Conceicao demands more from Milan to break slump
Sergio Conceicao acknowledged that he had made mistakes as AC Milan prepares to visit Lecce in Serie A this weekend, but the coach said his team must do more to halt its current slump.
Conceicao watched on as his Milan side fell to a late defeat to Lazio in its most recent league clash, its third consecutive defeat in the Italian top-flight.
Indeed, only Monza has a worse points difference than AC Milan after the first 27 games played in Serie A compared to the last edition of the competition.
The Rossoneri have won just 41 points in Serie A this season, having accumulated 56 in the first 27 games played in 2023-2024, with a negative difference of minus 15. Monza is minus 22.
Conceicao has averaged 1.40 points per game as Milan manager in Serie A this season. The previous coach to have averaged less than 1.50 per game with the Rossoneri in Serie A was current Lecce coach Marco Giampaolo, with 1.29 in 2019-2020.
Milan is ninth in the standings, 11 points adrift of the top four and six points behind a European place, with Conceicao under increasing pressure.
"I've made mistakes, as all coaches do," he said.
"Regarding principles and team dynamics, I have my own characteristics, and I always try to make the best decisions.
"Over my career, I have had more satisfactions than disappointments."
Conceicao won 11 major honours during his time with Porto, and guided Milan to an eighth Supercoppa Italiana title in January.
But that early promise has quickly diminished, with Conceicao citing that too many mistakes in recent matches have helped contribute to Milan's poor form.
"With results. Two things are crucial: working at the maximum and doing more as a team while also limiting mistakes, unforced errors and bad luck in matches," he said.
"There is no other way but to work. You don't believe just to believe - you believe to achieve," he said.
He added that a turnaround demanded the buy-in of all the players, saying: "It was important to work with all the players because, until now, there had never been time. If you play for Milan and don’t have the desire, that's already a problem.
"Here, we shouldn't even be talking about the desire that comes with wearing this shirt.
"Just because things aren't going well doesn't mean we should react without intelligence.
"This season, the environment has not been great from the start, but we must focus on what we can control - the performance. The players must take that responsibility."
