AC Milan head coach Sergio Conceicao has stressed that there is no room for prolonged celebrations after the Supercoppa Italiana win, with a job to do against Cagliari.
Something rather strange will happen at San Siro on Saturday night: the Milan fans will welcome a coach that has already won a trophy for the club despite not having managed a single home game yet.
Indeed, Conceicao-mania seems to have taken hold after the Portuguese arrived and won a trophy just over one week into his tenure. Not only that, but he beat the Rossoneri’s main rivals Juventus and Inter to secure the club’s 50th major trophy.
However, as the former Porto boss will have no doubt already stressed, there is a new task at hand against Cagliari. Milan know this all too well given that they drew 3-3 with the Sardinians immediately after the 3-1 win over Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Conceicao spoke to the reporters who gathered at Milanello for his press conference on the eve of the game, and his comments were relayed by MilanNews.
How important is it to keep your feet on the ground right now?
“Certainly. I think that those who are satisfied after a Supercoppa cannot work at Milan. We enjoyed it a lot and deserved it, we are 17 points from the top of the table.
“A club that has won 19 Serie A and 7 Champions Leagues cannot be satisfied with a Supercoppa. We must start winning and convincing starting tomorrow to get as high as possible. The Supercoppa is over.”
What emotion will it be tomorrow at San Siro?
“I apologise, but the emotions are not there. There is the normal adrenaline of a match with a historic club. But during the preparation I have too many things in my head, I don’t think about what I will experience.
“Surely before the referee’s whistle I will feel something, I am not a stone. But my main thought is to prepare the boys as much as possible.”
You have given the captain’s armband to Mike Maignan…
“All players must take their responsibilities, I am the ultimate leader. Everyone has their own responsibilities, you will not see me creating controversy about whether I am a captain or not.”
What did you do differently to get this reaction from Theo and Leao?
“Changing staff is already something different, I was a footballer for 25 years and I know how things are. They have to believe in your message.
“A nice thing I found here is this acceptance of everything we worked on. We made changes at an organisational level, this makes me happy. I found a very positive dressing room.”
What will the January window bring?
“I have to say one thing, the truth: the management tried to talk to me about this topic but the timing was wrong because we had important matches. Now is not the right timing, I know it is important and we have to talk about it.
“But right now the most important thing for me is the match against Cagliari, the day after maybe we will have time to talk about this issue too, which is certainly important.”
Will you work on those who played less under Fonseca, like Loftus-Cheek?
“Loftus-Cheek is not physically at his best. For me, everyone starts at the same level. Day by day I will see in training, it also depends on the strategy I have for each game, who can start and who can help from the bench. Nobody is an absolute starter, everyone has to fight for a place in the team.”
What is the injury situation?
“There’s a small problem with Ruben, he won’t be there for the match tomorrow. He had a relapse yesterday, I’m sorry because he was growing physically.”
What is the best tactical setup for the team in your opinion?
“The important thing is to find a good balance for the team. Today a three-man midfield may seem a little safer to the team. When there is a little more knowledge of what we want, we can also play with a 4-4-2: we work.
“It takes time, it’s normal. But during the match I change, something different was needed and they pay me for this, to help the team with what I see. Different situations are worked on in training. The player today is intelligent, they have to know what work to do to then do their best.
“Rafa? He has to run. Winger, attacker, he has to put his quality at the service of the team even without the ball. We are talking about a collective process, not an individual one.”
After the Real Madrid win, Milan went to Cagliari and drew…
“The next day I spoke about this, I watched Real-Milan and Cagliari-Milan, I spoke about it with the players. It’s not good. The hardest thing is not getting up there, but staying there.
“You can understand not playing so well, but you still have to have a strong base. If you have this base, you win the match in the end because you have a quality team.”
What is the Conceicao method?
“Every coach has his own ideas and working methods. Afterwards, what is right or wrong is shown by the results. It’s not that I have the exact formula. I have lost matches and titles at Porto, but I have also won.
“Up until now I have been happy with my way of doing things. But afterwards, if the results don’t come, the one who pays is the coach, he always has his bags packed. I will try to make sure that doesn’t happen.
“The players are too pampered, but I am pampered too. For me, the work is enough. They let themselves go, before it was different. In ’96 I faced Milan with Porto, we won 3-2. Now it’s different, you have to concentrate the players, it’s not a hobby. It’s a job, not a hobby.”
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