"Everyone Is Just Thinking About Themselves”

Written By Onyeka Daniel

Just when it seems like things can’t get any much worse for Italian giants, AC Milan, they just go right ahead pull another bad performance on the pitch as we saw in their latest Serie A match and it looks like they might not be making a top four finish this season. The Rossoneri lost their third Serie A game in a row over the weekend.

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They suffered a 2-1 home loss to direct rivals Lazio and they were already subjected to insults from their own fans throughout the match, with the Curva Sud left empty for the first 15 minutes in protest and then the situation at the final whistle was significantly worse, as Mattia Zaccagni had put Lazio in front.

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Samuel Chukwueze nodded in the late equaliser despite a Strahinja Pavlovic red card, but at the 98th minute Pedro converted the penalty awarded for Mike Maignan’s foul on Gustav Isaksen. It Is a third consecutive Serie A defeat and Roma overtook them on the table after their 2-1 win against Como.

For the Diavoli, their poor run of form has left them 9th in the Serie A table, outside a European placement. For former striker, Paolo Di Canio, he criticised Sergio Conceiçao, Milan players and even their fourth kit after the loss at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium: “I can’t believe Conceiçao doesn’t even care for the basics,” Di Canio told Sky Sport Italia.

“Pavlovic was asking for pressing, but no one did it. There was a gap in the middle. It’s about attitude. We have to say it: it always happens on the left side,” continued the ex-Milan striker. “The goal and the penalty came from there. On that side, there’s a left center-back who will end up struggling too, but defensively… that’s Theo and Leao’s side.”

“In the end, though, Leao was the only one who put in some decent balls and provided the assist. Everyone is just thinking about themselves.” Di Canio was so disappointed by Milan’s outing that he even criticised the Rossoneri’s fourth kit. “Thinking about the representation of a style, how about Milan’s jersey?” he said.

“From the waist down, it looks like Belgium’s kit; from the waist up, it looks like Portugal’s. What is this? In a moment when identity matters, the Rossoneri jersey! You’re playing at home. Identity, Rossoneri scarves. I understand marketing because we’re in modern times, but there’s a time and a place for everything. There are bigger issues, but this is still a little detail.”

Before kick-off, Milan faced a toxic environment at San Siro seeing ultras in Curva Sud enter the stadium at minute 15 and for Conceicao, he feels that they were affected by the fan protests. “It is not an easy moment, we know that. The players feel what is around the club.”

“There is only one path forward, to work, to have pride for the colours we defend and give our all every day to change this situation,” Conceicao told DAZN. “I don’t like talking about bad luck, but there are also incidents that keep happening and are negative for us, decisive for the opponents.”

Milan once again struggled to start well and could easily have been more than a goal down by half-time, when it was still 11 against 11. Did the protest from the ultras make the situation even worse for the squad? “We are talking ultimately about the same thing.”

“We had very little time to prepare, we talked about the atmosphere around us and this is the first time I’ve experienced this in my career. I was a player, I know when it’s like this, your boots feel like they are burning. If a dribble or pass doesn’t work, or you go behind, it burns more,” replied Conceicao.

“I saw great character and desire to turn it around, we managed to equalise down to 10 men and had chances to win until that late penalty. The players are giving me a positive response in training, they believe in what we are doing, but the situation has been difficult since the start of the season.”

“I haven’t had much time to work on tactical or fitness issues, as we play decisive matches every three days and I only arrived a couple of months ago.” It was put to Conceicao that many of the Milan players run forward to attack, but do not put anywhere near the same effort or intensity into tracking back to defend.

“We are working on that too, because defensive solidity is every bit as important as attacking prowess,” agreed the coach. “I believe there are players with technical quality who can make the difference in attack and they must get their minds into helping the solidity and unity. If we defend well, then we can hurt teams in attack.”

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“This has always been the approach of my teams as a coach, but I came here and found players with different characteristics. I agree 100 per cent with that analysis.” He further added. They will now turn their attention towards the upcoming away fixture against Lecce on Saturday this weekend before welcome Como to the San Siro 7 days later.

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