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Manager Antonio Conte

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Shadydan said:
If I'm honest I prefer front foot football but understand that this current squad isn't going to play consistent exciting football in many approaches.

So...you just take what you can for the time being and let the man do his job, I don't think Conte's end game is playing like this and I'm sure he will want to upgrade the quality as well but whilst we are still rebuilding I'm expecting bumps on the way, as long as we're winning with a view to improving then I'm okay with it.
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So you think Conte is playing the way he has been, against Nottingham Forrest too, because we don't have the players to succeed playing in an alternative manner?
 
Shadydan said:
If I'm honest I prefer front foot football but understand that this current squad isn't going to play consistent exciting football in many approaches.

So...you just take what you can for the time being and let the man do his job, I don't think Conte's end game is playing like this and I'm sure he will want to upgrade the quality as well but whilst we are still rebuilding I'm expecting bumps on the way, as long as we're winning with a view to improving then I'm okay with it.
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But can Conte consistently play on the front foot? Just looked and even at Inter in 2020 the team averaged 52% possession. They had quite a few wins with possession in the 30 and 40% range.
 
McCOYS said:
So you think Conte is playing the way he has been, against Nottingham Forrest too, because we don't have the players to succeed playing in an alternative manner?
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If he's trying to imprint a blueprint on how he wants the team to play then why would he deter from his philosophy?

Did you watch that match btw, our entire execution was poor when we had the ball going forward and kept giving the ball away which is the story of our season.
 
McCOYS said:
So you like the low block counter attacking football and the sideways passing? Yes it would be good to pass it out of defence but we don't have the players to do that, so Conte needs to adapt until said players are in place. 2024
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If we end up playing how we did for the bulk of Conte's time here last season then I'll be perfectly happy (and #entertained***).....

Substance > Style.

(***...Some of the football which led to our goals was absolutely scintillating.)
 
Airfixx said:
If we end up playing how we did for the bulk of Conte's time here last season then I'll be perfectly happy (and #entertained).....

Substance > Style.
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Why not both? Most successful managers in the world play attractive, frontfoot football. I don't like the idea that we have to compromise on style for substance. Obviously if we're winning trophies that may be acceptable, but we aren't so the question becomes does it look likely we will?

The only current 'elite' managers playing a counter attack/passive style are Simeone & Conte, and there's question marks over both of them.
 
Shadydan said:
Counter attack football in the form of stats, big fucking deal and I'm tired of people perpetuating this myth as if we're struggling in matches and nothing worse that Spurs fans actually buying into this nonsense, honestly this is Woolwich fan properganda.

We play a different style to the majority of Premier League managers, so what - it doesn't mean we're not in control of matches, don't let the media run the narrative how of football should be played, just because it's different doesn't mean it's wrong
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We play a style that has seen us amass 1 point from 12 against Chavs, Woolwich, Man U and Newcastle and quite frankly, 4 pitiful performances. The flat track bullying against the weaker sides largely plays out similarly across the duration of a season. Those are the big head to heads that ultimately determine the top positions and we are heading for 7th the way we’re going at the moment.

For a £15 million a year manager who many talk of us as one of the great coaches in the world presently, We should be getting more than weak, tepid, cowardly and submissive displays we’ve served up in all the big top of the table head to heads.

Are Newcastle that much better than us? Look at the displays Eddie Howe got out of them to win at our place, draw at Old Trafford, score 3 and draw with Citeh, and some ropey time keeping from drawing at Anfield against the Dippers.
 
Juno said:
We play a style that has seen us amass 1 point from 12 against Chavs, Woolwich, Man U and Newcastle and quite frankly, 4 pitiful performances. The flat track bullying against the weaker sides largely plays out similarly across the duration of a season. Those are the big head to heads that ultimately determine the top positions and we are heading for 7th the way we’re going at the moment.

For a £15 million a year manager who many talk of us as one of the great coaches in the world presently, We should be getting more than weak, tepid, cowardly and submissive displays we’ve served up in all the big top of the table head to heads.

Are Newcastle that much better than us? Look at the displays Eddie Howe got out of them to win at our place, draw at Old Trafford, score 3 and draw with Citeh, and some ropey time keeping from drawing at Anfield against the Dippers.
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A lot of this is fair although I'm pretty sure our current PPG normally amasses a top 4 place not 7th.

Ultimately my point is like I've always maintained is that this isn't the end game of Conte ball and we've already seen how good it can be at times last season, we haven't kept it up this season but it's little wonder why we're inconsistent and he's still building.

Being unhappy and expecting more from the performances is understandable though but I'm probably more relaxed about it than you.
 
McCOYS said:
Luckily we're playing Bournmouth next, if we can beat them then we might go into the WC break in 3rd but I doubt it.

In general we're looking like a sketchy team ''who got results even when they were playing badly''.

We're nearly 1/3 through the season, when will we start playing well then?
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Yeah, it's definitely concerning, but I feel a bit less anxious than I did with our poor performances last season. Our problems seem more fixable.

Unlike last season I feel like our midfield is capable of going toe to toe with a lot of teams, espcially if we switch to a three. They did well against Brighton, Everton and Frankfurt too for a while.

Dier/Lloris and Son have never been this bad, they must surely return to a more "normal" level right? Without their howlers the result would have been completely different.

If we find our attacking groove again, the defence will probably have less howlers, and Biss/Perisic might come good. Skipp, Kulu, and Rich will hopefully have a bigger role to play the rest of the season.

Might never happen, but at least we have options, and we know these players can do better.
 
Raumdeuterz said:
Why not both? Most successful managers in the world play attractive, frontfoot football. I don't like the idea that we have to compromise on style for substance. Obviously if we're winning trophies that may be acceptable, but we aren't so the question becomes does it look likely we will?

The only current 'elite' managers playing a counter attack/passive style are Simeone & Conte, and there's question marks over both of them.
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As I already noted..... I was "entertained" last season and we were also competitive..... If we can refind that balance then I'm happy.

How many so-called elite managers are we really taking about here.......?

Ancelotti won the double last year with fairly reactive football.

Were there question marks above Conte 5 months ago? No; there wasn't....... Why cos we had the above mentioned balance.

This 'Conte is finished' narrative that's creeping in is extremely knee-jerk...... Especially considering the vast majority of people were banging the "we want Conte" drum the moment we were first linked last summer..... (AND the fact that he did so well last season. #ShortMemories yadda yadda)

..........Ironically; I wasn't one of them and have had certain reservations all along (more-so about his temperament & commitment etc.); but as a work in progress I've been pretty content so far.
 
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