(Reuters) – AC Milan coach Sergio Conceicao said new signings Joao Felix, Santiago Gimenez and Kyle Walker are already allowing him to implement his preferred style of football.
January transfer deadline day signings Felix and Gimenez came off the bench and combined for Milan’s third goal in Wednesday’s 3-1 Coppa Italia win over AS Roma, while defender Walker started the quarter-final tie.
Asked after the game if he saw in Milan a resemblance to the Porto side with whom he won three championships, four Portuguese Cups, a League Cup, and three Super Cups, Conceicao told broadcaster Mediaset: “I don’t see the similarities with Porto yet.
“But we are working to be more compact, more aggressive, not allow the opponents to get into our final third so often.
“We’re not there yet, but with the players who arrived in the transfer window, their characteristics give me the comfort to go towards the football I like, including with two strikers and the right balance not just to score goals, but also not concede them.”
Conceicao, who took charge of Milan in December, said he was pleased at how quickly his players had learned the workings of his gameplan.
“We are trying to pass on to the team what we want, but we had just one training session to prepare for this game and I do not have the luxury of working on the game’s details in training because we play every three days,” the Portuguese manager said.
“Nonetheless, the players accept what we want, they are intelligent and I am happy today, especially as the second goal came from recovering the ball quickly in midfield. That was something we worked on, so I am pleased.
“Joao and Santiago also only had one training session, but understood immediately, confirming their intelligence.”
Milan, eighth in the Serie A standings, travel to 16th-placed Empoli on Saturday.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Nashik, India; Editing by Saad Sayeed)
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