AC Milan boss Sergio Conceicao expressed his disappointment after our 1-0 defeat to Bologna in the Coppa Italia final on Wednesday night.
The Rossoneri’s hopes of winning another piece of silverware came and went in the Stadio Olimpico, as our abject performance did little to inspire another trophy success.
READ MORE: Five key talking points as disappointing Milan reflect on Coppa Italia failure
Dan Ndoye’s goal shortly after the half-time interval sealed a memorable triumph for Bologna and a deserved one, but for Milan, it raised more questions about the current structure and squad, with major changes needed this summer after what has been a woeful campaign on the whole.
Naturally, Conceicao’s future will come into focus as the expectation is that he won’t continue beyond this season, and while he must share some of the responsibility and blame for what has happened since he was appointed, this goes well beyond just his flaws and shortcomings.
“Disappointment for a title lost,” he told the media in his post-match press conference, as per MilanNews.”Disappointment for everyone, for us and for the fans. It was a competitive match. We could have scored two goals in the first half and we didn’t. They created from dead balls. In the second half we should have done a little more. Then there was very little playing: substitutions, players on the ground. Typical of a final… I don’t want to take credit away from Bologna, but there was little playing. Even some refereeing decisions… I don’t want to find excuses. A man can also make mistakes. A typical match of a final: whoever scored first had a big advantage to win.”
On his future: “I understand the curiosity, but I have so many thoughts about this match: the choices I made, what went well and what didn’t. I haven’t started in football for two days. Right now my mind is trying to understand what didn’t go well today. There’s nothing to do because we lost, but we have to finish the season with dignity. Then we’ll talk.”
Could the club have done more? “At the end of the day I think I gave everything I can give. Today I could have done a little more, but after the match: at the end of the match we are all good. The analyses must be done afterwards. We are always judged by the results. I have to do my analyses and those who work at Milan will do their analyses. Then the context and environment can be said to have not been easy. The pressure is strong on everyone. In the end you have to do the math”.
Is he the only one responsible? “It’s not important to go hunting for who is more responsible. I am certainly the leader of the team and I put my face to it. Since I arrived here, I have tried to do the best I can.”
The Portuguese tactician has brought leadership, resilience and strong character in his role, and it was undoubtedly needed midway through the campaign as we were in real trouble following Paulo Fonseca’s failed stint in charge.
However, we’ve not seen enough consistent or sustained improvement beyond results to suggest that there is a long-term solution in place, and so a change at the coaching level will be welcomed at the end of the season.
That said, as noted above, our issues go well beyond Conceicao, as ownership and the management team have shown little to nothing in their ability to build a successful club and squad, and they’re currently stalling on proposed and necessary changes such as the appointment of a sporting director, which is just a basic need.
In turn, there is zero confidence in their ability to turn this around, but although in an ideal world, owner Gerry Cardinale and his entire hierarchy would be gutted out and we start again, whether that’s a realistic prospect this summer seems unlikely, and so time will tell how Milan rebuild from here.