Ex-Manager watch: Antonio Conte

[Trix]

I think what his analogy is getting at is that Conte would rather keep our current players and wait to sign an ideal replacement later than make a compromise buy now and then hope to sell them in a year or so when our first choice becomes available.

If so, I completely agree if the player is someone like Udogie who we are able to lock in, guaranteed. I’m sceptical about players who we think will be available in a year, because that’s always subject to change in circumstances and there are many variables.

Point is the player has to be the right player regardless of who it is. We don't have the infinite funds to buy stopgaps that we can't move on.

 

[Zippy1980]

AG talking sense

AG for manager

 

[Mr Pink]

Still hope he signs a new contract.

I think most want him here for the long term.

He needs more transfer windows to improve the squad, which is fine.

I think there's two points to consider here though in the mean time:

1) he has his style and a meticulous system, but most would still like to see more front foot attacking football....surely we're capable of tweaking and adapting more to the opposition?

2) whilst most will acknowledge and agree with the patience plea....we've still got a very good squad, and even players like Davies and Sanchez have played their part.

So it's fair to say we need more windows to improve the squad to hit the heights we aim for....

But its also fair to expect better football all round with the current squad we have.

Although, we're still third, I think we've been disappointing in terms of the football we've produced. And we'll deservedly not stay there without pretty immediate improvement.

And even with two more windows, and attaining top targets...they still have to bed in and hit the ground running.

So yes we should be patient but that doesn't mean we should ignore what's happening on the pitch in the mean time.

It hasn't been good enough.

 

[ralphs bald spot]

I'm still catching up with this but what I do find quite interesting is that I've seen quite a few people in the past, suggest that Royal might be a better rcb than a rwb.
When Conte does that to try and create a more attack minded rwb in Doherty, with the limited subs he had, he's getting pelters for the change.

Like it or not, he seems to trust Emerson and while I'm sure he too sees his limitations, he also sees the rest of the limitations throughout the squad.

He's never going to go full Wenger and throw 4 forwards into the pitch to chase a game, he's going to try to tweak things with what we've got...which is somewhat lacking.

We do not need more upheaval and a new manager, we need to give this proven manager the time to sort our squad out.

the change was pointless by that stage Newcastle didn't have a forward on the pitch - he had a winger on the bench yet he tinkers with the back line why bother -

he spent the summer over seeing transfers where one of the most pressing issues in the side was the lack of a midfield player who can play a bit we never went near one HIS summer transfers look to have been almost as eratic as anything before him - he as a single way of planning which when it don't work he does nothing - he gave up at Arsenal and United and yesterday we scored the early goal in the second half and then created nothing yet we still had 3 centre halfs on the pitch none of which had anywhere near a decent game be a little bit bold get beat giving it a go - Conte he has done well but he is not beyond criticism 4 decent teams we have picked up one fortunate point at Chelsea that ain't good enough we may sit 3rd but thats hugely flattering and not sustainable with current form for much longer

 

[rossdapep]

Newcastle look good because Howe has been working with them largely on a week to week basis. It makes a HUGE difference.
I honestly think Conte has had many problems this season with injuries, players taking time to get up to speed to his system and all the while trying to qualify for the CL KO stages whilst ensuring we are competitive in the toughest league in the world.

 

[VoteMe4Prez]

I have been a dick about Conte in the last week for what we have been seeing but yes the guy hasn't even been here a whole year yet. He does need to be backed in January and the summer. Ideally we will have the funds to back him so I stand by the boss and feel despite his mistakes made, he is the man to take us forward.

 

[spursfan77]

Still hope he signs a new contract.

I think most want him here for the long term.

He needs more transfer windows to improve the squad, which is fine.

I think there's two points to consider here though in the mean time:

1) he has his style and a meticulous system, but most would still like to see more front foot attacking football....surely we're capable of tweaking and adapting more to the opposition?

2) whilst most will acknowledge and agree with the patience plea....we've still got a very good squad, and even players like Davies and Sanchez have played their part.

So it's fair to say we need more windows to improve the squad to hit the heights we aim for....

But its also fair to expect better football all round with the current squad we have.

Although, we're still third, I think we've been disappointing in terms of the football we've produced. And we'll deservedly not stay there without pretty immediate improvement.

And even with two more windows, and attaining top targets...they still have to bed in and hit the ground running.

So yes we should be patient but that doesn't mean we should ignore what's happening on the pitch in the mean time.

It hasn't been good enough.

We need him to sign a new contract and to back him. What else are we realistically going to do?

He hasn’t even had a year here yet.

 

[allatsea]

I have been a dick about Conte in the last week for what we have been seeing but yes the guy hasn't even been here a whole year yet. He does need to be backed in January and the summer. Ideally we will have the funds to back him so I stand by the boss and feel despite his mistakes made, he is the man to take us forward.

How kind.

 

[wadewill]

Does he?

Hypothetical........

I'm looking to move house, because where I live now doesn't really suit my needs. I know of a new build being built that's absolutely perfect for me both in location price size etc, but it's not going to be finished for about a year. Question is do I make do where I am for a year and save a bit extra towards the mortgage of the new house, or do I buy somewhere not so good spending money on doing so and then buy the new one in a year. Of course I don't know if I could even sell on the one I bought as a temporary stay......

What would you do in this situation?

Buy that one now, possibly over the asking price.

Then get divorced, flog that house out to rent for pittance and buy the new one after all.

But your new wife doesn't like that new house...rinse and repeat

 

[rossdapep]

Conte's system is very unique.

It's not a typical Catenaccio, for example Ranieri, because his players need to press and be aggressive with WBs staying high. They are not supposed to all retreat, mostly the core defensive structure. Also his side CBs need to play forward.

I'm subscribed to a lot of coaching websites and most coaches today favour high press, 3rd man, playing on the front front.

Because of this I think it's easier for players to adapt to this rather than Conte's system. It's quite complicated so it's easy too see why he's taking time and players like Bissouma are struggling.

Bentancur and Kulusevski adapted immediately because they played in Italy. Whereas our PL signings are struggling because it's new to them.

 

[Yantino]

I for one am delighted that he is not willing to compromise by signing second rate alternatives. He knows who he wants and I am happy to support him whilst he shapes our squad with the players he wants.

it’s obvious, even after a couple of good transfer windows, that our drop off in performance when we lose a couple of key players is huge. That hasn’t changed and it’s why we are not seeing particularly great football. All it shows to me is how bad our squad had become (let’s not forget the lengthy period we went without making a single signing).

Some of the football we played at the end of last season was excellent.

 

[Mr Pink]

We need him to sign a new contract and to back him. What else are we realistically going to do?

He hasn’t even had a year here yet.

Exactly.

But in the mean time, I'd like to see us cut out the sloppiness...improve on playing our from the back (tricky with Hugo though) and here's the key for me...

Get rid of this all round lethargy we espouse as a team so often.

 

[Typical Spurs]

Sessegnon was not only in the Championship team of the season, he was Player of The Year. And yet, 4+ years later, he is still trying to establish himself in the Premier League. So, I am not sure what your point is... You like dribblers with no end product?

Its a process, not a coronation.

I think Spence will come good - but, I am confident he is not better than Royal or Doherty right now.

That's fair enough mate. It's all about opinions and you make valid points.

 

[ralphs bald spot]

Conte's system is very unique.

It's not a typical Catenaccio, for example Ranieri, because his players need to press and be aggressive with WBs staying high. They are not supposed to all retreat, mostly the core defensive structure. Also his side CBs need to play forward.

I'm subscribed to a lot of coaching websites and most coaches today favour high press, 3rd man, playing on the front front.

Because of this I think it's easier for players to adapt to this rather than Conte's system. It's quite complicated so it's easy too see why he's taking time and players like Bissouma are struggling.

Bentancur and Kulusevski adapted immediately because they played in Italy. Whereas our PL signings are struggling because it's new to them.

the system isn''t complicated in the slightest - what is complicated about it ? Its a very easy to play against 3-5-2 or 3-4-3 there are very few patterns of play to it when he arrived he began by setting traps on the pitch where we would press in certain areas usually when the ball was played out wide we haven't done that this season we drop off deep - its hardly revolutionary tactics that he uses in fact its become less complicated because most of the game the attacking plan is around give it to Kane or to try to work space out wide which largely we can't exploit because Sessegnon or Royal couldn't cross Tottenham High Road let alone a ball

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

Conte's system is very unique.

It's not a typical Catenaccio, for example Ranieri, because his players need to press and be aggressive with WBs staying high. They are not supposed to all retreat, mostly the core defensive structure. Also his side CBs need to play forward.

I'm subscribed to a lot of coaching websites and most coaches today favour high press, 3rd man, playing on the front front.

Because of this I think it's easier for players to adapt to this rather than Conte's system. It's quite complicated so it's easy too see why he's taking time and players like Bissouma are struggling.

Bentancur and Kulusevski adapted immediately because they played in Italy. Whereas our PL signings are struggling because it's new to them.

Some great points here and very true re.Conte's tactical approach.

I've also mentioned previously that Conte likes his teams to be 'balanced' and prepared to adapt to each phase or requirements of a game:
-Low block, mid-press, high-press
-Positioning without the ball
-Patterns of play with the ball

Conte has a very specific 'idea of football' as he calls it or philosophy and he has very high and specific demands of each player, on one hand this can lead to him being very cautious with regards to trying younger or more inexperienced players and some players take longer to get up to speed but it is also part of the reason as to why he has been so successful. He creates finely tuned winning machines.

I don't believe Conte has intended for us to sit back as much as we have or for example against Arsenal and Man.U to let those teams have as much of the ball and as many shots as they did but he is doing the very best with the squad he has available.

This is not the same as the end of last season where he got a group of players playing mostly once a week to play out of their skin each week to get to the CL positions. This season we are playing 2 very high level matches every week in a very condensed fixture schedule due to the World Cup, that places much more physical and mental demands on the squad, it requires more rotation and then throw in a few injuries and you end up with a mix of 1st and 2nd choice players playing in big high level matches and our performances drop off in terms of their level.

Conte has said this repeatedly with regards to the squad being a process and needing 2-3 more transfer windows as well as when we were flying at the start of the season he said lets see how we do once we are playing twice a week as we will then know the exact level of the whole squad.

Conte also keeps carefully saying after these losses recently "I cannot fault the effort and application of the players", aka they and I are doing all we can but some of them just aren't good enough to do what I want them to do.

This is also why a few weeks back when we'd won a few in a row and were playing a bit better I said get ready for the ups and downs of the rollercoaster this season of performances and results as the squad is being tested beyond its limitations, throw in injuries to Richy and Kulu and no surprise to me we are struggling in some matches.

As you say, his system needs CB's who can defend and be comfortable on the ball, wing-backs who can defend and play high and be an attacking threat, CM's who have a good engine and can be combative but also good on the ball and 6 top attacking options up top so that the level doesn't drop when there are injuries or we have to rotate, right now we are still lacking in quality in 5-6 of the squad positions so when the likes of Emerson, Sanchez, Dier, Davies, Doherty, Emerson, Sessengon, Skipp, PEH(at times), Lucas, Gil etc are called upon, as Conte says "we struggle".

For me the 3 priorities if possible in January would be:
1. 6th AM option e.g. Zaniolo (so we can consistently play 3-4-3 and retain the level/quality even when 2 of the current 5 are injured)
2. RWB - it should've been addressed this summer but clearly Conte doesn't think Spence will be ready for a while so we are still with Doherty and Emerson neither of whom are anywhere near the required level in that position if we want to be title contenders.
3. CB - we were supposed to sign a top top CB e.g. Bastoni etc. Lenglet has done fairly well but as much as Dier has improved he is still not at the level we need him to be and our back-ups are no where near good enough, the drop in level especially on the ball when going from Romero to Sanchez for example is very big

Add to that we still need also : LCB, CM (who can create and pass better than our current ones, Eriksen would've been ideal, Maddison would be amazing), and probably another ST also unless Richarlsion is going to cover that longer-term. Then bring back Udogie next summer also and we'd look a very different team under Conte.

 

[fish5871]

I feel that we just have to get through to the World Cup, second half of the season will be strong.

 

[VoteMe4Prez]

I feel that we just have to get through to the World Cup, second half of the season will be strong.

With a couple/few reinforcements in January

 

[IamSpurtacus]

I think a lot of fans would be happier if there was some acceptance that progress isn't a straight line, and try and avoid becoming too high or too low. Just look at least season as an example.

There's a long way to go yet. There's a bigger picture and it's a good one

 

[Harrier]

We need him to sign a new contract and to back him. What else are we realistically going to do?

He hasn’t even had a year here yet.

Apparently we already have an option in place to extend for a further year anyway, so it’s not exactly the situation the press are painting.

 

[Zippy1980]

Some great points here and very true re.Conte's tactical approach.

I've also mentioned previously that Conte likes his teams to be 'balanced' and prepared to adapt to each phase or requirements of a game:
-Low block, mid-press, high-press
-Positioning without the ball
-Patterns of play with the ball

Conte has a very specific 'idea of football' as he calls it or philosophy and he has very high and specific demands of each player, on one hand this can lead to him being very cautious with regards to trying younger or more inexperienced players and some players take longer to get up to speed but it is also part of the reason as to why he has been so successful. He creates finely tuned winning machines.

I don't believe Conte has intended for us to sit back as much as we have or for example against Arsenal and Man.U to let those teams have as much of the ball and as many shots as they did but he is doing the very best with the squad he has available.

This is not the same as the end of last season where he got a group of players playing mostly once a week to play out of their skin each week to get to the CL positions. This season we are playing 2 very high level matches every week in a very condensed fixture schedule due to the World Cup, that places much more physical and mental demands on the squad, it requires more rotation and then throw in a few injuries and you end up with a mix of 1st and 2nd choice players playing in big high level matches and our performances drop off in terms of their level.

Conte has said this repeatedly with regards to the squad being a process and needing 2-3 more transfer windows as well as when we were flying at the start of the season he said lets see how we do once we are playing twice a week as we will then know the exact level of the whole squad.

Conte also keeps carefully saying after these losses recently "I cannot fault the effort and application of the players", aka they and I are doing all we can but some of them just aren't good enough to do what I want them to do.

This is also why a few weeks back when we'd won a few in a row and were playing a bit better I said get ready for the ups and downs of the rollercoaster this season of performances and results as the squad is being tested beyond its limitations, throw in injuries to Richy and Kulu and no surprise to me we are struggling in some matches.

As you say, his system needs CB's who can defend and be comfortable on the ball, wing-backs who can defend and play high and be an attacking threat, CM's who have a good engine and can be combative but also good on the ball and 6 top attacking options up top so that the level doesn't drop when there are injuries or we have to rotate, right now we are still lacking in quality in 5-6 of the squad positions so when the likes of Emerson, Sanchez, Dier, Davies, Doherty, Emerson, Sessengon, Skipp, PEH(at times), Lucas, Gil etc are called upon, as Conte says "we struggle".

For me the 3 priorities if possible in January would be:
1. 6th AM option e.g. Zaniolo (so we can consistently play 3-4-3 and retain the level/quality even when 2 of the current 5 are injured)
2. RWB - it should've been addressed this summer but clearly Conte doesn't think Spence will be ready for a while so we are still with Doherty and Emerson neither of whom are anywhere near the required level in that position if we want to be title contenders.
3. CB - we were supposed to sign a top top CB e.g. Bastoni etc. Lenglet has done fairly well but as much as Dier has improved he is still not at the level we need him to be and our back-ups are no where near good enough, the drop in level especially on the ball when going from Romero to Sanchez for example is very big

Add to that we still need also : LCB, CM (who can create and pass better than our current ones, Eriksen would've been ideal, Maddison would be amazing), and probably another ST also unless Richarlsion is going to cover that longer-term. Then bring back Udogie next summer also and we'd look a very different team under Conte.

You are meant to be working aren’t you? Lol