Como 1-2 AC Milan: Five things we learned – leading lights, mixed bags and a style being shaped | OneFootball

Sergio Conceicao preached upon his arrival that results are more important than performances for his AC Milan side, and the result certainly took precedent on a cold Tuesday night in Como.

The home side were on course for just their fifth win of the season when the new signing Assane Diao fired past Mike Maignan with a low shot to cap a sweeping counter-attack, putting them 1-0 up in the second half.

However, just like they did against Juventus and Inter in the Supercoppa, Milan roared back and scored twice in quick succession. They equalised when Theo Hernandez’s scuffed first-time effort looped into the back of the net, which was a record-breaking goal.

Then, Rafael Leao collected a brilliant through ball from Tammy Abraham and lifted it over the goalkeeper give the Rossoneri the lead, and that is how it would stay. Below are five things we learned from the game…

1. A mixed bag

Theo wasn’t at his best despite scoring, with Como’s goal evidence of that. He wasn’t able to quickly close down his opponent and prevent the shot that resulted in a goal, which was almost a carbon copy of Zortea’s equaliser for Cagliari.

In addition to that Theo lost quite a few of the duels he was involved in on the flank, with Van Der Brempt and Diao giving him a really tough time, meaning overall has taken a step back following his brilliant performance against Inter.

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Towards the end he did redeem himself as he scored the equaliser that gave Milan a much-needed jolt, as the left-back continues with the trend of popping up with as many goal contributions as defensive lapses.

He needs to find the balance between the two phases because preventing goals can be crucial when the attack isn’t working. For every game like Como there might be one like Cagliari, where the silly goal conceded was costly results in dropped points.

2. The leading light (again)

Rafael Leao seems to have continued his good form after Conceicao’s arrival, having emerged from a tunnel under Paulo Fonseca with multiple games on the bench. After taking a step back against Cagliari, he was back to his best against Como.

Prior to the goal, a lot if not all of the dangerous situations for Milan involved the Portuguese winger as he looked for the ball and was not afraid to drive forward with it, creating a couple of chances for his team-mates that were squandered.

One in particular was when he put Tijjani Reijnders through on goal, with the Dutchman getting it under control but firing straight at Butez, something that has been a theme of Milan’s finishing including the Cagliari game.

In the end Leao was the match-winner in a tight game. He made a great run between two centre-backs having drifted in from the left, and – having been found by Abraham’s perfectly-weighted pass – he topped it off with a composed finish.

Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images

3. Time for rest?

To over-simplify things a bit, Youssouf Fofana took some time to get into gear at Milan after his arrival in the final month of the window, but then he became undroppable with a string of impressive games. Now, he seems to have regressed a bit.

The Frenchman is admittedly over-worked and has often ended up on an island of his own in the midfield when Milan are caught in transition, but generally he has struggled with the pace at times in recent weeks and his passing abilities are letting him down way too often.

Fofana usually gets the ball deep in Milan’s half where the attack starts but in the last few games he has given the ball away on multiple occasions and he’s lucky that Mike Maignan has not conceded more.

The former Monaco man surrendered possession a couple of times inside Milan’s half and thankfully Como didn’t manage to take advantage of that, but we saw against Cagliari what can happen in those situations.

In comparison, Yunus Musah has been quite reliable in the limited time Conceicao has used him thus far. Fofana has played so much football – along with Reijnders, too – that it might be a scenario where fresh legs are more useful.

4. Tammy time

Abraham has had some mixed performances in just four games with the new coach. He scored the later winner in the Supercoppa Italiana final against Inter, but then followed with big chances spurned against Cagliari.

Against Como he started on the bench but was crucial for the win after coming on, as he provided the assist to Leao. Ironically the Englishman seems better in the build-up phase than Morata who was meant to excel in that area.

Morata struggles to be quick enough in the build-up and took too long on multiple occasions effectively killing off the attack, whilst also not being a presence in the box. It’s true that Abraham misses a lot, yet he does manage to get himself in position to miss in the first place.

With a bit more playing time the Englishman may improve on his profligacy and offer a lot more than the Spaniard in terms of his overall game. It will be interesting to see if Conceicao will change things up, but Morata is suspended against Juventus so he should get his chance straight away.

5. Shaping the style

Conceicao has stated openly on multiply occasions that he is not happy with his team’s performance in large parts of all of his four games thus far and the fans would probably agree.

To that point, Rome wasn’t built in a day and despite the poor result against Cagliari and the late comeback against Como we can definitely see an improvement compared to Fonseca’s Milan.

The team operate at a higher pace and we saw multiple occasions where with a few touches and quick passes Milan ended up in close proximity to the opponent’s penalty box. This intensity was lacking a month ago and the players are getting better at implementing the idea that their new coach has in mind.

Naturally, it will take time for them to get used to and it’s evident that technical limitations and perhaps sometimes a lack of confidence at times are preventing some nice one-touch pass-and-move sequences from resulting in a big chances.

We have seen players like Reijnders and Morata struggling a bit with the higher pace, though generally speaking this squad does feel better suited to contain-and-counter football. Stefano Pioli’s best Milan team was built on that, with Theo and Leao allowed to play to their strengths.