Ex-Manager watch: Antonio Conte

[mil1lion]

I broadly agree with regards to our issues at CB but then you have to ask what on earth has Paratici been doing? Our transfer spending under him has not been insignificant. I don't see how there was money in the budget for someone like Richarlison but not for another high-quality CB. In fact if Dier and Davies are as bad as some here are suggesting it should be easy to replace them with better players?

I have no idea. Its been suggested that we wanted a few players who we could have got (Bastoni, Ndicka, Hincapie) but we didn't sanction them. I was expecting when the Italians came that they would fix the defence first. Its really bizarre they haven't, even to find some bargains the club would be happy to sign. I'd love to know what that situation is and how many options they have lined up. Its clear that when Jose wanted Skriniar and when Conte wanted Bastoni we weren't prepared to pay up though.

 

[Black]

cast your pearls? haha, it's literally what everyone on here does

But if you're that reluctant to fill in the blanks and withhold your opinion because people on here are brainwashed and idiots, then what are you even doing here. Pointless.

There is no blanks to fill in, people have brains its not complex rocket science.

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

There is no blanks to fill in, people have brains its not complex rocket science.

Yeah, if you can't do the proper thing and respond to the original question instead of resorting to biblical quotes and obfuscation, then one of the 'brainwashed' blew your argument right out of the water

 

[Styopa]

Also pretty funny if we went into that game trying to be cautious and promptly got slapped 4-1 (and were lucky to keep the scoreline to 4).

Also, one of the few things everyone agrees with is that one of our major weak points is the lack of quality defenders, particularly CBs. Yet arguably we are the most defence-minded team in the league. Talk about playing to our strenghts...

 

[ralphs bald spot]

We’ve largely replaced players in the squad with Lower quality, that’s the problem.

The only top class signing we’ve intentionally paid for is Richarlison. Bentancur, Kulusevski were both considered punts.

How are we meant to compete when we barely spend £25-30 million on first team replacements when our rivals are spending upwards of £50 all the way up to around £90 million in the same positions.

Now I know not all players with high fees end up being world class, but I can bet you the percentage of those that work out is much higher and correlates to a higher transfer fee.

Until we are willing to go out on a limb and spend properly across the pitch, we will always be behind the pack and slowly but surely we are heading toward mid table mediocrity if things don’t change soon. The world isn’t standing still while Levy and co get their shit together.

I don't often agree with you but I do here - there is no magic formula you basically have to buy better than what you have and then amazingly by and large you improve - buying players to pad out is not the way forward and never has been- to make things easier improving some players in the squad shouldn't be to difficult but first and foremost we need an identity a way of playing that is throughout the club I have never felt that under Conte it was always a bit of a short term gamble built to appease

 

[AtoubaToothpaste]

This weekend at Bernie's experiment has to end. Conte looks like a zombie, acts like a zombie, and is about as useful as a zombie right now. If I were Levy, I'd thank him for his work, give him a bonus and let him stay in Italy with his family. It's clear as day this isn't working and we're sleep-walking through the season. Better to rip that plaster off now and get on with a new manager; give them the rest of the season to assess the squad so come the summer we can prepare early.

 

[Fidget]

Conte has had enough, Poch had enough, José made me laugh but had enough. We’re choosing the wrong managers now. Personally, please no Poch repeat. Things have moved on. We need someone fresh to blow all the dandruff out of the club and we need to play like Spurs, not this boring shit. Things only take a fixed time to fix. Conte is nowhere near. Let’s have a younger man.

 

[kursaal]

I've chopped and changed about Conte. I didn't believe he was a good fit for us, but I supported him. The end of last season had me believing this guy may just know what he's doing. The reality of this season and the appalling almost relegation type form since the start of this year has convinced me Conte is not the messiah. He's just a very sullen and repressive man who has sucked any enjoyment out of watching our dearly beloved Tottenham Hotspur.

 

[Black]

Yeah, if you can't do the proper thing and respond to the original question instead of resorting to biblical quotes and obfuscation, then one of the 'brainwashed' blew your argument right out of the water

I told you I'm not going to name you the players because you are not blind and this forum harbours too much hate towards current and former players for my liking . The player watch threads are basically abuse threads even when a player does well people only want to give them half props or come up with some bazzar reason as to why they had a good match.

 

[jpascavitz]

Probably will get backlash for this but I thought we played well away from home and outplayed Milan in the San Siro. I get Milan isn't a powerhouse this season, but we also had 2 youngsters who have barely played in the middle of the park. 1-0 isn't the end of the world away from home in this competition.

To me it shows that Conte's system does work. The problem that we seem to be having is when this system is working at it's best the two 10s are consistently running through as Kane comes in to receive the ball and we're getting stuck. I'm personally not seeing the back line stretching runs from Kulu and Son that I saw last year - even if they don't get the ball it opens up the space for the wingbacks.

At the end of the day, I'm in the camp of if Conte stays, great - hope for another top 4 miracle, maybe a trophy run, build on it and trust the process. If not, trend towards the youth with an attacking manager.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

Ryan Mason in 6 games got us playing better football with good results with a midfield of Winks, Ndombele, Dele etc compared to Conte who has had 3 transfer windows and decent backing(10 new players), yes we’ve had some injuries but the football is absolutely not good enough and the system and defensive style doesn’t suit our players just like it didn’t under similar managers Jose and Nuno.

We are Boring Set-piece FC and nothing more.

I hope he can somehow win us the FA Cup to make up for the absolute dross we’ve had to endure this season on top of the last 2 seasons.

 

[14/04/91]

I have no idea. Its been suggested that we wanted a few players who we could have got (Bastoni, Ndicka, Hincapie) but we didn't sanction them. I was expecting when the Italians came that they would fix the defence first. Its really bizarre they haven't, even to find some bargains the club would be happy to sign. I'd love to know what that situation is and how many options they have lined up. Its clear that when Jose wanted Skriniar and when Conte wanted Bastoni we weren't prepared to pay up though.

I would guess it's because Conte only wanted top notch defenders, not bargains.

It would've been pointless signing players Conte/Paratici weren't convinced by, in place of their main targets, as this would've led to more unwanted squad members in the long run. This is probably why our only new centre half was a loan.

And maybe this has been a bigger issue than we realise. The Italians were probably desperate to fix the defence but weren't allowed to do so, leading to a pretty unimpressed coach still trying to make things work with Eric Dier as his only CCB option.

 

[jpascavitz]

Ryan Mason in 6 games got us playing better football with good results with a midfield of Winks, Ndombele, Dele etc compared to Conte who has had 3 transfer windows and decent backing(10 new players), yes we’ve had some injuries but the football is absolutely not good enough and the system and defensive style doesn’t suit our players just like it didn’t under similar managers Jose and Nuno.

We are Boring Set-piece FC and nothing more.

I hope he can somehow win us the FA Cup to make up for the absolute dross we’ve had to endure this season on top of the last 2 seasons.

Not taking the piss here, but what would you like to see more of in particular? Possession? Control? Dribbles completed?

The stats show that we're the third highest scoring team in the PL. If going by the stats, we concede as much as the sides in the relegation zone

 

[delawarespur]

I get you are desperate to win trophies but going from a PL title with no UCL distractions to 5th and FA cup win with UCL distractions despite spending £200m after winning the title and having a massive squad isnt good enough.

People want to give Conte more money to spend. That second summer transfer window he spent nearly £200m bringing in Morata, Drinkwater, Bakayoko, Barkley and Rudiger. 4 out of 5 of those spent following seasons out on loan cos of crap they were. The only reason they get the first title is cos he signed Kante. Kante managed to get Leicester the title, thats how good he was.

For us, that's a different level. We don't have a sugar daddy. Spending that much is huge to go backwards. And he has spent more than most of our managers, and taken us backwards. It's a pattern of you take us and Chelsea. If we managed to uncover a Kante type player then maybe, but we aren't going to.

The spending he’s done isn’t crazy, and should actually be the norm regardless of manager given the stadium and revenue. Paratici has been fine and the business with him so far has mostly been good and hasn’t involved exuberant spending also. If Conte leaves that’s it is what it is, but I’m not gonna want yet another change in manager until he shows what he can do with all the tools required, which I already said isn’t gonna require a lot more money. A competent defence at least then it’s time to show what you’ve really got.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

Not taking the piss here, but what would you like to see more of in particular? Possession? Control? Dribbles completed?

The stats show that we're the third highest scoring team in the PL. If going by the stats, we concede as much as the sides in the relegation zone

Yea mate many many things that would make us easier on the eye:
-More possession
-More passing moves
-Players instructed to play closer together to enable the above 2 instead of their only option being a 20-30 yard pass
-A switch to 4-2-3-1 because we don’t have the players to play 3-4-3.
-Faster better transitions
-Penning teams back in their own half once in a while
-Starting games far more on the front foot with higher pressing
-Higher intensity and more frequent turnovers of possession rather than constantly dropping back into a deep 5-4-1
-A more fluid style of play with better interchanging of positions, more off the ball 3rd man runs rathe than such a static rigid predictable set-up.
-More shots
-More shots on target
-More chances created
-Playing more attacking creative players and having a manager who nears to sign these types of players rather than big slow physical plodders
-When losing, making more daring substitutes to try to get back into or win the game rather than like for like or even defensive changes in order to as Conte has said “not lose worse”

We might score an ok number of goals but it’s predominantly from set-pieces or counter attacks, during a game it usually ends up that I watch the other team have the majority of the ball and chances and we have a handful that if we are playing well we take often from a set piece.

Its so so boring mate

Hope that is good as a starter for 10 ?

 

[rossdapep]

Ryan Mason in 6 games got us playing better football with good results with a midfield of Winks, Ndombele, Dele etc compared to Conte who has had 3 transfer windows and decent backing(10 new players), yes we’ve had some injuries but the football is absolutely not good enough and the system and defensive style doesn’t suit our players just like it didn’t under similar managers Jose and Nuno.

We are Boring Set-piece FC and nothing more.

I hope he can somehow win us the FA Cup to make up for the absolute dross we’ve had to endure this season on top of the last 2 seasons.

Mason will be naive at times because of lack of experience.

However, his coaching sessions have been said to be very good for the players and they enjoyed them. A lot of detail and intensity apparently.

That doesn't always translate well into games because there's other dynamics there. However, Mason will have learnt A LOT from being on the bench with Conte and I think him and Stellini showed that they were very active in changing things on the pitch during our games vs Preston and City.

Not saying he's the right coach but he's certainly going about things the right way.

 

[DJS]

All very well said.

I think in the aftermath of a bad result/performance we can all (very much including me) forget the human element of all of this and it's clear Conte is having a very bad time personally at the moment.

It's also more than fair to say that he's not the only one to blame.

Some of the players aren't pulling their weight, and some simply aren't good enough.

I think Paratici is looking more and more like a charlatan every window, and we all know the issues with Levy. I want him gone as well and people need to stop thinking it's one or the other.

But all that being said...Conte is now an active detriment to our season.

He insists on playing a system that he doesn't have the players to use. He doesn't influence matches when they start going wrong. And they now go wrong significantly more than they go right. Arguably our only really good performance this season came when he wasn't on the sidelines.

Getting rid of Conte won't fix everything...of course it won't.

But continuing the way we are for another few months shouldn't be considered as an option.

He needs to go...now.

I disagree about Paraciti.

He’s bought in Papa Sarr, Romero, Kulusevski and Bentancur, Bissouma and Richarlison who are all quality players.

This is far better recruitment than prior to his appointment.

The results for me are on Conte (and I fully agree with your stance on him!) as between his silly 3-4-3 losing the midfield battlers and his misuse of the squad / lack of rotation, we should be playing a lot better.

He’s completely wasted Bissouma who should have been playing in a 4-3-3, alongside midfielders like PEH who are also clearly better in a three.

And his use of Richarlison has been very very poor as well, why the heck is he not starting left side over Son at this point?

He was banging on about squad last season and also hasn’t used Danjuma properly either since he came in.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

Mason will be naive at times because of lack of experience.

However, his coaching sessions have been said to be very good for the players and they enjoyed them. A lot of detail and intensity apparently.

That doesn't always translate well into games because there's other dynamics there. However, Mason will have learnt A LOT from being on the bench with Conte and I think him and Stellini showed that they were very active in changing things on the pitch during our games vs Preston and City.

Not saying he's the right coach but he's certainly going about things the right way.

All very true.

Obviously I’m not saying Mason is better than Conte but i genuinely enjoyed the football he got us playing aside from the cup final vs City, the 6 games and 4 wins he had in charge were the closest to something resembling Pochball and were a refreshing change from Joseball.

Conte is on £15ml a year and we are unwatchable for me that’s terrible value for money.

 

[AtoubaToothpaste]

The spending he’s done isn’t crazy, and should actually be the norm regardless of manager given the stadium and revenue. Paratici has been fine and the business with him so far has mostly been good and hasn’t involved exuberant spending also. If Conte leaves that’s it is what it is, but I’m not gonna want yet another change in manager until he shows what he can do with all the tools required, which I already said isn’t gonna require a lot more money. A competent defence at least then it’s time to show what you’ve really got.

Despite everything that has come out over recent months, do you honestly see Conte signing on for a long-term deal at the end of the season?

 

[NickHSpurs]

It’s all starting to feel like everyone has been told and is accepting he’s off at the end of the season.