Conceicao previews Lazio clash and hits back at Joao Felix preference: “I’ll tell you the truth” | OneFootball

On the eve of the clash between AC Milan and Lazio, Sergio Conceicao spoke to the media at his press conference at Milanello. Although he didn’t talk much about tomorrow’s game, there were some interesting quotes from him.

Milan failed to take advantage of their game in hand on Thursday evening as Bologna prevailed 2-1 at Renato Dall’Ara. As a result, now eight points behind top four, it will be very difficult for the Rossoneri to secure Champions League football for next season.

Speaking to the media at his pre-match press conference, as transcribed by MilanNews, Conceicao mostly talked about how he plans to get out of these difficulties. He also hit back at the alleged Joao Felix preference, stating that he only started against Bologna because Christian Pulisic wasn’t 100%.

How do you get back up, how do you react?

“Win, win, win, win. That’s what we want. We know the responsibility and the moment, we are aware of what happened either because of our mistakes or because of someone’s mistakes that we can’t control: the result was negative. We can’t cling to small misfortunes, life is like that. We have to work on what’s wrong and bring results, there’s no other way.”

Does the team believe in it as much as you do?

“It’s my job to pass this on and create this atmosphere in the dressing room. I truly believe in it. We won a title. We can also undervalue it, but a title is important. Then there’s still the Coppa Italia. There are these 12 games to face, being a little different at all levels: tactically, physically and mentally.

“The mentality that must be at one thousand percent from the first to the last second of the game. 80% of the goals we concede, something strange always happens that usually happens once a season. These moments will pass with work.

“I’m here to lay bare this pride and this desire to win: I have always been used to winning since I was little. In Italy I won, I won as a player and as a coach. It took 13 years to arrive in Italy as a coach, it was a dream for me.”

Do the players have the winning mentality too?

“Everyone has their own character, but everyone here wants to win, otherwise we’re masochists.”

Preparation for tomorrow…

“I asked the guys to work well, to understand what we do in terms of exercises and then bring it to the game. Those who played in Bologna did recovery work, tomorrow we will go on the pitch to prepare for the match against Lazio. The next match is the most important.”

Do they follow your lead?

“I know you don’t see, it’s not your job, I really respect journalists who have real opinions… But I saw positive things in the first half against Bologna. We conceded a goal in which there was a foul. We shouldn’t cling to this, but after this error by the referee, what were we supposed to do?

“It’s true, we weren’t up to it. We need more lightness and balance on a mental level. There were moments… Musah once, we had the chance to make it 2-1… Then they scored too easily. The player should have been more careful on the throw-in, the other should have been more careful in the area: we talked about it.”

What is missing to find the spirit of Riyadh? Is everyone giving 100%?

“I have to try to explain this 100% thing. My staff tells me that there are parameters: a player, for example, has worked 100% on this value, but it is 100% of what he has given up to now. We have to go beyond what we are used to doing. There are many pressing situations, sprinting, you can’t have a low average. In Riyadh everything was fine, look at Musah’s goal… This is what I’m trying to explain.”

On Reijnders and Pulisic…

“I don’t think Tijji is declining. He scored against Torino. He is very present in the build-up, he gets into the area. He is playing a little deeper but he has the freedom to go forward as I want. Everyone can give more, even me. Tijji is doing what I want.

“Puli is different. On the day of the match against Bologna, the doctor told me he couldn’t start the match. At that moment, I had to find a solution, I had to move Musah and put Joao on who shouldn’t have played from the start. I’ll tell you the truth. He [Pulisic] has had a small physical problem for a month and we have to manage it, you can see it in his physical freshness.”

Joao Felix’s performances…

“He is very good between the lines. However, in my opinion, sometimes he moves to areas where he’s not needed with the ball: we need a second striker. He accepts that he has to improve something every day, he has to be more decisive.

“He cannot be as far from the goal as he is now. He has to make the difference in the last thirty meters, we are working on this with him as well as with other players.”

What kind of match will it be against Lazio tomorrow?

“Human beings are full of memories, it’s normal. But even if my parents were playing with Lazio tomorrow, I would play to win. I thank them for the three wonderful years, but they will be opponents just like they were with Lazio and Inter. Baroni is doing quality work at Lazio, he has a path from Serie C to Serie A with more than 400 games. Congratulations, he is doing a great job.”

Against Torino, many shots on target, against Bologna, much less. How do you explain this difference?

“They are different games. We wanted to take more shots, for sure, more goals, for sure. We are working on it. After Lazio, we have two clean weeks for the first time, some players will work with me on things they have never worked on. After Lazio there will be another start to the season.”

What did you make of Leao’s words, suggesting ‘we didn’t play good football but we played how the coach wanted us to play’?

“Leao perhaps didn’t explain himself well after Bologna… The goal came in one of the moments of the game in which we had a low ball and Bologna came to us man-to-man: we have to exploit the space to create the insertion of other players.

“Then in other situations we ask other things from the team. They are different moments that we work on, but it’s not that we always want to play like that. Leao spoke specifically about that moment of the game.”

On the ‘work in progress’ for the formation…

“For the time I have available, I definitely want to work to play in a different way, from Tuesday I will start working on the pitch and not just on the board. I will work on another system without a doubt.

“In my past I have used 4-3-3, 4-4-2, 4-2-3-1, 3-5-2, 3-4-3, the players must feel comfortable with and without the ball. We have to define our zones on the opponents to know when and where to press: we work on the pitch. I will definitely work, if I have the time… It’s a joke, I’m joking. But for coaches it’s like this, it’s normal, it’s part of life, I have no problems.”

Are there any questions we didn’t ask you that you would have liked to receive?

“The lineup, no (smiles). My bitterness when things don’t go well… I can’t stand losing. My anguish is the same anguish as the fans. Some outbursts, some situations at the end of the match are connected to this and to this desire to win.”

Tomorrow’s game is scheduled for 20:45 Italy time and it remains to be seen what decisions the manager will make for the starting XI. He has never fielded the same XI since arriving at the club, which certainly hasn’t helped build consistency.