Ex-Manager watch: Antonio Conte

[delawarespur]

Nah, it really is up for debate at this point. In 2023 his football philosophy and approach is actually hurting us, negatively impacting the players. We have been solved by 25 different sides now, we have no actual identity or pattern of play, and we look clueless against a 3 man midfield.

Simply put what Conte has done in the past doesn’t excuse this. The quality of Andres Iniesta isn’t up for debate either but there’s a reason he’s playing in bloody Japan. It’s time to take Conte out of the elite manager conversation. No elite manager, given £150m to spend over 3 windows, would be this poor.

I’m not excusing anything. Everyone is at fault here. Trust me I’m not a fan of the stubbornness, specifically in personnel where Son is rendered useless if he keeps having to come short. I don’t even give a shit if the team is entertaining or not, but at this point the most logical thing to do given the state of our defence is to try to out score opponents. The defensive personnel in general can’t be trusted in a passive block, so I’d probably just use the more aggressive mid press we used v city in both games and get another forward on the pitch in place of Perisic and see what happens. Danjuma/richarlison left no 10 position and Son LWB with a block 5 yards higher and supporting the press. 442 without the ball, with the ball Son starts wider to have more space to run into and can still access the dangerous areas he historically scores/assists from. My big complaint is that Conte is stubborn in this way, and that’s completely different to saying he’s a bad manager in 2023. We saw last season with mostly the same players that we were destroying teams frequently with the same coach and same formation. As I already said, I do think Son’s role change is baffling and probably the main cause behind the poor play individually and collectively.

But what is important is Conte’s system has been fine when he has the personnel required to execute the patterns. The stubbornness probably comes from the fact his style hasn’t really failed him anywhere in the past decade. Switching it up is probably a lot easier from the average fan’s point of view than from the man who has won major trophies consistently since 2010. He probably thinks his way is the best way, and I don’t blame him for that because the facts back him up. The key is realizing that isn’t the case with his current side. I have no doubt the style won’t be an issue with a more reliable defence with a higher level of quality. I will, however, continue to find issue with simple things like having Son play in a way that emphasizes his worst qualities and negates his best. That I won’t argue with. But to say time has passed his system by just isn’t true currently, and if it is true, it will only be found out several years down the line if he fails at other clubs trying the same things as he has tried here.

 

[H-SF]

It entirely depends who we would get in to replace him. Anyone other than Poch then we will have to wait until summer most likely which means we will coast the rest of season anyway with Mason in charge.

At this point we just need to accept the season is most likely done and we now need to make sure everything is in place for the next season. We need to use all the time we have between now and summer to actually plan for the future for once rather than just be reactionary. New DoF and new manager. And I hope we look at a number of options no just one.

We shouldn’t accept that the season is done though. Bentancur injury is obviously a body blow but we are two points off a stuttering NUFC, have a still very winnable CL tie and a good shot at the FA Cup. Right now I’d rather roll the dice with Mason and hope we get some spooky managerial bounce because the way we’ve played this season we’ll be out the CL in the quarters at the latest, flip in the FA Cup and end up 7th/8th in the league.

 

[Caco]

Link to said "constantly talking about the lack of resources"?

I honestly don't recall the last time he mentioned that he did not have the resources - but it certainly does not seem to be a constant message from Conte.

I know a lot of supporters who assume Conte thinks that - but if he is constantly talking about it, I am missing it.

Yes and clearly living under a rock.

 

[spursfan77]

Hoping we get some itk in the next 24 hours that he’s walking/sacked.

He won’t go yet, he hasn’t lost the dressing room. If he goes before the end of the season it will be when that happens.

 

[Sykes]

I’ve been getting increasingly more wound up with people making it sound like we owe Conte something.

Very good past but hasn’t worked out here. Tactics don’t flatter our team and we have become as bad to watch as we were under Nuno. He’s actively flirting with going back to Italy and seems to express no desire to stay beyond the summer, why is he still here?

 

[parj]

Huge red flag for me. Levy should not be making any football decisions - and Levy's "Boss" knows even less about football than he does...

But they own the club. Ultimately, they need to sort this.

 

[wspur]

Apart from three months at the end of last season the fun supporting spurs seems to be a long time ago. The fuckers at the club really have ground us down. I’m really considering not renewing my season tickets next season. I’m loathed to stop but why keep going back for more punishment.

Same, even though I'm lucky enough to afford it, I see no point in spending north of 2k a year, including all the costs, on this mess. I've already stopped trying to plan my life around the games, listing the ticket on the exchange instead.

 

[parj]

I’m not excusing anything. Everyone is at fault here. Trust me I’m not a fan of the stubbornness, specifically in personnel where Son is rendered useless if he keeps having to come short. I don’t even give a shit if the team is entertaining or not, but at this point the most logical thing to do given the state of our defence is to try to out score opponents. The defensive personnel in general can’t be trusted in a passive block, so I’d probably just use the more aggressive mid press we used v city in both games and get another forward on the pitch in place of Perisic and see what happens. Danjuma/richarlison left no 10 position and Son LWB with a block 5 yards higher and supporting the press. 442 without the ball, with the ball Son starts wider to have more space to run into and can still access the dangerous areas he historically scores/assists from. My big complaint is that Conte is stubborn in this way, and that’s completely different to saying he’s a bad manager in 2023. We saw last season with mostly the same players that we were destroying teams frequently with the same coach and same formation. As I already said, I do think Son’s role change is baffling and probably the main cause behind the poor play individually and collectively.

But what is important is Conte’s system has been fine when he has the personnel required to execute the patterns. The stubbornness probably comes from the fact his style hasn’t really failed him anywhere in the past decade. Switching it up is probably a lot easier from the average fan’s point of view than from the man who has won major trophies consistently since 2010. He probably thinks his way is the best way, and I don’t blame him for that because the facts back him up. The key is realizing that isn’t the case with his current side. I have no doubt the style won’t be an issue with a more reliable defence with a higher level of quality. I will, however, continue to find issue with simple things like having Son play in a way that emphasizes his worst qualities and negates his best. That I won’t argue with. But to say time has passed his system by just isn’t true currently, and if it is true, it will only be found out several years down the line if he fails at other clubs trying the same things as he has tried here.

Check out his second season with Chelsea. He is great when he has no UCL distractions, and a massive blank cheque book. For me he is very well suited for Italy but we can't afford what he needs every summer.

 

[Bluto Blutarsky]

But they own the club. Ultimately, they need to sort this.

"They" don't care about the club - literally and figuratively.

Trustees of the Lewis Family trust have control of the club - so Lewis does not care, nor is he currently in a position to do much about it, even if he did care.

 

[chas vs dave]

I’ve been getting increasingly more wound up with people making it sound like we owe Conte something.

Very good past but hasn’t worked out here. Tactics don’t flatter our team and we have become as bad to watch as we were under Nuno. He’s actively flirting with going back to Italy and seems to express no desire to stay beyond the summer, why is he still here?

We owe conte nothing, neither does he owe us anything.

Tbh, I don't care. Piss in the pot, or get off.

 

[spursfan77]

Same, even though I'm lucky enough to afford it, I see no point in spending north of 2k a year, including all the costs, on this mess. I've already stopped trying to plan my life around the games, listing the ticket on the exchange instead.

I will be moving away from london soon too so getting to games will be harder. I’d probably stop going now if my kids weren’t so mad on us. My fault that though obviously, so only have myself to blame on that front. But even they know this isn’t how the game should be played.

It is all a complete mess but I don’t think Conte will be going anywhere soon without a massive drop in form. He still has support in the stadium (although I think that is a multitude of factors which doesn’t include quality of football) and you can tell he hasn’t lost the dressing room.

 

[Caco]

He won’t go yet, he hasn’t lost the dressing room. If he goes before the end of the season it will be when that happens.

Maybe, and I'm just assuming things, but I'd imagine that his contract had performance related bonuses. Realistically if we think back to when he took over if Daniel said you'll get "X" for getting us Champions League 1/4 final, we would all have considered that progression, fact is we're 90 uninspired minutes away from achieving that but I think we can all agree that it doesn't feel like progression.

 

[parj]

"They" don't care about the club - literally and figuratively.

Trustees of the Lewis Family trust have control of the club - so Lewis does not care, nor is he currently in a position to do much about it, even if he did care.

That's irrelevant until he puts them in control of running the club. If he don't care then we stay still. But somebody has to have the mandate to make the required decision about how we move forward

 

[Bluto Blutarsky]

That's irrelevant until he puts them in control of running the club. If he don't care then we stay still. But somebody has to have the mandate to make the required decision about how we move forward

That is solely on Levy.

 

[Hoopspur]

I don’t necessarily mind (of course I do) losing a match or even a tie. Someone had to win after all and we should be talking elite.

What I do mind is turgid, rubbish football with no results/end product. Conte in serving us that up. An inability to pass the ball and create anything. I lay that firmly on the Manager. He is not correct for Spurs and our fans. I wanted him gone a super long time ago and I certainly want him gone now. I do not think his sh*t system with no creativity works.

 

[Teemu]

Let’s be honest, this entire season Conte’s got a lot of slack because we all love the idea of Conte, rather than actual Conte.

 

[Bluto Blutarsky]

Yes and clearly living under a rock.

So, I take it you have nothing then.

This is Conte from last month:

"To get a place in the Champions League last season, that was a big, big achievement for us," he said. "The other aspect that I like a lot, we are building a solid foundation for the present and for the future. I'm really proud of the work that we are doing."


Where are you reading that Conte is constantly complaining about resources.

 

[isaac94]

conte has always been a horrific champions league manager

 

[cjbyid]

Apart from three months at the end of last season the fun supporting spurs seems to be a long time ago. The fuckers at the club really have ground us down. I’m really considering not renewing my season tickets next season. I’m loathed to stop but why keep going back for more punishment.

Yeaaah I hear you, giving deep thought into not renewing myself.

Not against conte or anything but more the club. Can't really continue to pay the money to see us beat a top 4 team occasionally and have no direction on the pitch or behind the scenes.

 

[Bluto Blutarsky]

This is from last October:

“We know this situation with the club and the club knows very well we need time and patience, to try to go step by step. I spoke about the transfer market, that we needed more transfer markets to reach a good level. We know this. At the same time we want to be competitive, to try to do everything.”