GdS: The reasons Conceicao was culpable for Milan’s shock Champions League exit | OneFootball

AC Milan’s draw with Feyenoord has seen the club make an early exit from the Champions League and considering what was at stake, the fingers are being pointed everywhere.

This season needed some sort of salvation and European football was the most obvious answer for this. However, this adds a level of pressure to a situation which is not always beneficial. On Tuesday night, this was very much the case for Milan.

As a result of the events, there has been blame directed to almost everyone – the obvious target is Theo Hernandez, but Gazzetta dello Sport claims that the head coach is as responsible, just as he did last night.

Whilst the tactics until Theo’s sending off were ‘perfect’, the Portuguese seemingly got things wrong following this. Taking off Christian Pulisic and Santiago Gimenez for Davide Bartesaghi and Youssouf Fofana, although the latter sub happened later on, were questionable, and this has been fronted by the coach as his own mistake.

Joao Felix’s positioning has been questioned, as has the Portuguese’s usage of the attacker, with some believing that he is ‘untouchable’. For many, Gimenez would have been better suited for the game, but Felix, who had ‘nothing left’ remained on the pitch.

Finally, there is the decision to bring in Bartesaghi, however, with other solutions not tested in a game situation, the Portuguese’s hands were tied.

Conceicao also admitted that the mental problems around the squad still remain, a problem which he needs to fix himself, as he claims.

Defending his squad is admirable, but how many of the same mistakes can be made before he is in the crosshairs?