Sergio Conceicao’s press conferences have been intriguing and quite revealing so far, and that theme continued with his pre-Juventus comments.
The first game that Conceicao took charge of was against Juve in the Supercoppa Italiana, and Milan came from behind to win the game 2-1 thanks to Christian Pulisic’s equaliser and an own-goal.
Thiago Motta’s side will be out for revenge no doubt given that it was their first defeat against an Italian side (and remains their only), but the league meeting between the teams in November was not a good advert for the league.
The Italian media have spoken about tonight’s rematch being ‘the guillotine’ with both sides pushing for a Champions League spot – the minimum objective – but continuing to drop points.
Conceicao spoke to the reporters who gathered at Milanello for his pre-match press conference yesterday, and he was asked about a couple of topics that have been speculated on.
How do you decide the captaincy?
“I saw before I came here that there was controversy about the armband, but for me, it’s not important. A 17-year-old and a 35-year-old must have the same responsibilities and everyone must speak up.
“At Porto for a few years Diogo Costa, the goalkeeper, was captain. The captain could be Mike, Theo, or Calabria. But it’s not the important thing, they don’t have to worry about that. Maignan for example has to worry about conceding goals, that’s the first objective.
“I like him because he has this personality, he’s a winner. Theo is the same, he’s achieved a fantastic number of goals here at Milan, surpassing a legend like Maldini. For me, it’s a pleasure to coach these players. For me, the captain’s armband isn’t that important.”
When will the team be ready to play with 4-4-2? Especially considering that the two wingers are Leao and Pulisic…
“That’s exactly the point, the team isn’t prepared for that: basically we do 4-2-4 and we take risks. Then when we have to win I take risks because for me drawing is losing two points.
“And when we risk something we discover space behind, but balance is very important. But over time certainly yes, it’s a system that I like.
“I played for years like that, it’s very balanced. But the characteristics of the players must be what I think, otherwise I wouldn’t even be intelligent to do it, with the players adapted…”
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