Compactness, attacking patterns and set pieces: What to expect tactically from Conceicao at Milan

It has been a chaotic 48 hours at AC Milan to say the least, and the club will go into 2025 with a new head coach in charge: Sergio Conceicao.

In a whirlwind of events, news leaked before the Roma game that Milan were about to sack Paulo Fonseca and hire Conceicao as their head coach, and many feel the former was dealt with in a less than ideal way.

On 30th December, Conceicao was announced as new head coach of the Rossoneri. Having left Porto at the end of last season, the Portuguese has been out of work since, perhaps a surprise given he won 11 trophies in seven seasons there.

The record for Conceicao at Porto reads as follows: 265 wins, 48 draws, 55 losses, 803 goals for, 317 goals against and 2.29 points per game. Beyond the numbers, how did he achieve them? Our writer Rohit Rajeev takes a look at his tactical approach.

Out of possession

In their title winning season of 2021-22, Porto only conceded 22 goals from 34 league games making them one of the most defensively sold team.

In Conceicao’s inaugural title winning campaign they only conceded 18 goals from which we can ascertain the basic fact: Porto under Conceicao had a watertight defence.

His core strategy was a zonal defence sat in two banks of four with twi strikers up top. Depending on the opponent, Conceicao would change into a 4-3-3. The structure of the press depend upon the ball position.

When the opposition tries to play out from the back, the near-side Porto player would physically pressure the ball player. Some pressing triggers were used, like against Benfica whenever a back pass was made they would physically press.

Porto maintained a very narrow structure and where they would maintain a maximum space of no more than 25-30 metres vertically and horizontally dictated by the position of the ball.

But once again his strategies differed on the opponent. Against Benfica – a team that didn’t have the best ball players – Porto used a hybrid marking system choosing to play a man-oriented press higher up the pitch. Once the ball passed the first line of defence would go back into zonal.

Against teams that play deeper and try to make Porto attack, Conceicao uses a more cautious 3+2 structure to counter-press incase the ball is lost.

One can see the aggressive nature of the counter-press: as soon as the ball is lost then the three closest players to the opposition player physically press the player.

Pressing traps are employed where players on one side of the pitch is not marked but once the pass is made then the nearside winger (who is positioned in the half space) would attack the the full back receiving the pass.

In possession

Like any team that presses following the ‘Golden 8’ seconds, Porto try to move the ball vertically instantly to either Taremi or Evanilson, waiting to receive or making runs behind the last line of opposition defence. This has been Porto’s golden mantra to catch opposition disorganised.

When playing teams playing deeper, different strategies are employed. A basic shape of 3-2-5 or a 2-3-5 is used by Porto with two centre-backs and one of the double pivot forming a triangle while the full-backs are allowed to push up to aid the attack.

When playing out from the back, Porto use a 3+2 build up structure with the goalkeeper acting as the third centre-back where the centre-backs split allowing the full-backs pushed up.

Porto use a series of third-man combinations to play out from the back where the attacking from the 4-2-3-1 would act as a mezzala and receive the ball. Wide triangles and quick one touch passing mechanisms were used to pass out from the back.

Conceicao has not placed any particular emphasis on how to structure themselves but rather gives players the freedom to occupy the positions they want and to create chances. Here we can see how the full-back has pushed up while the winger has dropped down to create a chance.

One of the main chance creation techniques for Conceicao is crossing. With two physical strikers upfront for Porto in the form of Taremi and Evanilson and good amount of cut-backs and crosses are sent into the box.

Porto also bait the press with Pepe and Marcano, two ball playing centre-backs with good ball control baiting the opposition to press. Once the opposition press then the ball is passed out of the zone quickly to catch the opposition out of their defensive position.

Positional rotations between players also occurs giving rise to quick one-touch football. In this goal we can see how one Porto player has occupied the half spaces and with quick movements allowed Vitinha the space to shoot and score.

Set piece analysis

With set pieces becoming an increasingly important part of the game and an area where coaches look to add value to their teams, below is a look at a defensive corner routine for Porto.

Then we have a throw-in. As we can see from this image, Porto use a man two-man marking system while defending.

Comparison with Fonseca

What are the differences between Fonseca and Conceicao? Well one can say there is a sea of difference. Fonseca was an idealist, someone who wanted to impose his style of play, playing a very aesthetic style of play with rigid structures and interchanges.

Conceicao however is more pragmatic and alert to the game situation, making him more reactive than proactive and probably more respectful to the opposition. Fonseca wanted to kill teams with possession while Conceicao preferred to defend the spaces and kill teams on the counter.

However, Conceicao leads the numbers in terms of attacking output but his style as we saw in the tactical analysis, Porto are reliant on crosses as much as they have crosses into the penalty area.

Unlike Fonseca’s team, Conceicao likes his players to dribble which means ball carriers like Rafael Leao, Theo Hernandez and Ruben Loftus-Cheek will be given more freedom.

As we can see some of the numbers of Porto’s style mirror that of Pioli’s Milan which means he has a more similar style to Pioli than Fonseca had.