I don’t even know how to start this post match. What a ride it’s already been and we’re only about 8 days into the Conceição era. The team has life, and fight, and looks to be ready to take on Europe’s best. It’s a refreshing change of pace and one that has all the markings of the right coach at the right time for Milan.
After coming out of the gates vs Juventus in a 4-3-3 that included Bennacer in the midfield next to Fofana and Reijnders, Conceição saw what we all saw and switched to the more familiar 4-2-3-1. He played Musah, who sparked the change in the Juve game, next to Fofana in the double pivot and flipped Pulisic and Jimenez on the wings. Defensively, Jimenez would drop to the backline and Royal tucked in when not in possession, as this was Conceição’s version of loading the middle with bodies to counter Inzaghi’s 3-5-2. The moves paid off, Milan had better buildup in attack and played Inter to a stalemate in the first half…and then a lack of concentration allowed Inter to take the lead in fist half added time with a Lautaro goal.
It was a crummy way to enter the locker room at the half and with a Mehdi Taremi goal right after the restart, Milan found themselves down 2-0 to the reigning Serie A champs. I know I wasn’t very optimistic at this point and I’m sure many of you felt the same way right along side me. But just like the Juventus game, a key substitution would change the momentum of the game. Leão came in for Jimenez, Pulisic switched to RW, and Milan started to pick apart Inter’s defense.
The revitalized attack looked different from the Juventus game. With Inter not playing as high a line, long balls over the top wasn’t going to work. Instead, Milan started doing things we’re all familiar with: Leão making long and darting runs at the defense, drawing fouls or creating opportunities for others. There were lots of overlapping runs and crisp passing. Milan’s first breakthrough came after Leão drew a foul outside the 18 yard box and Theo hit a laser into the bottom left corner. Boom. Inter’s 2-0 lead cut in half.
Milan continued to attack after the first goal, the next big chance, again coming from Leão, was a run down the left and then tight walking the endline, somehow found a way to sneak a ball through to Reijnders, who lunged at the ball and got a boot on it towards goal only for Bastoni’s face to get in the way and Milan’s next best chance to tie the game few out for a corner. Milan would keep building but the breakthrough wouldn’t happen until the 80th minute.
Leão received the ball tight on the left sideline around midfield, saw Theo start to make a run and made the long pass, wonderfully weighed, down the left. Theo retrieved it down by the corner, cut towards the box and laid the ball off to a cutting across and slightly trailing Pulisic, who gathered himself and hit a beautifully-placed weak-footed shot towards the right corner of the goal. Tied 2-2.
The game winning goal was also a thing of beauty. Pulisic received the ball tight on the right, Calabria made a run on the inside of Pulisic but Pulisic held the ball, saw Leão start to make similar run but closer the 18 yard box, and slotted the ball through two Inter players, beyond Asllani, and Leão tracked it down and cheekily squared the ball over Sommer and Bisseck to a waiting Abraham for the tap-in game winner in added time. Milan up 3-2 and would go on to win by the same score.
I took the time above to go over all the goals and who contributed because I think it’s telling to how this team is built and what works. It’s important because it’s the best version of Milan and the signs point towards a coach in Conceição who isn’t pigeonholed to a system but rather one that gets the most out of his best players – whatever formation/approach that may be. Fonseca came in and thought he could impart his system on the team rather than take advantage of the unique talents on the squad. I’ve been hopeful and less negative on the form of Leão and Theo during Fonseca’s time because players need to put in the right position to succeed, something Fonseca was failing to do on a regular basis on top of the in-fighting he was doing.
The comeback also reinforced my belief that the best Milan is one that builds gameplans around Leão and Theo and adjusts from there. I’m always very adamant that I want my wingers wide (especially Leão) and we saw why in this game. Leão and Theo (and Pulisic to some degree) can beat most defenders 1 on 1 and when they do, the rest of the defense has to scramble and that creates cracks for others to exploit (one of the reasons I want Reijnders making more runs and RLC to make any). If the opponent pushes their defense wider, then that loosens the spine and attacks down the middle become a useful weapon via Fofana, Reijnders, and Pulisic. These are chess matches, always adjusting but also always trying to use your advantage. Leão and Theo are Milan’s best advantage.
The last thing I want to talk about here pertains to the squad and the talent on the roster and what we saw over these two games with Conceição in charge. Clearly having as many quality players as possible is a good thing, and improving upon that even more so. I saw a lot of people on social media shitting on the players, yes Leão and especially Theo of late, but others as well. Along with these criticisms were calls to revamp the roster…again. Of course Milan can use some upgrades, most importantly depth for Fofana, but the right approach can win with what’s already here. That’s how Pioli won the Scudetto with what he did. It surely wasn’t a team full of stars.
So as I end this editorial section, let me just say that I think Conceição might be the guy. It’s still awfully early, and yes the two wins over Juve and Inter are quite impressive, especially to win a trophy. Lisi made the comment to me that this feels like 2020 and the midseason change and bringing on Pioli. Conceição is more the motivator than Pioli, and perhaps tactically less rigid, but the passion and commitment to the players appears to be the same. The commitment to convincing the players that he’s in it with them and shares their passion, and that the only way this works is together with gritty determination and hard work. The players are responding and all of the sudden the prospects in 2025 look a whole lot brighter.
Player Ratings
Goal Keeping
MAIGNAN 7 – Solid despite the 2 goals conceded. I think he probably could’ve done better on Lautaro’s goal, as he was planted in the ground after the Lautaro fake. But Thiaw and Theo could have also done better (and some credit to Lautaro for his effort). Otherwise had some quality saves and good in distribution.
Goal Keeping Overall 7
Defense
ROYAL 6 – Average all around. Lots of wasteful passes and was the initial Milan player caught sleeping on Inter’s first goal.
TOMORI 6.5 – I thought he covered space well and was mostly the one tasked with tracking Lautaro, who really only had that one chance.
THIAW 6.5 – Was out of position on the Taremi goal but was otherwise really good at keeping him contained.
HERNÁNDEZ 9 Co-MOTM – Now THIS is what we’re used to and need to see! Man, what a game. Was causing havoc down the left all game but especially once Leão entered. They worked off each other great and had his shooting and passing boots on. He was everything Fonseca tried to convince us he wasn’t.
Overall Defense 7
Midfield
MUSAH 6.5 – Quieter offensively than in the Juventus game but ran a ton and was essentially the box-to-box midfielder for Milan. I hope he continues to start if Reijnders gets pushed forward as the CAM, as I think he can contribute.
FOFANA 7 – Back into his more defined DM role, he was solid doing that and like Musah, not as involved offensively as Milan worked it more from the wide areas.
Midfield Overall 7
Forwards
JIMENEZ 6.5 – Over at RW for this game to start, I thought he did well even if he was the first one subbed off. He had a really good run early and damn near found Morata for a shot on goal in the first half but it was just deflected out for a corner. With the starters coming back from injury, I REALLY hope he gets some run at RB.
REIJNDERS 6.5 – Better than in the Juve game and I thought he worked well with Leão and Theo on the left (Pulisic did more of that on the right once he switched over). I’m curious to see how he’s used now that Conceição is in charge. I think we’re going to see more wide play and so he’s going to need to make those runs like he did when he shot it off of Bastoni’s face.
PULISIC 8.5 – We know the goal was big but the pass to Leão was really the play that set that game-winning goal in motion. When you hear us talk about hockey assists, that’s exactly what we mean. Beautiful vision to see the play open up before anyone else did.
MORATA 6.5 – Another solid game. As mentioned in the last post match writeup, I know he doesn’t score as much as other forwards but he contributes in other ways especially his work ethic defensively and helping in the build up. That’s good enough for me when there are lots of scorers around him.
Forwards Overall 7
Subs
LEÃO 9 Co-MOTM – Peak Leão. Wow. Came in and was like a man amongst boys. The runs, the passing. Dangerous opportunity after dangerous opportunity created. Lost in the pile of impressive plays, the pass to spring Theo that helped set up the equalizer was just as important as Pulisic’s pass to Leão for the game winner. Another hockey assist for those keeping track.
LOFTUS-CHEEK 6 – Didn’t do anything remarkable but did his job, which was to body up Inter and be that physical presence as Milan tried to win it and then hold onto the lead in the dying minutes.
ABRAHAM 7 – Tammy! Love this guy. Always so passionate and works to get himself into position in front of goal, just like on the tap-in game winner. His production has been sneaky good this season too: 9 g/a in 948 minutes across all competitions.
CALABRIA NA – He played.
Subs Overall 7
Coaching
CONCEIÇÃO 10 -Yes, a 10. Like the last game, more so for the outcome, as what he has been able to accomplish in a week’s time is remarkable.
I loved that he went away from the 4-3-3 pretty much immediately after that poor first half against Juve, and for this game, started with the more familiar 4-2-3-1. He put his own spin on it but dropping Jimenez to the backline to create a 5-4-1 when not in possession. This rendered Inter’s attack flaccid for much of the game as Barella/Calhanoglu/Mkhitaryan were crowded out and not allowed the space to create and pick apart the defense. This dropping of Jimenez also put more defensive duties on Royal as he tucked inside but more importantly it kept Theo on the outside on the other side so he could more easily get forward and work with Pulisic in creating offense. It was a sound strategy that played to the players strengths and strenghened Milan at the same time.
Offensively, while these changes were helpful and generated more opportunities than the first half of the Juventus game, the adjustment in the second half once Leão came on was the game changer. With Pulisic switching to the other side and not wanting to handcuff him offensively, Fofana and Musah slightly adjusted their responsibilities to help more on defense. With defensive cover…covered, the wide players could get forward and try to get Milan back in the game.
Rewatching the second half, you could see how much Milan was trying to work out to in, regardless of which side the ball was coming down. When Inter got a little more wide to try and kill the attack, Milan would get the ball more central and go straight at the Inter defense. The result was the most big chances in over 2 months (all in about 40 minutes), tying a season high, and outscoring Inter 3-1 in the second half.
It’s hard to stress enough how uncharted what it was we just witnessed. The emotion of it even hit Conceição after the final whistle blew. We saw from one of Conceição’s most famous videos of him dancing, how much his players seemed to relish it and the connection they felt to him. Well, we got a Milan version of it after this game and you can see a team gelling and gaining confidence. A team willing to run through a brick wall for this guy. Still a lot of unknowns and still a lot of work to be done, but needless to say things are surely on the up.
Final Thoughts
Man, that was fun to write and think about again. One of the best Milan wins of the last 10 years. I’m excited again and perhaps more importantly, hopeful.
Next up is Cagliari at the San Siro on Saturday. Normally I’d be concerned about a trap game, and that possibility is still there, but something tells me Conceição is going to do everything in his power to keep these guys focused. And because of that, I like their odds.
Forza Milan
gillis
