GdS: Conceicao ‘keeps the revs high’ – no days off granted after Supercoppa win | OneFootball

If there is one thing the AC Milan squad perhaps need to get used to under Sergio Conceicao, it’s the fact they will not get much extra rest.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport report, Milan landed back at Malpensa Airport yesterday morning but they are back in training today, meaning no (full) days off. The most they got was a Tuesday afternoon that Conceiçao spent in Turin, with his son Francisco.

Saturday is Milan-Cagliari and there is no time to waste. The team and the new coach have to get to know each other, all with the aim of improving as much as possible in a short time. For Conceicao the mission is to force the team to be consistent and Riyadh must be a springboard.

Cagliari is a perfect example of the concept. Milan won 3-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu against Real Madrid the game before the trip to Sardinia, and then conceded three times at the Unipol Domus, throwing away two crucial points.

Conceiçao will also work hard on the field because Cagliari are a different challenge to Juventus or Inter. They will come to San Siro with the aim of frustrating with a deep block, so Theo Hernandez and Rafael Leao – protagonists of Monday’s win – will in theory have less space to go into.

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What will the coach do? It’s likely that he will focus on aggression, on the wingers who have always been important in his Porto team, and on set pieces. Against Inter, on a corner from the left we saw an unprecedented play, and it’s likely that he will study something new this week too.

Milan started with two wingers and Alvaro Morata down the middle in Saudi Arabia but won the cup with Tammy Abraham in the centre of the area. Using two strikers – an old passion of Conceiçao – is something that cannot be ruled out on Saturday, even if it is more an idea for during the game.

The three days of work at Milanello are useful for testing new starters. Leao is expected to come back into the side, and in defence one of either Matteo Gabbia and/or Strahinja Pavlovic could play. On the right Emerson Royal will be suspended: Davide Calabria is the natural replacement, but Alex Jimenez is a temptation.