Conceicao made the admission at today's preview for Saturday night's clash at Juventus.
Third time that Milan and Juve have faced each other in the last month and a half: what kind of match do you expect?
"There is balance, they are two strong teams. Two teams that have very interesting players, but all the matches are different. Tomorrow we have to face a team that played a good match against Atalanta, we are working on small things that for me are big things, given what we have available in terms of time. But we have little time, there are many matches, important matches. Until the beginning of February we play in the Champions League, the league and the Coppa Italia. We have to be ready, we have to have the right attitude to reach our goals."
How is Christian Pulisic?
"Pulisic is out, I don't want to bluff. He's still a bit sore, but I don't want to risk it. It's nothing serious, but if he plays twenty minutes he risks making his situation worse and I don't want that."
Is Francesco Camarda ready?
"He's young, he has his own path to follow, but he's starting from an important base: he's hungry, talented and willing."
Juve has strengthened, Milan has not yet...
"I don't like the January transfer market that much: it's open for too long and always creates negative emotions in the players. The group needs to be balanced. The transfer market is not the most important thing for me today. After the match: I'm talking to the management. You know that it's not easy to buy players who can give something more to this group. There's no time. We try to talk among ourselves and we agree on what we want."
Do you want a defender, a midfielder or a striker?
"A win tomorrow. I understand your curiosity, but excuse me: my thoughts are on the match. There's no point in trying to beat around the bush to avoid answering about the market."
Youssouf Fofana and Ismael Bennacer in difficulty in the last few games, how can they coexist?
"With work. My job is exactly that. Each player in his role must marry well with the others. I don't think that Bennacer and Fofana can't coexist, on the contrary. Tomorrow they will both play. Normally I never do that, I don't say who plays. But the formation that comes out in the newspapers is always right, but it's not a criticism (smiles, ed.). They can coexist, they must understand what to do when we have the ball to get to attack with balance. It's this balance that we want in the team, to not take the opponents' transition."
If tomorrow they tell you to do a pre-match interview, will you go?
"I'll send someone else. It's impossible. I can't even think of the right thing, then maybe I'll say the wrong things because I'm thinking about other things."
Armband for Michael Maignan?
"I saw that there was controversy over the captain's armband. But for me that's not important. Everyone has to speak. I chose, but they don't have to worry about it: Mike has to worry about not conceding goals and then he also has his personality that I like, because he's a winner. Theo is the same, he surpassed a legend like Paolo and he's a great player. For me it's a pleasure to coach them."
Will Fikayo Tomori stay at Milan?
"Let's not talk about the market today. The physical aspect is important, but there are 6 months to go, we are not at the end of the season. We have 80 people who work in different fields: nutritionists, we have everything here. It's a mental issue, but we also work on this and we are working on this too.
"The potential sometimes is not discovered because you don't leave your comfort zone. Tomorrow the limit will be even higher, you have to put a carrot in front of you. You think that being at Milan is fine like this, but that's not good. The physique is important, but it's important how each person talks to themselves and if they can give more, even if you are not at the top physically."
Have you found the secret formula to get more consistency from Theo Hernandez and Rafael Leao?
"I think this consistency is always linked to training. They recover the day after the game, then there is the second and then on the third day we are already talking about the game. Today I spoke with Leao, he has an incredible ability on physical tests. There are indications on this, he can do much more at this level.
"And I am working on this. Inside his game he will definitely improve the numbers: I don't want him to be happy with 10 goals, he must aim to score 20. He knows what he has to improve, I spoke to him about it. Now going on the pitch is difficult because there are too many games, he has understood what to improve and it is a good start for me."
Two strikers?
"The point is not to play with two strikers, but the two strikers with the two attacking wingers: the team is not prepared for that. When there is a risk, I risk with four attackers. But balance is very important. With the time we have to work it will be difficult, but I like to play with two strikers. I would not be smart to propose it like this: the players are not suited to this system now."