MN: A matter of timing – why Conceicao has only had nine ‘pure’ training sessions with Milan | OneFootball

Nearly one month has passed since Sergio Conceiçao became the new head coach of AC Milan, but the amount of full training sessions he has had is lower than many might expect.

As MilanNews report, 28 days have passed since 30 December 2024 when Conceicao was officially announced. In between there have been seven games: five victories, a draw, a defeat and a Supercoppa Italiana trophy raised following victories over Juventus and Inter.

It is not a bad encore after the continuous ups and downs that led to the dismissal of Paulo Fonseca after just five months and 24 games. As soon as Conceiçao arrived he made things clear, trying to convey to the players his determination, his work ethic and his desire to win above all else.

What is still missing, and Conceiçao has never hidden it, is a bit of everything else. Milan is now lined up with a 4-3-3 but it is clear that the new boss is eager to evolve into the 4-4-2 that made his Porto side so successful.

From Fonseca’s zonal defence, Milan have returned to more of a man-marking approach and a noticably more ferocious pressing, as well as a more direct and less patient attacking build-up style, with less ball circulation and more vertical movement.

Is everything working perfectly? Obviously not, and the first to recognise this is the coach himself. He and his staff are asking the players for something different and certainly every change takes time, but it helps when you have more time to get things across.

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Since Conceiçao arrived, he has prepared for seven matches at an average of one every four days. What does this mean? Excluding the post-match recovery sessions, in which the players focus on physical recovery, and excluding the ones on the eve of games which have a tactical focus, there have been nine ‘pure’ training sessions.

All of this has come while also having to deal with an initial injury emergency plus the characteristics of some players which evidently do not fit with the philosophy and a transfer window that for now has only brought Kyle Walker to Milanello.

Looking at these numbers, there can be questions asked about keeping Fonseca after the Verona match on December 20th (knowing talks with Conceicao were already ongoing). Had they made the change then, there would have been nine days – Christmas excluded – for the new coach to work.