren’t even these, we had to understand the right area to press and then restart strong. There were moments that I liked and others not so much.”
What is the characteristic you would like to teach these kids the most?
“The mental aspect was there, now there must be continuity. And this is not negotiable, if there is no joy in playing football then it is not good. In terms of game dynamics, something is missing, we tried to press higher and we opened up spaces that I do not want.
“When you attack well you are prepared to recover the ball high and you do not suffer so much from the opponent, and also when you defend well it shows: Tammy made a good defensive recovery and we scored. This is what we want, even 15-20 meters further forward.”
Why the change at half-time from Bennacer to Jimenez?
“We suffered a lot in midfield. Jimenez then also played as fifth man in defence, in midfield I put more muscle. It’s not that Isma isn’t good, but with Musah we had more balance without the ball. Then with the ball, Bennacer has great quality. Our first line of pressure was three, and with a midfield of two against their three I made choices.”
Roma are up next for Milan in the Coppa Italia quarter-final and perhaps the fans will get to see the new signing Santiago Gimenez. The striker underwent his medical today and only the official announcement is missing before it’s all done.
