Howard unhappy with Conceicao's decision to quickly replace Moussa

In the match between AC Milan and Fiorentina, American midfielder Yunus Musa was replaced in advance after only 23 minutes, a decision that caused strong dissatisfaction from American legendary goalkeeper Tim Howard. After a mistake led to a goal loss, Milan coach Conceicao quickly replaced Musa, and Howard believed that this treatment was too harsh and even unnecessarily "punitive."

Howard said on the "Unfiltered Soccer" podcast: "I really feel sorry for Moussa. If a player has a bad attitude in training and his performance continues to be sluggish, then the coach chooses to start him and then replace him halfway, I can understand. But Moussa is not such a person."

Howard emphasized that the nature of football games determines that it should allow players to make mistakes and adjust: "Football is not baseball. Your starting pitcher is hit with a home run and is replaced in the next ball - baseball can be like that, but football can't. Players need space on the field to correct mistakes and adapt to the rhythm of the game."

He added: "If a player makes mistakes and his form collapses, it is reasonable to make a substitution after 60 minutes or halftime. But Moussa's problem is not serious at all. Substituting too early will only cause unnecessary trouble."

Howard further pointed out that judging from Moussa's personality and playing style, he is not a player who will make the same mistake over and over again: "If you know Moussa, you know he is not the kind of person who will make the same mistake over and over again. He will adjust himself and get better. So you should let him stick to it, instead of replacing him immediately because of a mistake. This way of handling gives people the feeling that the coach is 'creating problems'."

This is not the first time that Moussa has been replaced by a player. A similar situation also occurred in the match against Lazio a few weeks ago. The 22-year-old Moussa's performance in Milan this season has been up and down. Not only has he been affected by the change of head coach, but he has also failed to gain a firm foothold in the midfield position.

Currently, AC Milan has fallen to ninth place in the Serie A standings after losing points in two consecutive rounds. It will next challenge Udinese away on April 11 and return to San Siro to face Atalanta on April 20.