Sergio Conceicao has shown his prickly side once again, and has admitted that AC Milan cannot be ‘saved’ in their present state.
There has been a lot said about Conceiacao’s handling of the media, and there will be more said about it in the weeks to come you would imagine. However, last night’s outburt is probably the most telling.
The pressure has been on the Portuguese coach for months, even after the Supercoppa Italiana win, and it seems to have caught up with him. Previously we have seen him play the victim card a little, but last night he went on the offensive.
Instead of an attempt to get some pity points, the former Porto man suggested that he was doing his best in a situation which was unmanagable and was still doing better than others may have previously, and Milan News have relayed his comments.
Match different from the others: derby entered in the head?
“The thing I’ve always said is that players who go inside give a little something extra, today it wasn’t like that. In the first half it was a balanced 45 minutes and in the first 20 we were too low compared to what we had prepared during the week. We had a team that has been doing a very good job for years.
“We lacked aggressiveness, we were well set up but too low. The last 15 minutes went well, with more balls in the offensive half where we had situations where the last pass made the difference and we were not good.
“We started the second half very well and on their first restart they scored. A goal that we worked on during the week.”
Derby, can 90 minutes change the verdict? Will you ask for more?
“The game is important, the team is aware of that. We have this awareness, a match that is a semi-final beyond the derby: we very much want to play the final in Rome. But honestly I can’t save anything, a club like AC Milan.
“The environment after winning the Super Cup was positive, people started talking about the bench immediately: it doesn’t change anything for me, I’ve won a few things, I’ve been in football for many years and the pressure gives me motivation. Coming to this environment is fine, but disrespect is not: at the end of the day let’s do the maths and see how long it’s been since Milan won two titles.
“In the end one is judged by what one has done, in my case six months.”
Lack of respect: are you referring to the rumours about the bench?
“Every day. There seems to be no one here. It’s not that I came from another planet, I’m already 14 years as a coach. The pressure to win is good and beautiful, what I’m experiencing here I also experienced as a player.”
Are you going to reintroduce the 3-man defence against Inter?
“Now we’ll work on the game and see on Wednesday. With Inter we always put a fifth man in defence, we know that they have a lot of width in the game.”
With news this morning that he will leave this summer, it will be interesting to see how he navigates the next few weeks.
