The trouble with this 'better manager than XYZ' line that always gets trotted out is that on paper and past achievement count for nought really once they are in the job - Jol Redknapp & Poch, 3 managers you could argue were nowhere near the best we could have attracted at the time on paper but all proved to fit the job well and done a job you would be hard to argue could have been bettered
-
The Fighting Cock is a forum for fans of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. Here you can discuss Spurs latest matches, our squad, tactics and any transfer news surrounding the club. Registration gives you access to all our forums (including 'Off Topic' discussion) and removes most of the adverts (you can remove them all via an account upgrade). You're here now, you might as well...
Manager Antonio Conte
- Thread starter Fattynomates
- Start date
Latest Spurs videos from Sky Sports
The trouble with this 'better manager than XYZ' line that always gets trotted out is that on paper and past achievement count for nought really once they are in the job - Jol Redknapp & Poch, 3 managers you could argue were nowhere near the best we could have attracted at the time on paper but all proved to fit the job well and done a job you would be hard to argue could have been bettered
We may have been 9th in the table part way through the season when he took charge but we weren't 9th best team in the league - that's a bullshit line from him to deflect. After a few weeks last season Woolwich were looking a dogs dinner and were way lower than 9th and yet here they are top of the league so lets not give that argument any more attention that it deserves
All played great football and did an amazing job for the club yes, but we didn't win anything under them.
Well we were 9th best team at the time, christ I remember posters on here thinking we weren't even gonna finish top half.
So Woolwich were bottom and bottled their top 4 chance yet here they are top of the league so what does that prove? I hate saying it because it relates to those dickheads, but keep faith in your manager.
No one is expecting 1st surely? I would expect an improvement, some watchable football and individual players improving. We did see that last season and full credit to him but we seem to have gone backwards this season. The points haul is ok but who have we beaten that we shouldnt be beating? Brighton away is probably our best result so far this season. We just have to hope things improve for the rest of the season and they might well do but the football to date is horrible to watch.
Totally agree. The trophies argument is bollocks. Its about the fit. We wanted Van Gaal prior to Poch, trophies galore. I highly doubt he'd have lasted 2 years with us. George Graham won us a league cup but was it worth 2.5 of utter tedium....not for me.
This what really pisses me off about Conte - he just throws his hands up and says
"United are a top team what do you expect"
If the manager believes that everyone else is better than us, then what does that say about what he's saying to the players?
He's supposed to inspire and convince the players that they can be better than the opposition if they do as he asks but it seems he's already thrown the game in his head as a L because 'United are better than us'
Brighton and Brentford didn't play 11 men behind the ball and did alright?
F*cks sake, the more I hear from him, just confirms my belief that he's here for the season and that he's going to by bugger off back to Italy at the end.
Last edited:
So if we're not expecting 1st and top four is the target then we are completely on track right now. We're also top of our Champions League group with a good chance of getting through to the next round. I admit the football can be at times a hard watch like last night where we were awful but in general the tactics have worked this season. it's mainly when we go away to another top team where all this Conte out starts. There are no easy games in the league anymore and the reality is we got a point at Stamford Bridge where we have been shit for 30 years, West Ham never easy to go to, Woolwich same old every season. We're currently on a run of 10 consecutive home wins, I mean how is that not something to be optimistic about?
We didn't but that doesn't mean that other managers would have done so. The point was managers being better on paper doesn't always translate to being better once in the job. (And vice versa)
We should have gone balls deep for Potter or ETH after Mourinho, or an equivalent yet to have made the step up, rather than another old school defensive coach.
Positions in the table at an early stage of the season don't reflect how good or bad a team is, you haven't even played each team once so you can't evenly compare results.
I'm happy to back him, he deserves that after achieving top 4 last season and the results this season up until last night, but there are concerns and i will call out what i consider bullshit in the meantime
Last edited:
I think it’s his way of trying to motivate the team to show that Man U aren’t. But it comes across wrong in his use of the English language. He did the same last season when we lost to Chelsea. He wanted to motivate the side yet it comes across in interviews that he means the opposite. Behind closed doors he wouldn’t be telling the players that. No chance.
Well there's got to be some reason why we looked beaten in our heads before we even reached the 20 minute mark.
We weren't fired up with belief, that's for sure.
As always, we had a chance to reach out and grab something (2nd in this case) and we cocked it right up...... Again.
He's been given, Kulu, Bentancur, Spence, Richarlison, Lenglet, Perisic - he can't say that he hasn't been given reinforcements.
Because every game we seem to lack control and its seat of the pants stuff. We have given up the 3rd most shots in the division this season and that stat backs up what we are seeing. The results have flattered us and whilst i think Conte is much better than 2020 Mourinho this feels a bit like when we were top under him. Again, things might improve and i really hope they do but can only judge on what we've seen so far this season and its not very good.
I am not that bothered by losing away at a top 6 side, but the manner in which we did is worrying. We’ve been battered by a side that’s not much better than ours and who looked way better on the ball and off it. I don’t know if Man Utd played out of their skin but we looked like a bunch of fucking amateurs. Yes, the rhythm was insane and any minor mistake could have been punished, so it’s understandable the players wanted to move the ball quick but that’s exactly when we struggle big time.
Kane and Son statues again but I don’t think it helped when they were against 3 or 4 Man Utd defenders so they had to hold the ball up until Perisic and Doherty moved up, which wasn’t quick enough.
We are still FAR from being title challengers and we’d be lucky to finish top 4 this season, seeing that Chelsea and Man Utd are like 3 or 4 points behind us already and Liverpool start picking wins.
Kane and Son statues again but I don’t think it helped when they were against 3 or 4 Man Utd defenders so they had to hold the ball up until Perisic and Doherty moved up, which wasn’t quick enough.
We are still FAR from being title challengers and we’d be lucky to finish top 4 this season, seeing that Chelsea and Man Utd are like 3 or 4 points behind us already and Liverpool start picking wins.
With this players vring Klopp and Pep and they won't produce a much better football. Qith Dier and Davies, and Emerson on the wing + PEH, its the maximum.
Our midfilder is wide oppen, thats why we concede shots after shots. PEH is constantly out of position, beaten easily and he is always late to block the shots or intercept the ball.
And no it's not just because we are playing with 2 in the mf most of the time, but cause he is slow and lack quality. Conte has no problem when he had Kante in Chelsea and him with Matic and Fabregas was closing that part of the pitch and dominated. It's down to quality and we lack it. But he also have quality players in the back that can pass the ball, unlike now.
You are correct. Surely the aim of playing in a compact manner is to restrict the chances that you give the opposition before countering but it isn’t working. 28 chances conceded last night, 22 v Woolwich and perhaps more worryingly 20 at home to Wolves and 19 v Leicester to name a few. I do worry that one day soon the opposition’s forwards are gonna be clinical and we are going to get a bloody good hiding.
As we have seen, past success at other clubs is certainly no guarantee here. I wonder how many of the people on here that were blindly backing Mourinho to the bitter end because he “won trophies wherever he went” are the ones that are now pulling down those that are beginning to question whether Conte is the right man.
Amazing isn't it?
We lose at Old Trafford – which is a shame but it can hardly be called a shock – and a lot of people wet themselves. It was a bad performance, do better next time.
Always funny how in every football fan community the general opinion on a manager swings drastically with just one game (which by the way was just 4 days after the previous one.) He was exactly the same manager before and after the game, and from what I got from the stats he played with his usual style, but looking at the reactions on here it seems like he was suddenly swapped with his evil twin BadConte.
Also, I'm not one to defend him at all (being juventina I personally dislike him and somewhat respect him at the same time), but you damn well knew who you were getting - maybe even better than any team who had signed him before. You had the chance to see him work for years, and among other things he also coached your arch-rivals for two seasons (during one of which you had a title race against him.) His antics haven't changed in the past 5 seasons, nor have his principles. If you complain about him for this loss you should have also complained about the wins before that.
Seriously, for some of you it's like you hired Simeone expecting Guardiola's football (or Arteta's, or Pochettino's.) I do get criticizing him, but what I don't get is being surprised or acting like you enjoyed having him as your manager last season or up until this match.
Also, I'm not one to defend him at all (being juventina I personally dislike him and somewhat respect him at the same time), but you damn well knew who you were getting - maybe even better than any team who had signed him before. You had the chance to see him work for years, and among other things he also coached your arch-rivals for two seasons (during one of which you had a title race against him.) His antics haven't changed in the past 5 seasons, nor have his principles. If you complain about him for this loss you should have also complained about the wins before that.
Seriously, for some of you it's like you hired Simeone expecting Guardiola's football (or Arteta's, or Pochettino's.) I do get criticizing him, but what I don't get is being surprised or acting like you enjoyed having him as your manager last season or up until this match.
Last edited:
If Conte goes then Kane walks as well.
We were horrible last night but he’s a fantastic manager, he gets results. The fact he got top 4 with us last season with that squad and that we’ve somehow managed our best ever start to a season, tells you that. But if we want to be serious he needs to actually be backed, he wasn’t in the summer despite what a lot were proclaiming. Our first 11 hasn’t been improved on, and you look to our bench last night and there was nobody to bring on. Woolwich have gone out and backed their rookie manager 2 summers in a row with players that improve their first 11 and have jumped ahead of us.