MN: Milan ‘must return to fundamentals’ – familiar struggles persist under Conceicao | OneFootball

It could hardly have been a more dramatic afternoon on Sunday at San Siro, one that ended thankfully with AC Milan three points higher in the table.

As MilanNews recall, the drama started when Sergio Conceicao bought Theo Hernandez and Rafael Leao off after 45 minutes, continued with the yellow card for Youssouf Fofana which means he will miss the derby, the comeback in added time then the confrontation between Conceiçao and Davide Calabria at full-time.

The feeling is that for some time now so many things happen during and around matches that we never end up talking about the games themselves. Or rather, we talk about reactions, character and sadly sometimes unsavoury incidents.

It is true that since he arrived at the end of December, Conceiçao has had very little time to shape the team in training, given that Milan have played practically every three days across the Supercoppa Italiana, Serie A and Champions League.

Nonetheless, it is also true that – and the coach does not hide from this – there are errors that are too big not to be ignored and performances that leave worry. Milan press high but continue to have issues in transition, while the 4-3-3 called for by many – even pundits – looks flat and predictable.

Milan must return to fundamentals even in basic situations, such as the overlapping of the full-back when attacking on the wing to provide an option rather than cutting back being so obvious. The timing of the runs from midfielders must improve: Reijnders showed that when done well it can carve open even the deepest of deep blocks.

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The win over Parma – although important points – yet another demonstration of how this team, at least against opponents who are on paper inferior, must do the basics well and let the quality of the players make the difference.

However, Conceiçao does not stop saying that, rightly, there is a lot of work to be done in terms of the style of play. This is not the Milan he has in mind, especially looking at his Porto: a compact, fast and aggressive team, that did simple but fundamentally important things.

There is one thing to take: seeing the equaliser in the 88th minute disallowed in an already depressed atmosphere would have seen many teams lay down. The reaction from there on was extraordinary, and that is the big thing to take so far from Conceicao’s tenure.