Yahoo Sports Conceicao discusses accepting Milan job, type of coach he is, mercato and UCL mission
AC Milan’s new head coach Sergio Conceicao has spoken of the great pride he feels at taking over, but insisted there is an awful lot of work to do.
It has been a whirlwind 24 hours for Milan, who decided to sack Paulo Fonseca immediately after the 1-1 draw against Roma at San Siro on Sunday night, and they acted quickly to replace him.
Conceicao was announced as the new manager on a deal until 2026 though it is being reported that there is a break clause for the summer. He flew into Italy yesterday morning and took his first training session at Milanello in the afternoon.
The former Porto boss was unveiled to the media at a press conference this lunchtime and he spoke on stage alongside Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the Senior Advisor. His comments were relayed by MilanNews.
How proud do you feel, and how important will San Siro and the fans be?
“I’m proud. It’s a pleasure for me to come and work in such an important team. For me it’s a pleasure, a pride, a step forward in my career and that of my staff. The fans are the soul of the club.
“Without them it’s difficult to live and grow, and we have to respect these values and in this sense work and show that we are up to Milan. If they are here it’s not a good sign, it means that something didn’t go well.
“There’s not much time to work on the match against Juventus. We don’t complain, we don’t look for excuses.”
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What are the concepts you will work on? Have you already spoken to your son?
“I have five children that I speak to every day. Francisco will be an opponent at a professional level, my son at home. We can change the system, after that there is all the spirit and mentality of quality, which is not negotiable.
“This hunger to get to the end of the game knowing that you have given everything to win it is not easy. I live the game intensely, and I want my players to do the same as me, just like the fans. This is the path to take. Their eyes must shine when they enter Milanello.”
Do you think Milan have more of a mentality problem, or is it purely tactical?
“There is no problem with one thing, there are many things that don’t work. Others prefer to talk about tactics, others about physical problems, others about mental problems. Paulo has had great periods here, others not so much, but this is part of the coach’s job.
“We always look for perfection, but it’s not possible. We play against quality opponents, both in Italy and in the Champions League, but we are prepared for this. But I don’t want to go into details.”
What is the difference between Conceiçao as a player and as a coach?
“It’s all different. When we are players we think we understand everything about football, but that’s not the case. We think about our garden. A coach doesn’t even sleep, for me last night it was difficult.
“The stress of wanting to know everything in here, the people, because everyone is important, the storekeeper, our president. We staff really want to get to know everything and everyone quickly, because time is short and we want to be present and active.”
What made you accept Milan?
“My situation with Porto was not an easy exit. For me the timing is not important. In the summer every week there was a club interested in me, they always talk, it’s normal, because news comes out that we can’t control.
“For me the timing of Milan was not important. It all happened very quickly. Why did I come to Milan? I’m coaching one of the best teams in the world. I couldn’t say no even if I had other situations that I respect a lot.”
What will your approach be with the players?
“It depends on the situation. It’s not that I have to change now, I’m 50 years old. Changing now is difficult. I’ve been a coach for 13 years, I didn’t start yesterday.
“They know they have someone direct in front of them. There will always be 11 happier players, those who go on the bench a little less. But this is group management, direct communication, maximum training.
“They can also be a little sadder because they don’t play, but this must give strength, like pressure, which is part of the big clubs. So we are confident of doing a good job, but words remain words, results count.”
What do you think you’ll change?
“I go with my beliefs with the team in terms of organisation and tactics. For me, football is simple: there’s a goal where you score and another where you don’t. For me, this is the dominant football. For me, tiki taka is putting it [the ball] in.”
Can this team get to the Champions League?
“We will do everything to get there. There is a lot of work to do. There are players who cannot play at the moment, important players in these first six months, but we have to work with those we have available.
“I have faith in all of them, and those who are available, let’s go and fight to get to this match and win it. It is clear, it is better to have them all available, but injuries are part of football.”
Will you keep the concept that all players are the same? Have you already spoken to Theo and Leao?
“For me they are the same in how I manage the dressing room. I don’t make a difference if he is 17 or 37, it depends on what he does in training. In the dressing room they know that the discussion is the same for everyone.
“Afterwards there are personal discussions. I like to understand the whole history of the players I have available, I go and see who has a father, a mother, there is a history behind to have certain behaviors within the team.”
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What kind of coach will you be?
“Everyone has their job to do. I like to go into every department, but this is my job. I will speak to the management when I need to, they can come when they want, every day, because we all want to row in the same direction.
“We want one thing: for Milan to get to the Champions League. There is a title to play for, while in the Champions League there are two important games against Girona and Dinamo Zagreb.”
What about the mercato?
“The first thing I said is that I want to know the first team and Milan Futuro well. It’s not fair because I don’t know the others well, then we’ll talk about it and see if we can fix something.”
Are there similarities and differences, and difficulties, that you expect to find compared to your previous experience at Nantes?
“They are different situations. The period is the same, it’s true, it was a huge job there in France, where the squad was different, the environment different, everything. It’s true the situation is similar but it’s not the same, because the pressure is different.
“This pressure, this environment must give us an extra boost, not the opposite. We must take this with responsibility, work at our best, humble, we know that we have a difficult job ahead but very confident for what comes.”
