Sergio Conceicao launched into an impassioned defence of himself and his AC Milan side after their 2-1 defeat to Bologna tonight.
Going into the game at the Stadio Renato dall’Ara, Milan knew that they probably needed a win to keep alive their slim hopes of getting a top four spot. At half-time things were going according to plan, even if Rafael Leao’s opener had come a bit against the run of play.
However, a second-half collapse is what followed, with Santiago Castro firing in an equaliser in controversial circumstances and then Dan Ndoye netting from close range in the closing stages to earn Bologna a 2-1 win.
A second defeat in six days means that Milan are now eight points behind Juventus in fourth place and now also three points behind tonight’s hosts, with any hopes of a Champions League place now surely over bar the shouting.
What explanations do you give for the second half?
“Didn’t you count the first one?”
In the first half Milan played well, in the second?
“I say that there was a blatant handball on the first goal, we should have done more on these errors too. All the negative incidents for us happen to be decisive for the opponent. For us they are really negative for the result.
“We need to continue working, see what we have done well, we have done a little bit well, even if football is not talked about much. They are our mistakes, mistakes of another team too. These small episodes in the end are decisive.”
Mentally you can’t always be at 100%? Is there too much weight for what is around Milan today?
“That’s exactly right. You made a perfect argument. We are connected to the game, we are compact, we know where to press the opponent, we are compact with the defensive line to allow our midfielders to have space between the lines, countering where I thought they would have suffered from the space in behind: we scored like this.
“We pushed into the lateral spaces, I remember two moments in the second half that should have had a different outcome. When we are in the game we play as we prepared, we are good, we get to 30 metres with ease. And then every now and then these episodes happen, both through our fault and also through the fault of others…
“I’m sorry to speak like this today because it’s not just the referee who is to blame for this defeat. But these episodes always happen, it seems like we are in the heat during the game. It’s a mental issue. Today at the level of this attitude that many coaches talk about we had it, but these small episodes happen that are negative for us and very positive for the others.”
Is there anything else you didn’t like?
“The criteria, we talk about criteria and fouls that first are there and then we don’t whistle at all when it’s for me. But referees, like coaches, also make mistakes. These small incidents have a big weight: we need positive results also for the environment, it’s not easy at all.
“I know what I want, I know what I can do. I realise that every day people talk about my situation here and my future, acting as if I was just dropped in here, but I faced five very big Italian clubs, I faced coaches like Sarri and Pioli in charge of teams that were theoretically weaker, but I always qualified against them other than with Inter.
“I know what I can do. I see a lot of people talking about my situation, but my situation is simple. They tell me ‘You’re no longer needed’, so I’ll take my suitcase and leave. I don’t even earn a single euro more. I’m calm, I want to reassure people.
“I don’t come from nowhere: I have almost 100 games in the Champions League, I’ve won 13 trophies, but every day they enjoy talking about me. I have family, I have people close to me and they see so much negativity about me and it’s not right. Sorry for the outburst.”
