Conceicao: ‘Not a great Milan performance, I will speak at the right moment’

Sergio Conceicao admits ‘it wasn’t a great performance’ from Milan to beat Bologna, explained his tactical tweak to turn it around and hinted at his future. ‘At the right moment, I will speak.’

The Rossoneri have truly turned their season around since moving to a three-man defence, but still have not sorted out their struggles starting games on the right note.

This is because once again, they conceded first only to fight back for the victory, this time slapped into waking up by Riccardo Orsolini, followed by a Santiago Gimenez brace and Christian Pulisic strike.

“It wasn’t a great performance. It’s true, we won against a team that has been doing very well in Serie A, the Coppa Italia and the Champions League. They are tough because they press you man for man, so if we don’t do well to find the spaces, we get that poor first half,” Conceicao told Sky Sport Italia.

“We conceded the first goal because we tried to press a bit higher and were caught out. I changed the system to a 4-4-2, the players gave a strong response and those who came off the bench also gave a positive response. This is the kind of spirit I like about this side.”

With that in mind, could they move to a four-man defence again for the Coppa Italia showdown?

“I saw that we had one too many defenders, so I introduced another striker, moved Chukwueze and Pulisic to the wings, with Joao Felix as a second striker near to Santi. It went well.”

Milan have earned an extra 22 points from trailing situations in Serie A this season, with 19 of those arriving since Conceicao took over from Paulo Fonseca in January.

“From tomorrow, we will start preparing for the Coppa Italia. We have to learn from what we did and did not do, as there were negatives and positives tonight. I expect differences to both teams, but this is a Final, sometimes the side that doesn’t play the best football ends up winning,” noted Conceicao.

It is the ideal way for Milan to prepare for the Coppa Italia Final, which curiously is also against Bologna, at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Wednesday evening.

“I said for a while that Santi has been working hard, he has quality, I am talking to him day by day to give him what he needs. Players do not just need technical quality, but also mental strength and physical fitness,” added the coach.

“I will never forget that he came here already carrying an injury, we are working every day to get him to full fitness. He scored goals, I am happy for him, especially as strikers really live for goals.”

Considering the two goals this evening, could Gimenez be pushing for a spot in the starting XI rather than Luka Jovic?

“I never tell players if they will start or not, especially with another four days of training to go. He is different to Luka, attacks the space more and has different movements, while Luka is better at holding up the play and scored some big goals recently.

“Serie A is very, very, very difficult, so Santi needs time to acclimatise.”

That could be their second piece of silverware this season, as Conceicao already lifted the Supercoppa Italiana by beating Inter in Riyadh in January with his second game in charge. Could it decide his future at Milan?

“Conceicao is not important here. What is important is the next game and winning a trophy. An historic club like Milan cannot be content to sit ninth in Serie A. There are regrets and frustration from everyone at the way this season went,” concluded the coach.

“I am accustomed to certain things. This is not the moment to talk about me. At the right moment, I will speak.”