GdS: Why Conceicao was left confused and frustrated after Cagliari draw | OneFootball

Sergio Conceicao has now been at AC Milan a fortnight, and though he already has a trophy to his name he is learning more about the issues to tackle too.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) recall this morning, Conceicao did not hold back after the full-time whistle following the 1-1 draw with Cagliari on Saturday night, declaring it ‘the worst first half since I’ve been coaching’.

It was a sudden, unexpected stop after the excitement generated by the Supecoppa Italiana triumph in Saudi Arabia. Davide Calabria and Theo Hernandez paraded the trophy at San Siro before kick-off, but then the team showed the chronic inconsistency has not been cured yet.

Mentality issues

The question comes naturally: how can Milan beat Juve and Inter by coming from behind, yet struggle to break the deadlock against Cagliari and then concede an equaliser minutes after finally taking the lead?

Conceiçao is looking for the answer and, rather than a technical-tactical analysis, the path to investigate is the mental one. The coach didn’t like the approach of the first 45 minutes, although when he talks about ‘the worst first half of my career’ he obviously means in relation to the high quality of his team.

He thought that, in the wake of the Supercoppa, the match would be attacked with a fierce attitude. Instead, Milan’s first half was anything but that as they toiled away trying to get through a low block, as the xG (Expected Goals, measuring quality of chances) of 0.36 shows.

Conceiçao knew that Cagliari would be a tough obstacle in terms of their ability to defend with two deep lines and counter well. He had notified his squad and his staff practically from day one of his return to Italy from Arabia about the task at hand.

Instead, especially in the first half of the game, the Sardinians contained the Diavolo’s attacks without too much trouble, even getting forward a couple of times to cause panic, drawing a save from Mike Maignan and a heroic last-ditch tackle by Davide Calabria.

Evidence

The approach is not all that concerns Conceicao, however. The Portuguese coach doesn’t understand why his team didn’t execute the game plan meticulously prepared during the week to the letter.

In the training sessions at Milanello, the team had in fact given very positive signals on how to attack a low block, attack the second balls and bring pressure to prevent counter-attacks.

Yet, once they took to the pitch at San Siro, many starters lacked the practicality of what had been successfully prepared in training, continuing a theme that stretches back.

It is a note that the Portuguese wants to investigate thoroughly, because from here on out – starting with tomorrow’s game in Como – Milan can no longer make mistakes, otherwise it will be goodbye Champions League hopes.