Ex-Manager watch: Antonio Conte

[Monkey boy]

I know it's hard for some in our fanbase, but we need to be patient. It's not going to be overnight success, especially as he joined mid season and we can't do any transfers for another month or so. It's going to take time.

Which just shows what an utter farce not getting him in during the summer was. Up until January is more or less his pre season when if like what should have happened he was appointed in July im sure we'd be sat in a better position right now. I also suspect the Kane situation either wouldnt have happened as Kane would have shit himself at the thought of pulling that stunt to Conte OR he would have insisted that he was bombed out and we would have got a more than adequate replacement.

 

[Kingellesar]

The positive, is the clean sheet. Something we need to start doing more of. We know we have players capable of scoring, we just need to get a settled team who can create the chances for Son and Kane to put away. Confidence will come from a couple wins, if we can string together 2/3 wins on the bounce then I think the confidence of the whole team will be that extra bit of spark we need to kick on. No excuses now, he has seen enough in these two games I feel to know what needs to be done. He will have a couple weeks now to work on a few things with a few of the players who aren't on international duty.

Then our season can really kick into gear, get through top of the group in Europe, start climbing the table and beat West Ham in league cup. Big period of our season coming and I can't wait.

2 weeks ago, I didn't even want to look at who we were playing next...

 

[fecka]

Inter was best when they had Eriksen/Brozović/Barrella midfield, sometimes Vidal instead of Eriksen.

Skipp looks good in Brozović role, one thing to improve is passing though.

Ndombele would be better than Brozović if he could run, but he can't. He can play more advanced like Barrela and score goals though.

Lo Celso could work in Brozović role but he is one footed and top percentile in turnovers so better in Barrela role.

Hojbjerg is too slow for either role sadly.

There is nobody like Vidal or Eriksen at the moment. Skipp can be improved if we can get Brozović for free, otherwise wouldn't mind him starting and developing. Don't think we need more than one of Lo Celso/Ndombele, unless they massively improve in some areas.

Huge summer transfer window ahead of us, until then we need to be patient. And if there is one coach who will get the benefit of doubt, it's Conte.

It's never happening either this winter or summer but I'd look to upgrade on both Tanguy and Lo Celso as they're both just too limited and with glaring (and IMO) almost unforgivable weaknesses. Certainly, there should be a silky player or two out there who isn't slow and borderline lazy, or turns the ball over every other second and doesn't cost 60-70m?

 

[Timberwolf]

Inter was best when they had Eriksen/Brozović/Barrella midfield, sometimes Vidal instead of Eriksen.

Skipp looks good in Brozović role, one thing to improve is passing though.

Ndombele would be better than Brozović if he could run, but he can't. He can play more advanced like Barrela and score goals though.

Lo Celso could work in Brozović role but he is one footed and top percentile in turnovers so better in Barrela role.

Hojbjerg is too slow for either role sadly.

There is nobody like Vidal or Eriksen at the moment. Skipp can be improved if we can get Brozović for free, otherwise wouldn't mind him starting and developing. Don't think we need more than one of Lo Celso/Ndombele, unless they massively improve in some areas.

Huge summer transfer window ahead of us, until then we need to be patient. And if there is one coach who will get the benefit of doubt, it's Conte.

I thought Skipp's passing was noticeably better yesterday. I mean, he wasn't doing anything outstanding, but he was making a lot more forward passes than he normally does and was much quicker and more decisive than Hojbjerg when it came to getting the ball up field. I think this is a side of his game that Conte will nurture and develop, and if we're going to splash the cash I think we'd be better off improving on Hojbjerg and instead using him as a rotation option for Skipp rather than playing the two of them together.

It will be interesting to see how we line up against Leeds given Skipp's suspension. Does Conte trust Lo Celso or Ndombele in that CM role or does he opt for a 'safer' option like Winks.

 

[Atarrier]

I seem to be in a slight minority here but I was really encouraged by yesterday’s game. I thought there were a lot more positives than negatives to take away.
I haven’t watched that many live games this season so perhaps I am unburdened by bias of watching the turgid performances by certain players but I thought Moura played pretty tidily in the first half and Reggie was at least very positive going forward (perhaps it is fair to say he was too exciteable but considering the negative play under Nuno, I’m not going to hold that against him). I thought Skipp was excellent and PEH was trying hard but a bit sloppy.
My impression from everything that’s been said about Conte over the past week, is the quick one-two passing in the final third that often broke down, is something that they drilled. They just haven’t had long to drill it and therefore it fell apart more often than not, when they were against actual opposition. I imagine they will drill this over and over and over again and soon it will start to click.

 

[YB123]

Inter was best when they had Eriksen/Brozović/Barrella midfield, sometimes Vidal instead of Eriksen.

Skipp looks good in Brozović role, one thing to improve is passing though.

Ndombele would be better than Brozović if he could run, but he can't. He can play more advanced like Barrela and score goals though.

Lo Celso could work in Brozović role but he is one footed and top percentile in turnovers so better in Barrela role.

Hojbjerg is too slow for either role sadly.

There is nobody like Vidal or Eriksen at the moment. Skipp can be improved if we can get Brozović for free, otherwise wouldn't mind him starting and developing. Don't think we need more than one of Lo Celso/Ndombele, unless they massively improve in some areas.

Huge summer transfer window ahead of us, until then we need to be patient. And if there is one coach who will get the benefit of doubt, it's Conte.

Huge winter transfer window ahead of us....

 

[Trix]

Huge winter transfer window ahead of us....

Yes and no. I mean we all know we need upgrades in certain area's, and for sure Conte is going to want to bring in specific players for certain roles. I still think spending time with our already established players is going to be the critical part to moving forward over bringing in new players.

 

[Rosco1984]

Ideally you see instant improvement like Chelsea with Tuchel but Lampard did well enough fitness-wise, plus they have bunch of world class players in their primes. It will take some time for him to find strongest starting 11, then to get them fit and then finally to get rid of players and find improvements. He doesn't have a great record in Europe but mid table and FA Cup (League Cup always goes to City) could be possible.

city are out they lost to the spammers.

 

[CousinGreg]

I don't think we should be concerned that the next 2 months is basically a pre-season for Conte. Even Nuno managed to win 50% of his 10 league games, and although he of course had a pre-season, he did have to deal with the Kane saga, plenty of crap players, and of course his own limitations which are now very clear. Of those 10 teams we played, 6 of them are currently sitting in the top 8, so it's fair to say that it was a tough spell for him.

Conte's next 10 games include 6 teams that are currently sitting in the bottom 8. I have complete confidence.

 

[Albertbarich]

Yes and no. I mean we all know we need upgrades in certain area's, and for sure Conte is going to want to bring in specific players for certain roles. I still think spending time with our already established players is going to be the critical part to moving forward over bringing in new players.

He can 100% more get more out of those already here

 

[dagraham]

We will need a fullback on one side who is more of an attacker (but can play full back) and Conte will look for one unless Sessegnon can finally pull his finger out. He’s always had one in his past teams. Young, Moses, Alonso etc. At the moment we have two fullbacks playing a role where they are expected to be a goal threat too. Eg. The match thread had people complaining about regi not scoring from the Kane cross. Fair enough if it was a winger or attacker coming in from the other side but it’s a left back. He’s never been asked to be a goal scorer before. It’s something Conte will want addressed in the transfer market for sure.

This is why I found it a bit much where as soon as he was appointed some fans immediately put up formations, declaring that our players automatically fit and were good to go.

It’s a shame Sess has had such a non impact since signing. I remember at the time I pointed out that I wasn’t sure of the logic of the signing as it seemed to me to only make sense if we were to go 3 at the back. Yet Poch at the time was playing the diamond in midfield.

To me, Sess has the perfect profile to play left wing back in Conte’s system, but I’ve no idea on where he is at as a player right now.

 

[Timberwolf]

I think our capacity to sign players in Jan will probably come down to other clubs' willingness to sell players with 6 months left on their contract.

We're clearly interested in Kessie, and with Conte on board we must be an appealing move for him. The question is, would AC Milan be willing to sell simply to get something for him (a bit like we did with Eriksen) or would they prefer to keep him to help secure top 4/push for the Scudetto? Could be a similar situation with other midfielders like Tolisso or Brozovic.

Maybe we'd splash the cash on someone big, but generally clubs don't want to sell in Jan so probably tricky to find much value in the market for other premium players.

 

[PLTuck]

Watching his pressers he really has an aura doesn't he? Jose would say "follow me and ill turn you into champions", Antonio doesn't need to say it. It eminates off him. I'm very quickly warming to him.

 

[Timberwolf]

This is why I found it a bit much where as soon as he was appointed some fans immediately put up formations, declaring that our players automatically fit and we’re good to go.

It’s a shame Sess has had such a non impact since signing. I remember at the time I pointed out that I wasn’t sure of the logic of the signing as it seemed to me to only make sense if we were to go 3 at the back. Yet Poch at the time was playing the diamond in midfield.

To me, Sess has the perfect profile to play left wing back in Conte’s system, but I’ve no idea on where he is at as a player right now.

Yeah that was an odd signing. Seems like we were blinded by his wonderkid reputation after that amazing season in the Championship, but never stopped to think about how he actually fit into the side. That lack of joined-up thinking over transfers has plagued us a lot over recent years.

If he can't get into Conte's thinking you have to assume his career as Spurs is done. Now or never for Sess (once he's fit).

 

[spids]

I think it is worth pointing out how much effort the starting XI have made in two game in ~68 hours. Against Vitesse the players went hell for leather the first 30 mins, ran out of steam, and then were reduced to 10 men for 30 mins and had to dig very deep. I was surprised Conte used the same XI players again - seeing how Everton were fresher with a full week's rest. The players 'suffered' as Conte said - and maybe this was deliberate on his part to start building the strong mentality he wants.

 

[King of the Lane]

It's never happening either this winter or summer but I'd look to upgrade on both Tanguy and Lo Celso as they're both just too limited and with glaring (and IMO) almost unforgivable weaknesses. Certainly, there should be a silky player or two out there who isn't slow and borderline lazy, or turns the ball over every other second and doesn't cost 60-70m?

Szoboszloi

 

[fletch82]

Have you watched Doherty as Davies is a better fit for LWB than him

So is a traffic cone ?

I genuinely can not recall a worse footballer in a spurs shirt than docherty and I've been a fan since the whole world was in black and white truly awful ?

 

[Rosco1984]

There was a lot to be encouraged about yesterday... we played very much on the front foot and really had Everton under pressure until about the 30 minute mark when we tired. Fitness is something that we can improve and I believe once that comes we will start to dominate for long periods of games. There was a huge improvement in our play out from the back and our patterns of movement to get the ball into the final third. Fitness will come and the final ball and better decisions will come with confidence. Mourinho killed so much of our confidence because he wanted us to believe we were underdogs and needed to play on the break and defend for our lives we still haven't recovered from his toxicity but Conte has already made us look more organized in possesion after 4 days.

 

[ambrosetti]

I think part of the slight disappointment towards yesterdays game from fans is simply down to the expectation in today's game that a new manager bounce is automatically going to result in victories, regardless of the situation. It's a term fans and the media have gone mad on in recent years but in reality doesn't always occur.

For example i think we can all agree that Thomas Tuchel dramatically turned Chelsea's season around last year, yet his first league game in charge was a drab 0-0 draw to struggling Wolves at home.

I am a little guilty of this line of thinking, i was pretty confident we would win yesterday - simply down to the rejuvenation Conte would bring to the squad....which is basically another way of saying new manager bounce.

I would much prefer Conte gets us going with long term results and I am confident he will. Better that than just getting a few initial results based on an uplift in morale and spirits, which will ultimately wear off.

 

[mattylad77]

We kept a clean sheet. That in itself is an improvement from the last few games. One of Skipp/Hojbjerg needs to make way for either Lo Celso/Ndombele or dare I say it Winks/Dele.