Well, now some time has passed from the game, some emotions cooled off.
It is bit of oversimplification from both sides really. Which is fine, cause I too am on the fence, so I can see both sides.
First of all - I do no not give a shit about possession. And there are more than 1 way to win a game. I think it is fine that if you play pragmatically and plan on counter-attacks, there are some games where you borderline fall apart. ManU game was one of them.
2nd of all - I do not give a fuck about shots that opposing team has. It is pointless metrics that comes from the way Conte has set up the team. Opposition players have room outside of the box and so many shots taken are just very-very speculative. xG against gives much better picture cause it also considers the quality of the chance.
3rd point - I actually think we were set up well yesterday from the start. We started the game well and in first 20 minutes passing patterns worked, we created some quite okay chances. Also managed to win ball back from them number of times. But what happened since like 22 minute mark - I just don't get it. ManU put some pressure on our box and we just crumbled. It did not help at all that Son might as well have stayed home. Literally - him not being on the field would have changed nothing. Another issue I noticed was that both our fullbacks lacked directness. There were moments where one could sprint with the ball, but they chose safer option. Why? I have no idea.
So that much to defend / support Conte.
Of course I saw some major problems as well.
4th point - how and why dafuq did he wait until 80 minute mark with any substitutions ?!?!? Sure, we did not have Kulu and Richie available. And we did not have some magic weapon to bring on. But heck - we could not control passes. Surely ~60-65th minute mark trying more rested Skippy for Benta could have changed something. I am not much of a fan of Moura, but Son was just shocking in every possible way, no chance that Moura would have been worse for last 30 minutes. And Perisic started just few days earlier as well - why not give Sess last 20 minutes? Would have those changes dramatically altered the game - possibly and even likely not. But YOU HAVE TO TRY. Not to just accept beating.
5th point - against top teams that put pressure on us - PEH and Benta cannot operate if they don't have room around them. All fine and dandy that we can manage to beat lower-half teams consistently with them. But games against opposition like Chelsea and ManU prove time and time again that there is real need for someone with better ball control. Someone who can win AND retain possession. Otherwise we are like flag in strong winds - flapping around from one side to another, but don't control much. We did not have much better options to pick from, but it is also down to Conte. I never felt like he even wanted to get better ball-playing CM in the summer window. He is fine with workhorses and playing them 2x a week for 90 minutes. Which is weird to be honest.
So I do not think we should panic, but some worry is justified. I tend to agree with those who say that results have flattered us to some extent. Meaning results have been better than underlying performances. Kane and his moments of brilliance have carried us. But he has got us so many points on his own. I think we'd be below 10th place without his goals. If threat only comes from one player, he can be also taken out of the game eventually. So Conte has to come up with something. FAST. Pointing fingers ain't gonna help.
