Ibrahimovic plays down Milan drama after Conceição clashes with captain Calabria | OneFootball

An eventful weekend at AC Milan has seen further headlines generated by the latest bout of controversy at San Siro. Sérgio Conceição’s side staged another late comeback to defeat Parma 3-2 in Serie A on Sunday afternoon, but the Portuguese boss’ clash with skipper Davide Calabria has been the talk of the Italian press.

Conceição stormed onto the pitch to confront Calabria at the final whistle, causing a story which has somewhat divided opinion. The former Porto boss also hauled off Portuguese star Rafael Leão and influential full-back Theo Hernandez at half time, with many criticising the attitude of Milan’s players during the match.

Milan twice came from behind to claim the victory against the Gialloblu, who opened the scoring in the 23rd minute when lax pressure from the hosts allowed Matteo Cancellieri to slot past Mike Maignan. Despite Christian Pulisic levelling from the penalty spot, Conceição replaced both Leão and Hernandez – two players previous boss Paulo Fonseca had a tense relationship with – at the half time interval.

Conceição was proved right to be concerned by Milan’s performance, as Parma re-took the lead when Enrico del Prato benefitted from statuesque defending to score with ten minutes remaining. Yet Milan managed another miraculous recovery, scoring twice in stoppage time through Tijan Reinders (92’) and substitute Samuel Chukwueze (95’) to snatch a dramatic win.

“When kids are bad, you have to act”

Conceição appeared relieved by the winning goal, but was quick to let his frustrations known by running onto the field to confront captain Calabria, with the fair separated by staff. “Sometimes with the adrenaline that comes during games, you have to live with passion in this sport, I think it’s a good thing,” Conceição explained after.

“It’s fine with me because it was an in-game situation. As it is with your kids: If they’re behaving badly, you have to act on it. I am direct, they know that we are creating a bond and the spirit showed by the end.”

On his decision to replace Rafael Leão and Theo Hernandez at the break, the Portuguese replied: “I wanted to win earlier, I didn’t want a comeback. The performance showed character and spirit, though.

“We have to improve our game. The choices at half-time were made to improve the team, regardless of the names. Theo and Leão have always given everything for this team, they know how I think. I’ll clarify, these are just choices, everything is fine with them and they will be starters [on Wednesday] in Zagreb.”

According to a report in La Gazzetta dello Sport, Conceição was already angry with some of his senior players before the match for attending a concert on Friday night during the build-up. Previous incumbent Fonseca was widely known to be frustrated in his attempts to tackle a perceived unprofessional culture at the club.

Conceicao’s actions “not normal” – Capello

Legendary Milan manager Fabio Capello added his thoughts in a collum for Gazzetta, in which he criticised Conceição’s decision to confront his player in public. “It’s not normal to see a coach lash out in this way, against one of his own players in front of everyone,” Capello said. “Of course you get arguments in football, tough ones at times, I’m the first to be aware of that, but it has to be inside, in the dressing room, not in front of the cameras.

“The two culprits played it down in the post-match interviews, but I remain convinced that the situation was a symptom of some evident tensions, and more than anything, shows a bit of nervousness from the coach.

“I think it stems from his difficulty in getting the team to follow him. Milan does not do what the coach asks. They don’t press enough when they lose the ball, they are not aggressive, they don’t have the anger and competitiveness to win games.

“You can say that the Rossoneri have brought home five wins from seven games with Conceição, but they went behind and came back on four occasions. It’s a team that reacts, rather than acts.”

This doesn’t happen at Inter or Napoli – Di Canio

Another former Milan man, ex forward Paolo di Canio, was highly critical of the culture at the club, which Fonseca had hoped to change before he was fired earlier this month. The issue of players going out less than 48 hours before a match has drawn largely negative responses from most, giving Conceição a perpetual problem to address.

“There is no sense of work ethic, in Inter and Napoli these things don’t happen,” Di Canio said.

“A ban on going out? Oh, you’re talking about Milan, not some small-time club. A team with history, honour, and respect. We’re getting used to decay. Everyone’s doing it this way, they’re modern.

“But that’s not the case, it doesn’t change the judgment on work ethic. Milan players go out. Inter players certainly don’t, because they’ve become serious.

“Let’s see if Napoli players go out now. You don’t hear these stories about Inter, and you don’t hear them about Napoli either, not anymore.

“It’s not about things changing or young players… Enough with this nonsense. See if the current Napoli players go out on a Friday night until 2 AM. I have my own work ethic.

“But how can any coach accept something like this? Milan win against Como and the next day they celebrated Emerson Royal’s birthday, just two days before the match with Juventus, with guests arriving at midnight, so I doubt they went to bed early.

“Apart from the questionable taste in their clothing… Then, two days before a crucial match, you go to a Lazza concert? That’s serious, it means there’s absolutely no sense of respect, which should be there even in Serie C and Serie D. There’s a lack of work ethic and discipline, a lack of decency.”

Zlatan downplays clash

On Monday, Milan unveiled latest signing Kyle Walker from Manchester City, giving senior adviser Zlatan Ibrahimovic the chance to address the media stories. The Swede insists such incidents are common in football and appeared unconcerned by the coverage afforded to the situation.

“Yesterday’s situation with Calabria and Conceição, there was a lot of adrenaline,” Zlatan said. “They are two winners who did what they did. It happened to me a thousand times on and off the pitch. The important thing is that it was resolved, before I entered the dressing room.

“This same thing happened to me in Barcelona, at Milan, in Paris, with United: It’s normal. Everyone wants to win at all costs. When it happened to me, (Fabio) Capello told me: ‘Don’t worry, it’s good for the team’.

“Conceição and Calabria do their jobs for the good of the team. It’s good that these things happen, because otherwise it would seem like nothing matters. The image might seem ugly, but these things happen.”

The win over Parma lifted Milan up to 7th place in the Serie A standings. Conceição’s men travel to Dinamo Zagreb in 6th place in the Champions League table, giving them a good chance of securing a top-8 spot and avoiding the play-off round should they secure a result in the Croatian capital.