AC Milan were held to a 1-1 draw by Cagliari on Saturday night, as Sergio Conceicao was left frustrated as we dropped crucial points.
After Alvaro Morata found a breakthrough early in the second half, it looked as though the Rossoneri would kick on and secure all three points, but the visitors found an equaliser just minutes later to secure a share of the spoils.
READ MORE: What Sergio Conceicao said in assessment of Milan’s draw with Cagliari
While our focus will quickly switch to Como in midweek, it wasn’t the coaching debut in Serie A that Conceicao was hoping for after the high of our Italian Super Cup triumph last week, and so both he and the squad will look to rectify it in a matter of days.
Conceicao not impressed with display
As has been the case since he was appointed, if Conceicao doesn’t like something he sees, he isn’t going to pull his punches and shy away from discussing it.
The first half was not up to the standard he demands, but there were clearly issues across the board that frustrated the Milan boss as we came up short and failed to secure all three points.
While it’s refreshing to hear a coach speak so candidly, it’s crucial that he doesn’t lose the dressing room with it and more importantly, gets his solutions across quickly and effectively to stop a repeat next week and beyond.
Maignan error proves costly
Rather uncharacteristically, it was Mike Maignan’s error that really gifted Cagliari their equaliser, as the French shot-stopper didn’t deal with the effort on goal well enough at all.
He’ll be more frustrated than anyone about it, while Youssouf Fofana didn’t cover himself in glory in the build-up to the goal either as his soft challenge allowed Cagliari to break on the counter.
With games so finely balanced, we can’t afford these individual errors, as it took the steam out of our performance just as we looked set to kick on and seal the win.
Wasteful Milan ultimately punished
Milan ended the game with 68 percent of possession, 11 shots on target and a further 10 off target.
It was a wasteful performance in front of goal and that lack of a clinical edge to our play in the final third cost us as we need to be more ruthless.
Our decision making at times was poor, and so we need key individuals to be more decisive in crucial moments. Several players were guilty of falling short, with Tammy Abraham certainly needing to replicate his finishing from earlier in the week.
Serie A form needs to be fixed quickly
This result leaves us in eighth place in the standings, with 28 points from our opening 18 league games.
Albeit we have games in hand, there’s still an eight-point gap to fourth place, and it’s probably not even worth looking at the top of the table with Napoli now 16 points above us.
Conceicao’s brilliant start was a major lift for all concerned, but we have to now follow that up and start putting together a run of form in the league.
Draw reiterates need for transfer market movement
This performance and result perhaps reiterates the need for Milan to address more issues in the current squad, while Conceicao will want to stamp his mark on the group too.
Speculation has already linked us with various potential targets, but it remains to be seen how active we will be and how much room there is for reinforcements, both financially and from a sporting perspective given the current make-up of the squad.
That said, we also need to see more consistency and quality from key individuals already at Conceicao’s disposal, as we can’t always look to the market to solve our problems.
