Ex-Manager watch: Antonio Conte

[fishhhandaricecake]

Conte is lucky in that we have a very winnable stretch coming up. But he is going to have to be ruthless in his team selections to really propel us on. Winks & Lucas cannot be given more starts. Davies just isn’t good either. If we go into Leicester & Liverpool with any of those 3 in the XI, we will struggle.

The answer at Spurs is a 352. Need Ndombele fit enough & in the XI for Lucas. Need Rodon or Sanchez for Davies & we cannot afford any more injuries or suspensions for Skipp & Hojbjerg.

I think Conte probably knows best so I'm inclined to trust his line-ups tbh mate

 

[PLTuck]

what did you want the crowd to do cheer them off at half time ? Maybe without the booing it would be more of the same I don't boo myself but I could understand why

I want the crowd to support their team like it is a sporting competition and not boo in a manager everyone wanted's first home game like they are at an early Xmas panto.

 

[Aay_Jay_Dee]

I want the crowd to support their team like it is a sporting competition and not boo in a manager everyone wanted's first home game like they are at an early Xmas panto.

The booing was so unbelievably embarrassing

 

[Dougal]

Obviously we can’t expect miracles from the team so quickly now that Conte is in charge but equally we can’t expect them from the crowd. We haven’t really settled into the new home yet to be honest. Fortress White Hart Lane in 2017 wasn’t only literally demolished. With Wembley, changes of managers, poor play and form and Covid, the rare good trip to our new home hasn’t been enough for us to be comfortable. As someone mentioned earlier, it would be nice to enjoy Spurs again. Our fans are on edge. The booing showed that. We’ll need a bit of time. But I think we’ll get there under Conte.

 

[Trix]

Conte is lucky in that we have a very winnable stretch coming up. But he is going to have to be ruthless in his team selections to really propel us on. Winks & Lucas cannot be given more starts. Davies just isn’t good either. If we go into Leicester & Liverpool with any of those 3 in the XI, we will struggle.

The answer at Spurs is a 352. Need Ndombele fit enough & in the XI for Lucas. Need Rodon or Sanchez for Davies & we cannot afford any more injuries or suspensions for Skipp & Hojbjerg.

Davies did very well yesterday imo.

 

[PLTuck]

Davies did very well yesterday imo.

I thought Winks was fine as well.

Personally I think NDombele might be done at Spurs. It took a long time for Eriksen to get into a Conte team, and Eriksen is 10x the player Tanguy is, with a far better mentality and far higher fitness.

 

[wiggo24]

The main difference between first and second half was the amount of pressure our forwards were under receiving the ball. We may have upped the urgency and intensity a bit but just as much a factor was that Leeds couldn't keep up the strong pressure/pressing/marking efforts.

Conte-ball has always been about the vertical pass into the front, secure it, and quick interchanges between forwards or a lay-off for a midfield runner to ruin destabilised defences. His teams don't really employ the highest press and when you're playing the formation we do - that can sink into defending in a 5-2-3/5-4-1 shape - then you will often be playing out from deep areas and having focal points to get out are crucial. Now first half yes further back we struggled a bit when pressed and made passing errors at times, but there were umpteen passes that opened up the pitch and did go into the front that just died there. We all know Moura and Son are pretty dismal back to goal under pressure (Moura keeps trying, Son will just disappear in this aspect) and don't see passes early enough or make decent decisions in crunch moments, whilst Kane obviously can do it but needs to get himself in front of his marker and take that ball in time after time after time. Under pressure we just didn't have the platform to get out and play from.

Second half they had breathing space. Moura could turn and go on one of his slaloms. Kane could take a touch or five. Son could float about between the lines. And so all of a sudden things looked better. Generally the play became easier, room to operate, we could get some platform, get up the pitch and sustain some attacks.

It was quite similar against Everton truth be told. The front players got eased out of it a lot, didn't really combine, and frittered away a lot of ball. I think Conte will be putting a lot of focus on getting this aspect right, the link/hold up stuff under pressure and how we combine.

Playing this way the forwards are going to be key. Not in how many goals/assists they get, but they must provide a platform that our game revolves around. It's happened at all his teams - Llorente/Tevez, Pelle/Eder, Costa/Hazard Lukaku/Martinez.

Yep and this is why I think Bergwijn is potentially a good option instead of Lucas going forward. He's much, much better at retaining the ball with his back to goal and generally his decision making is quite mature.

Son isn't good at it either but he's good enough at other things that he's still a net positive, but I just don't think you can play this way with both Son and Lucas on the pitch if you want to have any decent possession.

 

[BringBack_leGin]

Sure, but when you boo then it's going to taken as directed at the players and the manager.

Reading LeGin's post suggests it was pretty vitriolic. I don't personally think the performance warranted that level, especially at half time.

If anyone was stupid enough to think the booing was directed at the manager then I won’t waste my time trying to explain otherwise. As I say, the individual performance didn’t warrant the reaction. But that wasn’t what the reaction was about.

I certainly understand why the fans booed but honestly, I just don’t think booing during a match is ever a good thing. It was the build up to it as well, after we conceded we had the ball near the halfway line a couple of times and we’re forced backwards, I think Tanganga and Davies, maybe Winks, The players involved, and the frustration was palpable and simmered until the whistle went, at which point there was a cacophony of booing.

We’ve been poor and it was cold and dark and we all pay a lot of money to attend, I get it, but getting on the players backs in their second league match under this manager, in this system, is more likely to make them play worse in my opinion.

 

[PLTuck]

I certainly understand why the fans booed but honestly, I just don’t think booing during a match is ever a good thing. It was the build up to it as well, after we conceded we had the ball near the halfway line a couple of times and we’re forced backwards, I think Tanganga and Davies, maybe Winks, The players involved, and the frustration was palpable and simmered until the whistle went, at which point there was a cacophony of booing.

We’ve been poor and it was cold and dark and we all pay a lot of money to attend, I get it, but getting on the players backs in their second league match under this manager, in this system, is more likely to make them play worse in my opinion.

Besides, Conte took full responsibility for the first half performance as he was worried that we werent fit enough to have the required intensity for the full 90.

"First half, for sure but it was my decision. We were more compact. We left them to lead the possession. Second half I totally changed the situation and the tactical aspect and also I said to them we had to go, man to man, and play with the same intensity.

 

[Dougal]

They were clapped back out for the second half and we won. Point was made and taken on board. We should probably just move on and stop focussing on the negative. No wonder we don’t enjoy supporting Spurs.

 

[ralphs bald spot]

Conte is lucky in that we have a very winnable stretch coming up. But he is going to have to be ruthless in his team selections to really propel us on. Winks & Lucas cannot be given more starts. Davies just isn’t good either. If we go into Leicester & Liverpool with any of those 3 in the XI, we will struggle.

The answer at Spurs is a 352. Need Ndombele fit enough & in the XI for Lucas. Need Rodon or Sanchez for Davies & we cannot afford any more injuries or suspensions for Skipp & Hojbjerg.

yet the 3 players you mention that you have to get out of the team all had decent games yesterday Winks more so in the second half - whilst Hojberg was awful

 

[PLTuck]

They were clapped back out for the second half and we won. Point was made and taken on board. We should probably just move on and stop focussing on the negative. No wonder we don’t enjoy supporting Spurs.

I'm sure the irony of this isn't lost on you.

 

[Dougal]

I'm sure the irony of this isn't lost on you.

The booing was done in the moment. We all left happy.

 

[ralphs bald spot]

The booing was so unbelievably embarrassing

no the first half performance was embarrassing not the supporters - you pays your money you takes your choice

 

[PLTuck]

The booing was done in the moment. We all left happy.

But you are justifying the booing, while then saying we should all stop focussing on the negative. Make your mind up Dougs

I won't say anymore about it. A good turnaround and thankfully we came back and won the game so at the end of the day we are all happy.

 

[Trix]

I thought Winks was fine as well.

Personally I think NDombele might be done at Spurs. It took a long time for Eriksen to get into a Conte team, and Eriksen is 10x the player Tanguy is, with a far better mentality and far higher fitness.

Second half he was a lot better, he was gash first half though. Thought Davies and Dier did fairly well throughout.

 

[Dougal]

But you are justifying the booing, while then saying we should all stop focussing on the negative. Make your mind up Dougs

I won't say anymore about it. A good turnaround and thankfully we came back and won the game so at the end of the day we are all happy.

There was a good reason for the booing. It was addressed. We should move on. Had we not won I don’t think we should boo every game until we win. As I said, I’m not one to boo. It’s far too pantomime for me and people my age who do it look a bit like a tit.

 

[allatsea]

In the short term I think Moura will get starts. His play wasn't always pretty yesterday but he created chances and worked hard.

Conte has to use the squad he has as best he can until he can improve it. I guess several who appear regularly at the start of this journey will not be here for next season. Currently Moura brings energy to the right side of the team and can produce the spectacular occasionally. However I don't see him being a regular starter next season if he is still with us.

 

[spursfan77]

I still can’t believe Man U passed on him. They’re even more badly run than us!

 

[JCRD]

I love Moura - love his slaloming. Yeah he is like a brick wall at times with the ball bouncing off him but when it sticks, he does excite... he created a bit yesterday and youre not gonna create 100% of the time when you get the ball... but he created. He created the first goal for us by being a livewire, he also created a chance or two for Kane...

Slaloming livewire.