New AC Milan gaffer Sergio Conceicao insisted he is prepared for the difficulty of the job as he intends to transform the club to a team fitting of the club’s history.
Conceicao was hired on Monday, following the sacking of Paulo Fonseca, with the side sitting eighth on the Serie A log and distant in the title race, as they sit 14 points behind leaders Atalanta, with just seven wins from their opening 17 games.
“I’m proud to take on this adventure. The emotions are temporary because we need to work,” Conceicao said.
“We need to have a warm heart and cool head to work as hard as we can and win the matches. That’s what we want because we represent a great club on a global level and we need to be worthy of this great club.”
Conceicao and his charges will depart for Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, as his first game in charge comes in Riyadh on Friday when Milan battle Juventus in the semi-final of the Italian Super Cup.
“We don’t have much time but that’s absolutely not an excuse,” he added.
“With the time at my disposal, I have to work as hard as I can so that the players understand what they have to do, first as individuals and then be a strong team in every game we have.”
Conceicao, who played for Lazio, Inter Milan and Parma in Italy, will have good memories of the Super Cup, and playing against Juventus.
His debut game in Italy saw Conceicao score an injury time winner in his first game with Lazio to defeat Juventus in the 1998 Super Cup Final, so Friday’s game may feel like a date with destiny, as well as being a family affair.
Conceicao’s son Francisco joined the Italian club in August on loan from Porto, where he played under his father. That move came immediately after Conceicao ended his seven-year spell as manager at Porto, despite having signed a four-year contract extension in April.
