Antonio Conte: I can’t change Tottenham tactics with these players

[Metalhead]

last week the club to blame, this week the players - next week?
and I was a conte supporter but this narrative is getting tedious now we all including levy knows how this ends

He should do. He's been there enough times before.

 

[parj]

but son in particular and kane cough the ball up. Hojbjerg can play very poor passes.
We cant cross the ball with the exception of perisic and are inert in possession. Oh and we cant press cos of kane.
deep counter attack is exactly how we should have setup against arse, but instead we handed them 6 points and probably the title.

But we can't defend. Inviting pressure doesn't work, it means we have to defend more. We can't even defend a 2-0 that's been gifted to us

 

[coysjod]

Point proven. Can't even play this system with these "defenders"

 

[ATLguy]

Point proven. Can't even play this system with these "defenders"

It's clear this backline suits no system. People thought Jose was making excuses and now Conte complaining...nah, this group is just trash ?️

 

[newbie]

simply we need better players!

Its simple!

If your goalie keeps giving away gifts what can a manager do (apart from play the second-string keeper)!

 

[TonyK]

I'm surprised we good enough for anything other than 9-0-1. You can't experiment a formation for 90 or 45 minutes and say nope. The current system has left us sitting way too deep. The defenders aren't good enough to contain and the WBs aren't good enough to break but we continue to play counter attack. Makes no sense.

Logic surely dictates that we play with the ball instead if we can't defend.

But we don’t have any ball players either. The technical level of our squad is appalling.

We also decided to get rid of any youth players with a bit of tekkers such as Marcus Edwards and Noni Madueke. Both of whom we are now apparently trying to resign. You honestly couldn’t make it up!!

 

[theShiznit]

But we don’t have any ball players either. The technical level of our squad is appalling.

We have amassed a squad of workers whose technique is an after thought.
Also a squad of players that are immobile, one paced and rigid physically (also apparently tactically)
Those that have one of those attributes lack in other areas; Son has mobility but is technically poor.

Our squad management/development over the last 4+ years has been bordering on self harm.

Whatever tactics would suit these players, one thing i know for sure is it ain't Conteball.

 

[SirHarryHotspur]

But we don’t have any ball players either. The technical level of our squad is appalling.

We also decided to get rid of any youth players with a bit of tekkers such as Marcus Edwards and Noni Madueke. Both of whom we are now apparently trying to resign. You honestly couldn’t make it up!!

You can make it up, Harry Kane was an Arsenal youth player that they let go , if they had kept him they would have won the league by now. Also Pogba left Utd on free transfer then re-signed for £80 mil approx.

 

[TonyK]

You can make it up, Harry Kane was an Arsenal youth player that they let go , if they had kept him they would have won the league by now. Also Pogba left Utd on free transfer then re-signed for £80 mil approx.

Both those clubs actually win stuff and strengthen the areas of their squads that need to be strengthened. We don’t do either so whilst other clubs can afford to make a few mistakes, we absolutely do not have that luxury!

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

I think conte is being stubborn here and he could definitely play 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 with this team *see my post in conte thread*

 

[Neon_Knight_]

Both those clubs actually win stuff and strengthen the areas of their squads that need to be strengthened. We don’t do either so whilst other clubs can afford to make a few mistakes, we absolutely do not have that luxury!

So the solution to having a weaker squad and less money to improve it with, compared to our rivals, is to make no mistakes. It's a good job that doesn't entail doing the impossible then. ?‍

 

[TonyK]

So the solution to having a weaker squad and less money to improve it with, compared to our rivals, is to make no mistakes. It's a good job that doesn't entail doing the impossible then. ?‍

To make less mistakes than we currently make would be a good start. Levy may have a first class degree in land & property management from Oxford or wherever but he clearly doesn’t have a clue when it comes to running a football club. Just off the top of my head and in no particular order …

sanchez,
Rodon,
Royal,
N’Koudou
N’Jie,
Jansen,
Sessegnon,
Capoue,
Chiriches,
Chadli,
Paulinho,
Soldado,
Clarke

Always trying to do things on the cheap. Every single one of the above players have been an absolute disaster for our club.

Players we have missed out on because Levy was making insulting offers with ridiculous payment terms …

Grealish,
Bruno Fernandes,
Maddison
Dybala

Even today, we still continue to make low ball offers and piss other clubs off. The Pedro Porro saga is a classic case. You’d think he’d have learned a lesson by now!

And I’ll not even start on the long list of managers he has burned through in his 22 years leading our club but as you well know, not one of them have had any success.

If ENIC do not have either the means or ambition to make us a successful football club then they should sell up and jog on.

 

[SirHarryHotspur]

Both those clubs actually win stuff and strengthen the areas of their squads that need to be strengthened. We don’t do either so whilst other clubs can afford to make a few mistakes, we absolutely do not have that luxury!

Both the players you mentioned Marcus Edwards and Noni Madueke wanted to leave as they wanted 1st team football at a very young age, also Edwards had an attitude problem and Madueke even turned down an offer from Man U so that he could progress more quickly in the weaker league in the Netherlands.
As far as I remember Madueke refused a new contract with Spurs to get away and Edwards basically fell out with Poch, who was willing to give youngsters a chance.

 

[TonyK]

Both the players you mentioned Marcus Edwards and Noni Madueke wanted to leave as they wanted 1st team football at a very young age, also Edwards had an attitude problem and Madueke even turned down an offer from Man U so that he could progress more quickly in the weaker league in the Netherlands.
As far as I remember Madueke refused a new contract with Spurs to get away and Edwards basically fell out with Poch, who was willing to give youngsters a chance.

Yeah - who can blame them for wanting away when we were buying absolute dross such as Chadli, N’Jie and N’Koudou to start ahead of them. But getting back to my original point about not having any ball players in our squad, it’s because several managers have prioritised having big, physical types in the squad rather than players like Edwards and Madueke who are comfortable having the ball at their feet. Any squad needs to have a bit of balance.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

To make less mistakes than we currently make would be a good start. Levy may have a first class degree in land & property management from Oxford or wherever but he clearly doesn’t have a clue when it comes to running a football club. Just off the top of my head and in no particular order …

sanchez,
Rodon,
Royal,
N’Koudou
N’Jie,
Jansen,
Sessegnon,
Capoue,
Chiriches,
Chadli,
Paulinho,
Soldado,
Clarke

Always trying to do things on the cheap. Every single one of the above players have been an absolute disaster for our club.

Players we have missed out on because Levy was making insulting offers with ridiculous payment terms …

Grealish,
Bruno Fernandes,
Maddison
Dybala

Even today, we still continue to make low ball offers and piss other clubs off. The Pedro Porro saga is a classic case. You’d think he’d have learned a lesson by now!

And I’ll not even start on the long list of managers he has burned through in his 22 years leading our club but as you well know, not one of them have had any success.

If ENIC do not have either the means or ambition to make us a successful football club then they should sell up and jog on.

Your previous post implied that we can't afford to make any mistakes, not less mistakes, as you asserted that our rivals can afford to make "a few" but we can't. The evidence suggests that we have made fewer mistakes than our rivals, but all teams make mistakes every transfer window (whether that's a signing that flops, over-paying / under-selling, missing out on an opportunity, not getting enough business over the line etc.).
Our list of substandard signings over the past decade (that's how far back your list goes) is surely shorter than our rivals'. Otherwise we wouldn't have been consistently punching above our weight under Poch, or have finished in the top 4 last season, or have finished above Arsenal for the last six years consecutively (during which time they failed to qualify for the CL at all), or currently be above Liverpool & Chelsea....all despite spending less money.
In the modern era, Chelsea has often had more players (failed / failing signings) out on loan than we have in our entire first-team squad. That's far more mistakes and far more deadwood to shift, but they got away with it because they were financially doped with a permanent interest-free "loan" of approx. £2billion.

You don't want us to make mistakes, yet you seem eager for us to splash our limited cash on players who are not a guaranteed success.
Dybala was not a simple matter of us being willing to pay more. We had agreed a substantial fee with Juve, but there were legal issues around his image rights. Subsequently, Dybala had 6 injuries last season and was also out for most of the first half of this season....hardly the solution to our current injury-plagued attack.
If we wait until the summer, Porro will be cheaper, so less of a risk. £40m is a lot of money for a fullback / wingback and it's possible that Porro wouldn't live up to hopes / expectations (at which point you'd presumably blame the club for another mistake).

I'm not sure that all of the players you've listed can even be qualified as mistakes. Some were sold for profit, which was then reinvested in the playing squad. Others initially improved our team, but then didn't fit a new system or were replaced by someone better (and more expensive). Capoue fitted our system and was playing well, then got injured and never came back from that...yet we still got 90% of his transfer fee, despite selling him while out of form. Paulinho was later signed by Barca for more than our purchase and sale prices for him combined, so perhaps the mistake we made with him was selling him too cheaply.

 

[SirHarryHotspur]

Your previous post implied that we can't afford to make any mistakes, not less mistakes, as you asserted that our rivals can afford to make "a few" but we can't. The evidence suggests that we have made fewer mistakes than our rivals, but all teams make mistakes every transfer window (whether that's a signing that flops, over-paying / under-selling, missing out on an opportunity, not getting enough business over the line etc.).
Our list of substandard signings over the past decade (that's how far back your list goes) is surely shorter than our rivals'. Otherwise we wouldn't have been consistently punching above our weight under Poch, or have finished in the top 4 last season, or have finished above Arsenal for the last six years consecutively (during which time they failed to qualify for the CL at all), or currently be above Liverpool & Chelsea....all despite spending less money.
In the modern era, Chelsea has often had more players (failed / failing signings) out on loan than we have in our entire first-team squad. That's far more mistakes and far more deadwood to shift, but they got away with it because they were financially doped with a permanent interest-free "loan" of approx. £2billion.

You don't want us to make mistakes, yet you seem eager for us to splash our limited cash on players who are not a guaranteed success.
Dybala was not a simple matter of us being willing to pay more. We had agreed a substantial fee with Juve, but there were legal issues around his image rights. Subsequently, Dybala had 6 injuries last season and was also out for most of the first half of this season....hardly the solution to our current injury-plagued attack.
If we wait until the summer, Porro will be cheaper, so less of a risk. £40m is a lot of money for a fullback / wingback and it's possible that Porro wouldn't live up to hopes / expectations (at which point you'd presumably blame the club for another mistake).

I'm not sure that all of the players you've listed can even be qualified as mistakes. Some were sold for profit, which was then reinvested in the playing squad. Others initially improved our team, but then didn't fit a new system or were replaced by someone better (and more expensive). Capoue fitted our system and was playing well, then got injured and never came back from that...yet we still got 90% of his transfer fee, despite selling him while out of form. Paulinho was later signed by Barca for more than our purchase and sale prices for him combined, so perhaps the mistake we made with him was selling him too cheaply.

You are too sensible to be on here, I agree with you all you say .
I wish someone would explain how Porro was signed by Sporting for 8.5 mill euros (transfermarket figures) and now he is valued at four times that amount six months later.

 

[TonyK]

OK let’s just wait until the summer before backing Conte by which time we will be lucky to have secured a Europa League spot, HK will have gone and we will be looking for another new manager. Great idea!

The next 11 days until the window closes are massive for the club. Make no mistake about that.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

You are too sensible to be on here, I agree with you all you say .
I wish someone would explain how Porro was signed by Sporting for 8.5 mill euros (transfermarket figures) and now he is valued at four times that amount six months later.

He had two decent (but not spectacular imo) performances against us and that's all most people on SC have seen of him. There haven't been many (any?) mentions of Man City being willing to part with him for only €8.5m during the last transfer window, nor the fact that he was deemed not good enough by one of our rivals. I'm sure both of those facts will be plastered all over SC if we sign Porro and he has even one poor game. ?

 

[Neon_Knight_]

OK let’s just wait until the summer before backing Conte by which time we will be lucky to have secured a Europa League spot, HK will have gone and we will be looking for another new manager. Great idea!

The next 11 days until the window closes are massive for the club. Make no mistake about that.

No-one is disputing that we need to improve the team this month. Paying over the odds for players is really not the way to compete with our wealthier rivals though - doing so would be a mistake and you've already pointed out that we can't afford mistakes.

Porro was signed for €8.5m (£7.4m) last summer. The initial rumours suggested he may be available for circa £25-30m, which is a significant fee for someone who's only performed at a level deserving of that fee for about 3 months. After making enquiries, the asking price (release clause) exceeds the reported valuation by a whopping 50%. He's far from the only decent RWB in the world and we can't afford to allow ourselves to be extorted by tens of millions of pounds.

 

[TonyK]

No-one is disputing that we need to improve the team this month. Paying over the odds for players is really not the way to compete with our wealthier rivals though - doing so would be a mistake and you've already pointed out that we can't afford mistakes.

Porro was signed for €8.5m (£7.4m) last summer. The initial rumours suggested he may be available for circa £25-30m, which is a significant fee for someone who's only performed at a level deserving of that fee for about 3 months. After making enquiries, the asking price (release clause) exceeds the reported valuation by a whopping 50%. He's far from the only decent RWB in the world and we can't afford to allow ourselves to be extorted by tens of millions of pounds.

Mate - you may not agree but that is the going rate for players these days. It is ridiculous but if that’s the player that Conte wants then Levy needs to make it happen. Better to spend 40 on Porro than waste 20 on Spence or any other player that the manager doesn’t want and won’t end up playing.