Ex-Manager watch: Antonio Conte

[Time for Heroes]

It took Klopp four years to win a trophy with Liverpool.

We need more players who are better with the ball and clever with their movement.

Has Conte got a 4 year contract?

 

[HildoSpur]

Has Conte got a 4 year contract?

Even if he did it wouldn't stop some people (and the media) expecting him to leave at any moment so it hardly matters.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

In fairness to Perisic he has 7 assists already this season, so I wouldn't say he is "barely top10 standard". But there's no doubting we need to improve our defensive players in particular CB and RWB.

Oh yea for sure I meant the set of 5 of them as a whole is no where near a title challenging squad of wing backs: Perisic, Sess, Doherty, Emerson, Spence.

Perisic by far the best for sure but even he hasn't quite hit his Inter Milan form for us just yet.

 

[Japhet]

I don't understand how we can be "shockingly poor" and be 4th in the table.

Shockingly poor? No.
Way below potential? Yes.
That should be something to get excited about shouldn't it?

 

[GutBucket]

Oh yea for sure I meant the set of 5 of them as a whole is no where near a title challenging squad of wing backs: Perisic, Sess, Doherty, Emerson, Spence.

Perisic by far the best for sure but even he hasn't quite hit his Inter Milan form for us just yet.

It's hard to find a better WB in the league than Perisic, TAA and Cancelo never looked worse defensively, Robertson has 2 assists and little defensive responsibility. Obviously past his prime and far from perfect, but we are not finding anyone better.

 

[dudu]

I don't agree we have easily the worst backline. Both Man U and Chelsea have looked hilariously bad defensively at times this season. With a run of games, I think Romero, Lenglet and Dier is a very capable back 3. I personally think the problem lies further forward in a midfield that can neither shield the defence or play their way out of trouble. IMO the difference in quality between our central midfield and that of the other teams is way bigger than any gap between our defence and theirs. The day we get a ball-playing version of whatever it is Hjobjerg supposedly brings to the team, we will start to look A LOT better

Sure.

This is per 90 mins and I've included the players who have played the most amount of mins in PEH's general position.

 

[JCRD]

Shockingly poor? No.
Way below potential? Yes.
That should be something to get excited about shouldn't it?

There have been poor first half performances - more recently Bournemouth, Marseille, Sporting and before that Wolves and Chelsea away. But yeah id say more below potential id also say its less adventurous and attacking in the first half and more attacking second half which I think is where most peoples gripes lie.

I think we are a much better side going forward than defending, we are better when pushed up 30 yards and between that middle third and their goal - the players just look far more comfortable and are more suited to it. When we win that ball high up and spread play/switch play the way we did against Liverpool - we look dangerous and exciting.

 

[PeeEyeEmPee]

Sure.

This is per 90 mins and I've included the players who have played the most amount of mins in PEH's general position.

View attachment 118871

What is this supposed to be showing me?

 

[glacierSpurs]

10 over pages of argument... Hmm.

And I thought recent surfacing of articles saying Conte wouldn't stay, couldn't wouldn't renew his contract, Conte set to leave is bad enough. Worse, Conte wouldn't wanna sign Kulu on permanent because he may not be back to his best (fuck me, it took him less than a minute and a half to set up an assist for Kane against Liverpool, prick journalists/pundits)

We need to be careful what we wish for. The gross gameplay we often saw were really very much down to 1-3 players who really not the best candidates in executing Conte's visions. The wave after wave of possession against Liverpool, yes Liverpool, was probably the best prelude to what we can be expecting when all things click. That gave me hope.

And guys, we still in the knockout stage of CL and top 4 of the table.. Ffs. Some of you make it out like we in a relegation fight.

 

[dudu]

What is this supposed to be showing me?

The gap in quality between our most played MF and those from the teams around us bar City, as, obviously their quality is nearly unmatchable.

I personally don't think the gap in quality is as big as you are making out.

 

[jurgen11]

Do you think West Ham will swap Moyes for Conte right now...

 

[Trix]

Has Conte got a 4 year contract?

What does that matter?

 

[djhotspur]

Yeah. Not saying Conte is beyond criticism as he clearly isn't, but bringing in Conte was a huge crossroads moment for the club. If we'd brought in a Gerrard-level manager post-Nuno we could've easily finished mid-table and entered another extended period of mediocrity with CL a mere pipe dream. Paratici pissing off, Kane leaving, no Kulusevksi or Bentancur coming in, still relying on Ndombele, Dele and Lo Celso, etc.

We were very close to that happening and it could've set us back years.

Even if Conte doesn't improve things from here and leaves at the end of the season, we'll be in a MUCH better place as a club with a significantly better squad than when he arrived.

Massively. I was genuinely getting very worried under nuno that it was the end for a long time of any success we could have and that we will be attempting to battle for 7th going forward.
There is such a sense of entitlement among our fan base that expects instant success and to be challenging.
I would put money on it that if arsenal were 4th and we were 3rd with Liverpool and city running away with it we’d all be happy. But arsenal being top warps our sense of success.

we are a work in progress and it’s clear we are still far away from being where we need to be in a hyper competitive league.
I also would put money on it that if arsenal were playing champions league and had martinelli, Saka, odegaard and saliba injured they would have capitulated. Because that’s what we are playing without.
We need to move on players we need new players and we need the squad to play the way we want to play. We don’t have that yet and people need to listen to Conte and to what he’s saying. Judge him next season, judge him in his 4th season and after 600/700m spent which is where arteta is.

 

[Nick-TopSpursMan]

I don't agree we have easily the worst backline. Both Man U and Chelsea have looked hilariously bad defensively at times this season. With a run of games, I think Romero, Lenglet and Dier is a very capable back 3. I personally think the problem lies further forward in a midfield that can neither shield the defence or play their way out of trouble. IMO the difference in quality between our central midfield and that of the other teams is way bigger than any gap between our defence and theirs. The day we get a ball-playing version of whatever it is Hjobjerg supposedly brings to the team, we will start to look A LOT better

No way. Our CM options now are superb. Bentancur, Hojbjerg, Bissouma and Skipp is a fantastic quartet of CMs and one of the strongest areas in our team and up there with the best teams.

We don't have a playmaker in there because our shape is different but in terms of all round CMs ours are excellent.

At the back however, we have Romero who is quality but then we have Lenglet who has been ok but nothing great, Dier and Davies who are average players, then Sanchez who is poor.

 

[djhotspur]

Without Romero, maybe even with him, we easily have the worst backline out of the big 6.

Martinez and Varane looked very good for United.
Koulibaly, Fofana and Silva should be very strong.
Any 2 from Dias, Stones, Akanji, Ake and Laporte is ideal for City.
Van Dijk and Matip or Konate for Liverpool.
Even Saliba and Gabriel at Arsenal.

They all have either a really strong or very good balance with some top CBs there.

Romero at his best is class and I do think Lenglet has been great too but seen as we work with a 3, because of the drop off with the others we don't yet have that overall quality.

You also have to have an athletic/quick type in the PL. That's where I think we will be focusing.

I agree but they also cost an insane amount. I’m sure when we’ve signed the big money cb we want and another cb we’ll be much closer to where we need to be

 

[djhotspur]

10 over pages of argument... Hmm.

And I thought recent surfacing of articles saying Conte wouldn't stay, couldn't wouldn't renew his contract, Conte set to leave is bad enough. Worse, Conte wouldn't wanna sign Kulu on permanent because he may not be back to his best (fuck me, it took him less than a minute and a half to set up an assist for Kane against Liverpool, prick journalists/pundits)

We need to be careful what we wish for. The gross gameplay we often saw were really very much down to 1-3 players who really not the best candidates in executing Conte's visions. The wave after wave of possession against Liverpool, yes Liverpool, was probably the best prelude to what we can be expecting when all things click. That gave me hope.

And guys, we still in the knockout stage of CL and top 4 of the table.. Ffs. Some of you make it out like we in a relegation fight.

Haha article on Kulu was hilarious. I read it and thought why the hell are you even bothering to write this. The guy was out for 2 months, he’s not coming back from a year out from an ACL reconstruction

 

[ERO]

Sure.

This is per 90 mins and I've included the players who have played the most amount of mins in PEH's general position.

View attachment 118871

That's very poor usage of a green-orange-red scale.

 

[C-oops]

Reading some of the comments and seeing the overall impatient nature of our fans, I can't help but think if Arteta had been our manager and we finished the last few seasons like Arsenal have then we wouldn't have 'trusted the process' we would have called for him to be sacked, probably in his second season. Arsenal are now starting to reap the benefits of giving the Manager time and backing him - can we not do the same?

Do I want to see more positive football, especially in the first half of matches? Yes.

However, we are in the top 4 and have topped our CL group - all whilst being in the middle of an injury crisis and not playing to the standard that we all know we can. Things are actually more positive than people are making out.

His process it turns out was to be amongst the biggest spenders in Europe over 2 years

 

[PeeEyeEmPee]

No way. Our CM options now are superb. Bentancur, Hojbjerg, Bissouma and Skipp is a fantastic quartet of CMs and one of the strongest areas in our team and up there with the best teams.

We don't have a playmaker in there because our shape is different but in terms of all round CMs ours are excellent.

At the back however, we have Romero who is quality but then we have Lenglet who has been ok but nothing great, Dier and Davies who are average players, then Sanchez who is poor.

Again, I'm happy to agree to disagree. I don't think we're at all good on the ball in the middle of the field. When given time and space, then yes, but a lot of the time it falls apart under any sort pressure. A large percentage of the passing is either sideways or backwards, our first-touch at times is horrific, and players sometimes need an eternity to bring the ball under full control, which kills opportunities stone-dead. We either don't see passes quickly enough or are unable to make them, they can't play one-touch or receive the ball on the half-turn when required, I could go on. This is why we struggle to establish any sort of meaningful possession in our opponent's half. Which teams is it that our midfield is up there with? KDB/Gundogan/Rodri/Silva at City? Fabinho/Thiago/Henderson at Liverpool? Xhaka/Partey/Odegaard at Arsenal? Eriksen/Casemiro/Fernandes at United? The stats don't appear to back that up at all

Compare our chart to that of the other top teams. Before you say it, I know some of this is probably due to how terrible our wing-backs are, making it easier for teams to pack the middle of the pitch against us, but IMO the primary reason for this is the quality of our midfield compared to theirs

The gap in quality between our most played MF and those from the teams around us bar City, as, obviously their quality is nearly unmatchable.

I personally don't think the gap in quality is as big as you are making out.

See above

 

[PeeEyeEmPee]

That's very poor usage of a green-orange-red scale.

Yup, I work in data visualisation and it had me scratching my head