GdS: How Conceicao’s bold changes led to Milan being ‘unleashed’ in Empoli win | OneFootball

For AC Milan the most important thing was to get the three points against an Empoli side scrapping for survival, but the way they came yielded some interesting signs.

La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) writes that Milan won a game that few months ago they would have drawn, if not lost. A goalless first half made it look like a long night was ahead, and then Sergio Conceicao decided to make some bold changes which paid off.

Sustainability

The opponent was Empoli and not Liverpool, so more challenging tests will be needed, but Milan won because at half-time Conceiçao decided to field an ultra-attacking side with Joao Felix, Christian Pulisic, Santiago Gimenez and Rafael Leao all together.

Until Fikayo Tomori’s expulsion, it was a 4-2-3-1 system. With a man less, the Portuguese coach moved Joao Felix back near Reijnders for a sort of 4-4-1 or 4-2-3, with Pulisic and Leao on the wings and with Gimenez as a breakthrough player.

The challenge is all in the sustainability of such an unscrupulous formation. Will Conceiçao be able to design a Milan that can have the ‘fantastic four’ co-exist, without giving up the creativity of Reijnders? Fofana and the Dutchman in midfield, Joao Felix as attacking midfielder and the other three up front is one idea.

More Stories / The Match

GdS: How Conceicao’s bold changes led to Milan being ‘unleashed’ in Empoli win

9 February 2025, 10:39

Gallery: ‘Courage and talent: new Milan’, ‘The fantastic four’ – Today’s front pages in Italy

9 February 2025, 10:19

Conceicao admits he ‘took a risk’ after red card against Empoli: “I wanted to win”

8 February 2025, 20:41

It can be done, although the balance will depend on the defensive coverage of Leao and Pulisic, on their desire to fight to recover the ball. We have some doubts about Leao’s vocation for sacrifice, but we must try, because now the attacking resources are there and must be used.

The table dictates that: Milan are seventh, five points behind Juventus in fourth place – perhaps temporarily – and with a game in hand against Bologna. There is no alternative but full speed ahead, in pursuit of the top four.

A fragmented game

Everything was quite swampy in the first 45 minutes, thanks to the rain and the slippy pitch. Milan were regimented in a 4-4-1-1 with Joao Felix free to roam according to his creativity, but the Portuguese didn’t manage to burst through the blue wall.

At the start Pairetto did not evaluate a bad tackle by Cacace on Walker as a yellow card, an intervention that perhaps deserved a red card, but the VAR team said no and a yellow couldn’t even be given. Shortly after, Pairetto deemed that Felix had dived in the area and booked him correctly.

Milan’s difficulties in finding space despite having 65% possession in the first half led to the risk that things could slip away pretty quickly, then Colombo hit the post with a curling shot at the other end that provided a reminder of the threat at the other end.

The turnaround

The interval was when Conceiçao decided he had seen enough. Off went the subdued Tammy Abraham, Alex Jimenez and Youssouf Fofana. In came Leao, Pulisic and Gimenez, for the tactical set-up mentioned above.

The Rossoneri went down to ten men after Fikayo Tomori’s red card, and in this instance the flag should have probably gone up for offside on Colombo who was the recipient of a mistimed tackle from the Englishman.

Conceiçao was good and lucky to resist the temptation not to immediately insert Malick Thiaw to shore up the defensive line. The red card for Marianucci, sent off after a VAR review following a kick-out at Gimenez, then re-established parity.

Thus came the goal for the lead: Pulisic crossed for a great header by Leao. At 1-0, Thiaw came on, but for Reijnders. The second goal then followed, with Pulisic’s support for Gimenez’s thundering left-footed shot. Milan made a mistake in the summer, but they corrected themselves in the winter.