Ex-Manager watch: Antonio Conte

[InOffMeLeftShin]

We just dropped too deep and were way too sloppy with the passing. At times it seems like we could do with one or two shorter passes in the transition so that we don’t give the ball away as much as we have been. Having better passing from our center backs will make a big difference. I really think we’ll be absolutely fine and will get out of first gear and start steamrollering some teams like we did at times last year.

 

[dontcallme]

We just dropped too deep and were way too sloppy with the passing. At times it seems like we could do with one or two shorter passes in the transition so that we don’t give the ball away as much as we have been. Having better passing from our center backs will make a big difference. I really think we’ll be absolutely fine and will get out of first gear and start steamrollering some teams like we did at times last year.

I’m not sure our passing was that sloppy.

Forrest worked extremely hard and with 2 in midfield we had few options.

We clearly want to counter and get the ball to the front 3 quickly over keeping the ball in midfield.

 

[only1waddle]

I think people underestimate just how difficult a transition it's been, a year ago we were on the back of a summers managerial mess, players bought for the future that needed bedding in or just weren't the right fit, Kane not happy, some not settled, big signings gone wrong, a squad left to go stale with no direction, Nuno, great human that he is just wasn't the right fit etc..

Style wise I loved the high pressing football under Poch, but there were times teams just waltzed through our midfield because the pressing was uncoordinated.
Same with H, fast paced bum off seat stuff, but we couldn't break teams down for toffee.
AVB bringing a methodology after H excited me but unfortunately the football didn't..

I've decided to embrace the Conte train, if it's not peoples cup of tea then that's cool, there will certainly be games where we stink the joint out, but for now we're working as a team, we have a plan, putting points on the board and in the hands of a proven winner, from where we were a year ago to now is day and night, we couldn't really have asked for much more... although, Waddle going like the clappers up the wing would have been nice!!

 

[spursfan77]

I think your last sentence is key here. We are letting the opposition have the ball and we’re happy to defend our 18 yard box, which is fine as we’re defending very well so far. What we need to be much better at is retaining the ball when we win it back as otherwise we have long spells defending deep and against the better teams we’ll eventually crack under sustained periods of pressure.

I'm pleased with the start, but agree we need to show more quality in possession to keep the ball. We’ve often been sloppy in surrendering possession easily and that’s where we really need to improve as it gives the defenders some respite and takes the sting out of the opposition.

Wednesday will be interesting as I don’t see that lot playing an extra man in midfield, so we should hopefully have more space. Let’s see.

First half yesterday we gave the ball away far too much. Every long kick was coming back at us and our defenders clearances were just falling to their players time and again. I think this is what Conte was hinting at after the game. Had we been smarter clearing the ball or not given it away as much as we did then we’d have carved open even more chances than we did. When we get it right there are going to be quite a few teams on the end of a thrashing.

 

[Thenewcat]

Also the 3,4,5 goals were against the likes of Everton and Norwich towards the end of the season when they were both on terrible form with manager changes etc.

If you want to ‘compare’ then perhaps a more apt comparison would be the performances and scores against the teams we’ve played so far this season…

We lost to Southampton and Wolves at home last season and Chelsea away, this season we have 3 points from those games…

N.Forest are newcomers, have beaten West Ham recently and yet we won 2-0, missed a penalty and a host of other chances.

We are slowly clicking into gear, it’s naive to expect 3,4,5-0 every game.

That being said when we play Bournemouth I do want double figures goals lol.

When did I say I expected 3,4 or 5 every game? I just pointed out that it’s the same team that was doing that, and looking a lot more fluid with the ball. Conte on super Sunday said that’s the area we need to improve

 

[spids]

When did I say I expected 3,4 or 5 every game? I just pointed out that it’s the same team that was doing that, and looking a lot more fluid with the ball. Conte on super Sunday said that’s the area we need to improve

You didn't (but you could have). We had 19 shots yesterday, with 7 on target and should have / could have scored at least two more. Off the top of my head we had some really great chances.

1. Kane penalty miss.
2. Kane first half chance when played through on goal by Højbjerg, first touch slowed him down.
3. Son chance (second half) after trying to square to Kane the ball came back to him and he could have squared to Perisic who was in acres of space about 10 yards from goal, but instead shot straight the keeper.
4. Højbjerg (when played in by Kane) should have squared to Son or Kane instead shot wildly into the side netting.
5. Sessegnon, when played in by Højbjerg, took way too many touches and should have found Kane (although we scored in the next phase of this attack).
6. Richarlison had a good shot from 10 yards saved and Spence fluffed the rebound.
7. Kulusevski had 3 decent half chances (self created) when cutting in on his left foot in the second half.

Forest had one attempt on target the whole game.

 

[spids]

We lost to Southampton and Wolves at home last season and Chelsea away, this season we have 3 points from those games…

Correction - We got 7 points from those games.

 

[djhotspur]

This exactly, going forward we have been off it so far this season

When Son and Kane finally hit proper form, if teams try to attack us too much we will absolutely batter them

Yup, son in particular. We need him firing again.

But tbh, even Kane is no where near his best, missing penalities, messing up one on ones a few times.

 

[whenstevewentup]

I’m a little surprised at some of the comments here , Forest had 21 touches in our penalty area in the first half , I can think of at least 3 very good chances they had , 2 unmarked headers in the box that just went past the post ( loris rooted to the spot ), wolves had a couple of similar chances and a dier block that was going in . Give those chances to a half decent team and they will score . Romero makes a difference cos he can bring the ball out but kanes hold up play needs to improve if we are just going to hoof it up to him . I love the fact we’re winning but I don’t think it’s a sustainable way of winning in the long term . I would like to see a change against West Ham cos if we conceded those headed opportunities against them they will take them .

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

Correction - We got 7 points from those games.

Yep I meant 7, typo.

 

[crokey]

I just listened to the LWOS podcast and had to turn it off halfway through. There was too much negativity about our playing style and massive misunderstanding of Conte's system and tactics. I agree we haven't played very well in the last three games, particularly first half. However, we are a lot better than they gave credit for and it is not luck - it is by design. Firstly, the season has just started and we are getting into our stride, as are Liverpool, Chelsea, and Man C. The biggest misunderstanding is that we need a creative CM to pass better as we are not controlling games. Conte is consciously conceding CM at times with his 3-4-3 system regularly pitting our 2 x CMs against 3 opponent CMs. Conte's happy to do this as his system is designed to:

A. Ensure a low bock and not concede any good chances - as reflected by the xG statistics, the number of saves Lloris has had to make, and the fact that we are he best club in the league at keeping opposing teams' chances furthest away from our goal. I also think we are starting slowly as we need to first ensure we do not concede whilst working out how to hurt the opponents. And we know we will hurt them.

B. Overload the flanks quickly after a transition and create chances. Lots of them. Yesterday we regularly had 3 vs 3 and 4 vs 3 situations on the break. Our first goal being a good example. If the forwards were more clinical yesterday we could, and probably should, have scored 4 or 5 goals. All of their defenders were on yellow cards after an hour. Our WBs are regularly making up a front 5, overloading opponents. This is not the drab counter attacking football under Jose - where we relied on perfect counter attack goals from Son and Kane. This is a team system where we have 5 attackers. We are creating enough chances to score 3 or 4 goals every game consistently, with chances distributed across 5 or 6 players.

How we get better:

1. Royal, despite his improved performances is still not good enough offensively. Spence, once acclimatised, will give us another dimension with his rapid pace and athleticism, and 1-on-1 ability.

2. Sanchez has defended excellently whilst deputising for Romero, and Davies has improved considerably under Conte. However, I feel having Romero and Lenglet either side of Dier will see our passing from the back massively improve and give us more control in games where our CMs are outnumbered.

Lloris

Romero --- Dier --- Lenglet

Spence --- Højbjerg* --- Bentancur* --- Perisic

Kulusevski --- Kane --- Son*

* Note - Bissouma and/or Richarlison could start and not weaken this team at all.​

I am really excited about what Conte can do with this squad and think we will have a fantastic season.

Agree with most, but I think Davies will start more games this season than Lenglet. I think we lose more defensively with Lenglet than we gain offensively.

The not giving chances away part of our system is incredibly effective, and I don't see Conte giving up those foundations just for one extra passer in the team.

 

[Gb160]

I’m a little surprised at some of the comments here , Forest had 21 touches in our penalty area in the first half , I can think of at least 3 very good chances they had , 2 unmarked headers in the box that just went past the post ( loris rooted to the spot ), wolves had a couple of similar chances and a dier block that was going in . Give those chances to a half decent team and they will score . Romero makes a difference cos he can bring the ball out but kanes hold up play needs to improve if we are just going to hoof it up to him . I love the fact we’re winning but I don’t think it’s a sustainable way of winning in the long term . I would like to see a change against West Ham cos if we conceded those headed opportunities against them they will take them .

West Ham, who have scored a whopping 1 goal in 4 games (which took a huge deflection)

 

[crokey]

I’m a little surprised at some of the comments here , Forest had 21 touches in our penalty area in the first half , I can think of at least 3 very good chances they had , 2 unmarked headers in the box that just went past the post ( loris rooted to the spot ), wolves had a couple of similar chances and a dier block that was going in . Give those chances to a half decent team and they will score . Romero makes a difference cos he can bring the ball out but kanes hold up play needs to improve if we are just going to hoof it up to him . I love the fact we’re winning but I don’t think it’s a sustainable way of winning in the long term . I would like to see a change against West Ham cos if we conceded those headed opportunities against them they will take them .

A touch in the box is a meaningless metric. A touch where? Like where Harry Kane headed it in to an open net 3 yards out? Or a touch 16 yards out with Hojbjerg, Bentancur, Sanchez, Dier and Davies all throwing their bodies in front of you, and Hugo behind them mopping up.

I suppose in that situation you could go for a power shot and sky it over the bar, like they did about 10 times. Very dangerous.

 

[cusop]

Conte has won over the fans with his passion and attitude, he has convinced ENIC to invest, he is a tactical expert, and as long as we keep winning his transformation of our footballing style will be tolerated, if he gets to the holy grail which is a meaningful football trophy, the the next phase will begin. He is an animal

 

[punkisback]

A touch in the box is a meaningless metric. A touch where? Like where Harry Kane headed it in to an open net 3 yards out? Or a touch 16 yards out with Hojbjerg, Bentancur, Sanchez, Dier and Davies all throwing their bodies in front of you, and Hugo behind them mopping up.

I suppose in that situation you could go for a power shot and sky it over the bar, like they did about 10 times. Very dangerous.

Thing is it’s meaningless to teams like forest. But your ball playing too 6 teams will be better at creating space from those touches.

 

[dudu]

Thing is it’s meaningless to teams like forest. But your ball playing too 6 teams will be better at creating space from those touches.

Like man city, Liverpool and arsenal last year?

They might be better at creating space but we also have the better teams at playing that style a lot to think about with the way we play too

 

[spursfan77]

People moaning just for the sake of it. Us who go to games enjoy them while we are there. It is better than the shite served up in the last year of Poch, mourinho's tenure and Nuno's ill fated attempts.

 

[spids]

Agree with most, but I think Davies will start more games this season than Lenglet. I think we lose more defensively with Lenglet than we gain offensively.

We'll obviously not know until Lenglet gets a run of games, but I think with him and Romero in the team we'll keep the ball a lot better, have more progressive passing, and as a result our defence will end up playing 20 yards further up the pitch, alleviating the pressure arising from the numerical disadvantage in CM.

 

[Thenewcat]

I’m a little surprised at some of the comments here , Forest had 21 touches in our penalty area in the first half , I can think of at least 3 very good chances they had , 2 unmarked headers in the box that just went past the post ( loris rooted to the spot ), wolves had a couple of similar chances and a dier block that was going in . Give those chances to a half decent team and they will score . Romero makes a difference cos he can bring the ball out but kanes hold up play needs to improve if we are just going to hoof it up to him . I love the fact we’re winning but I don’t think it’s a sustainable way of winning in the long term . I would like to see a change against West Ham cos if we conceded those headed opportunities against them they will take them .

You can’t think of 3 very good chances they had because they don’t exist. The best was the second half header but even that’s not a straightforward header by any means (nor was the wolves one).

Our system gives up very few high percentage chances - I know xG isn’t perfect but since Conte took over the xG per shot against us is by far the lowest in the league which chimes with that. At Anfield the story was the same - lots of potshots and needed a big slice of luck to score 1

 

[SUIYHA]

We were never going to play an expansive, high pressing possession based game under Conte - we had alternatives like Ten Hag or Potter that would have been the "sexy football" options, and those that I can completely understand people wanting, but Conte's style is different.

When Mourinho had us top of the league then my stance was that I could tolerate the dire style of football we had to watch as long as it was delivering exceptional results, but as soon as the results went sour it was no longer justifiable. It's the same situation with Conte who's results on the whole have been very good even if we're not as exciting to watch as we were in the peak Pochettino or Redknapp years - but that being said, we've still played some excellent football at times and are scoring goals, carving out a few clear chances every game, not letting the opposition have many good chances of their own. That's about as much as we can ask for at this point.