Ex-Manager watch: Antonio Conte

[ComfortablyNumb]

Yep, this signing got me more excited than any transfer i can remember in a long while having seen what he has done for a number of years previously in the premier league. Still absolutely baffled by how poor he has been.

Past performance does not guarantee future results. Players’ legs go at some points, managers’ approaches go out of date. We should have checked Conte’s use by date.

 

[Humbolt]

He should have been fired for his team selection yesterday alone. Playing a 2 man midfield against the Scum is a sackable offence. It was absolutely fucking obvious that we were going to be overloaded and outmanned. There are tribes of native people living in the Amazon jungle that are as yet untouched by civilisation that could have told you that.

Plus what on earth possessed him to play Sessegnon over Perisic? Sessegnon should be nowhere near the starting eleven, he's so average it pains me everytime I see him on the teamsheet. He's garbage.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

I'll just point out the reason Edu and Arteta are on the same page is that Edu understands the player manager relationship and that the managers voice should always be the loudest and most listened to.

Great point so true and I think Paratici gets this too, in the Juve AON docco he made some interesting statements about the manager being most important and needing full control to shape their vision, if Pirlo the manager at the time didn’t want a player then Paraitici & Nedved walked over and told them they needed to find a new club asap.

Different story at spurs with Levy’s meddling

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

I think my main issue with getting rid of Conte is that it consigns us to mediocrity and also rans. We might be better on the eye in the short term but it will always be business as usual from the top. For me although the football is poor Conte represents the fan base more than any other manager we've had, because he feels exactly the same. We have an opportunity NOW, not in 5 years time after another project. If we accept a manager that'll come in and is happy to work with and somewhat improve the players the board get them then we are accepting that getting by is enough.

We'll go back to being the team that finds the odd gem builds them up then has to sell them to meet their ambitions. When you add in there are more teams now pushing to win NOW than there were under Poch, I think it's fair to say this approach will see pushing for Europa as ambitious as there will be 6 teams happy to outspend us every season. remember the stadium was going to be a game changer, yet DL is still stood here playing the same old games.

World class Stadium
World class Training ground
World class manager
Daniel Levy

Such a great post.

I am a little torn because the football ⚽️ is really hard to watch atm and has been for a while and I do think Conte needs to take some blame for the way he’s set us up and style of play/tactics etc BUT you’re spot on that if we ever want to make a dent on Levy then Conte is the very best man to do that, especially in combination with his mate Paratici.

 

[13VanDerBale13]

I can honestly see us not signing anyone this window, which will be the clearest indication yet that he’s walking in the summer, & the season will fall off like a cliff.

 

[leray]

We've got a Managing Director, Football who was supposed to be the guy taking care of footballing matters. He masterminded appointing Conte and got us Bentancur and Kulusevski.

But all the smoke coming from the club is about Conte vs Levy. Levy doesn't want to back a manager who wouldn't be here next season and Conte won't commit without backing. But Paratici should be between those two. Speak sense to both of them, be the guy who'd guarantee that both Conte and Levy are on the same page.

So my question is. Where is he? We're not hearing much about him 'cooking' and 'spinning plates' this window. As I said in December, I'm seriously worried about his involvement in all the Juve shenanigans.

 

[TOLBINY]

Conte has been lambasted for not changing things sooner by a lot of posters, none of whom appeared to notice the tactical change that helped us improve in the second half...we went man to man marking.

 

[Humbolt]

Is it too late to bin the lot of them off and start FC Hotspur of Tottenham?

 

[Bluto Blutarsky]

I can honestly see us not signing anyone this window, which will be the clearest indication yet that he’s walking in the summer, & the season will fall off like a cliff.

The frustrating part for me - this was foreseeable, and should have been dealt with over the WC break.

If you aren’t going to back Conte, then own that decision, move on, and pick the manager you are going to back.

So far it appears that Levy has yet to find the manager he is willing to back…

 

[Pekoni]

We've got a Managing Director, Football who was supposed to be the guy taking care of footballing matters. He masterminded appointing Conte and got us Bentancur and Kulusevski.

But all the smoke coming from the club is about Conte vs Levy. Levy doesn't want to back a manager who wouldn't be here next season and Conte won't commit without backing. But Paratici should be between those two. Speak sense to both of them, be the guy who'd guarantee that both Conte and Levy are on the same page.

So my question is. Where is he? We're not hearing much about him 'cooking' and 'spinning plates' this window. As I said in December, I'm seriously worried about his involvement in all the Juve shenanigans.

”don’t do anything until Conte commits to the club” - Levy
”don’t do anything until Levy gives assurances“ - Conte
??‍ - Paratici

But really, I doubt he’s just pissing around. They have shut down the leaks pretty well. Like the only “long” sagas I can remember with Paratici being the DOF are Romero and Spence (although that was Levy’s doing)

 

[JCRD]

He should have been fired for his team selection yesterday alone. Playing a 2 man midfield against the Scum is a sackable offence. It was absolutely fucking obvious that we were going to be overloaded and outmanned. There are tribes of native people living in the Amazon jungle that are as yet untouched by civilisation that could have told you that.

Plus what on earth possessed him to play Sessegnon over Perisic? Sessegnon should be nowhere near the starting eleven, he's so average it pains me everytime I see him on the teamsheet. He's garbage.

The two man midfield, i agree with you not to mention sitting on the edge of our 18 yrd box - ridiculous and learning no lessons from last time out against them.

What I dont blame him for is playing Sess... two games in four days - Man City away, I can see why he played Sess here. Having said that id have actually played Sess against Man City as he has done well against them previously.

But yeah - two man midfield? Not good.

 

[HodisGawd]

And yet here we are.

Welcome to football and the fact it's impossible to predict the future.

 

[HodisGawd]

The two man midfield, i agree with you not to mention sitting on the edge of our 18 yrd box - ridiculous and learning no lessons from last time out against them.

What I dont blame him for is playing Sess... two games in four days - Man City away, I can see why he played Sess here. Having said that id have actually played Sess against Man City as he has done well against them previously.

But yeah - two man midfield? Not good.

Aim to put out our best team against Arsenal and then accept it if we lose to City, or go weak vs Arsenal and aim to beat City?

As a fan, if there's a choice it's definitely, definitely the former.

Perisic should have played.

 

[coysjod]

Come on then you turd slinging monkey who can't stick to one opinion from one post to another. You are such a plastic. Which one would DL have bought? Antony?

Shame on you Matthew!

 

[spurmin]

Yes he was and yes I said at the time. We played some decent counter-attacking football but let's not pretend that we were amazing. It was always going to be a style with a limited shelf life because the very best teams can press you and stop the passing lanes that we relied on.

Low block football does not work at the highest level anymore.

That’s just media rubbish. Counter attacking.
Take a look back at the Man city away game last season as a good example of great football.

 

[JCRD]

Aim to put out our best team against Arsenal and then accept it if we lose to City, or go weak vs Arsenal and aim to beat City?

As a fan, if there's a choice it's definitely, definitely the former.

Perisic should have played.

I agree totally with you. I can see why he played Sess even if I don't agree with it.

Madness is doing the same thing over again and expecting different results... Classic case I guess.

 

[Joshua shepherd]

And yet some of us were saying that the defence was a far bigger problem, and we didn't push the boat out on those players Conte wanted, only those that fit the age/sell on criteria Levy loves so much. I'm not saying he wasn't backed at all, but I kept saying over and over Spence was a waste of time and money because Conte didn't really want him. I said that Bissouma was a good player but not a significant upgrade on what we already had. You can't argue that he wanted Richarlisson and Peresic and he got them, but you can argue that Spence and Bissouma were not Conte's choices but he accepted them because he thought there was something to work with based on his limited knowledge of the players. It was backing him but it was half arsed and with the finacials first and foremost in mind.

Add to that, backing him means going again when the time comes. The time has come and we’re sat on our hands. Yes we may sign someone in January but if you really wanted to show intent you’d sign them December 31st.

 

[wspur]

A very good point on the View from the Lane pod. Conte not being committed to the club and invested emotionally surely doesn't motivate the players. And you can see they are just playing for the sake of it as they too don't see the point. Last season was different, Conte was committed and generated a good atmosphere and energy which enabled him to get the best out of everyone. Now he added a few great players and overall we are back to square one. No player has improved since November 2021 and we look like a club on life support. This is clearly on him and it rubbed off on the players. Levy could have done more but by no means he hasn't been backed in the summer.

Relevant to note that he had to go through the deaths of 3 friends in the space of a few months and I can't comprehend the toll this has taken on Conte. He hasn't been himself and we can see it on his behaviour on the touchline and on the pitch.

 

[HildoSpur]

A very good point on the View from the Lane pod. Conte not being committed to the club and invested emotionally surely doesn't motivate the players. And you can see they are just playing for the sake of it as they too don't see the point. Last season was different, Conte was committed and generated a good atmosphere and energy which enabled him to get the best out of everyone. Now he added a few great players and overall we are back to square one. No player has improved since November 2021 and we look like a club on life support. This is clearly on him and it rubbed off on the players. Levy could have done more but by no means he hasn't been backed in the summer.

Relevant to note that he had to go through the deaths of 3 friends in the space of a few months and I can't comprehend the toll this has taken on Conte. He hasn't been himself and we can see it on his behaviour on the touchline and on the pitch.

I don't see the players are 'just playing for the sake of it' at all. They are clearly playing for Conte, it's just they aren't good enough to do it and don't trust the defence.

 

[Albertbarich]