Antonio Conte - Now Officially Manager

[Ukraine Bolt]

9 hours ago, Slojo said:

Sorry but that's bollox

Cahill was our best centre back in 2013-2015, he was the one covering Terry not the other way around. Terry was the organisation of the defence and solid as a rock but Cahill would always get the last ditch tackles in and track the runners. He was absolutely immense in Mourinho's first season, and very good in the title-winning season. 

Although he played well those seasons i think the majority of defenders could have done his job those season. As you say, he was only ever really sweeping behind Terry with the two best defensive full backs in the league either side. 

[jack_super_class]

Anyone think Conte to go back to the 3 in central midfield against Utd away? i hope we dont but its a possibility as we did beat them 1-0 playing that way.

[The Liquidator]

He's finished at this club. Awful tactics and subs. He's lost the plot. 

[enigma]

this was a winnable game, they were tired from a midweek game in seville and we didn't even take that into consideration. no need for 5 defenders today and getting outnumbered in midfield. he was regarded as a "genius" last season for the change in formation when we were poor early in the season, but this season he's stuck with that formation, it's not really worked, but he's not changing it. that is the most frustrating for me. you need to bring your bollocks to a game like this away from me.  

Edited February 25, 2018 by enigma

[Ukraine Bolt]

Only attacking when we’re losing is painful. 

[TheChelsRVA]

Conte has managed one good game in 2018. 

[Ukraine Bolt]

4 minutes ago, TheChelsRVA said:

Conte has managed one good game in 2018. 

And we still didn’t win that game. 

[The Liquidator]

So we're now:

(1) 5th in the league.

(2) Conte plays an out of form striker for 90 mins who has been playing like a pussy and moaning like a bitch.

(3) But subs out his BEST PLAYER in a must win game at 1-1.

(4) For f**king Pedro in reaction to a bang average United bringing on the mighty Jesse f**king Lingaard.

(5) And Conte manages to make Mourinho look proactive in the 2nd half.

This together with several other reasons is why I'm now officially CONTE OUT. I'm just tired of watching f**king boring as hell managers managing my club. Not just concernign this game but in general. Watch us average 25% possession away to City and Barcelona and get battered and abused in both games despite 100 of millions of investment from Abramovich we still play caveman football. Shameful. 

[Total-Football]

Conte out but who in? Gus Hiddink would be just  as sh*t and we would still not make top 4. His last time here was awful.

Ancelotti is an aging manager with outdated methods and would not make our team better. Going back to old managers is always a bad idea and it would end in disaster. 

The only other managers, aren't available until at least the summer. Who can we choose?

Luis Enrique may join but I don't see it myself. LVG? That could go either way, more likely then not it will go to sh*t. We're up sh*t Creek here with a manager who doesn't want to be here and a board who lack any ambition, things look sh*t. 

If they had balls they would try for Howe but the board are cowardly and we will be stuck with a safe and uninspired choice like Hiddink who won't offer any long term hope nor any new ideas to the squad. 

[The Liquidator]

17 minutes ago, Total-Football said:

Conte out but who in? Gus Hiddink would be just  as sh*t and we would still not make top 4. His last time here was awful.

Ancelotti is an aging manager with outdated methods and would not make our team better. Going back to old managers is always a bad idea and it would end in disaster. 

The only other managers, aren't available until at least the summer. Who can we choose?

Luis Enrique may join but I don't see it myself. LVG? That could go either way, more likely then not it will go to sh*t. We're up sh*t Creek here with a manager who doesn't want to be here and a board who lack any ambition, things look sh*t. 

If they had balls they would try for Howe but the board are cowardly and we will be stuck with a safe and uninspired choice like Hiddink who won't offer any long term hope nor any new ideas to the squad. 

We also said the same thing when Mourinho lost the plot here 2nd time around. "No one can replace him". Listen, Conte out and lets get a proactive manager in. Tuchel, Sarri, Jardim. It's obvious that our board can not compete with the 2 Manchester clubs financially so its going to be incrediblly difficult for us to seriously fight for titles. Let's focus on consolidating top 4 and finishing up the expansion of Stamford Bridge. If we're not going to be fighting the league at least lets not be subjected to rudimentary counter attacking football and reactive tactics. 

Edited February 25, 2018 by The Liquidator

[Zeta]

I'm torn on Conte.

I like him, but he obviously doesn't want to be here and hasn't wanted to be all summer. On the plus side he's a good manager and can get a lot out of mediocre players, on the downside, he is very defensive and has a poor record in big games.

But is there anyone else who would get better results with a squad containing the likes of Moses, Zappacosta, Drinkwater, Bakayoko, Barkley, etc...?

If the board is going to continue to buy average and/or injured players for the forseeable future, he's not going to suddenly change his mind and want to stay, so we'll have to change, but f**k knows who they think can turn some of those players into a top side. We're skating dangerously across the ice of falling away like Liverpool and Arsenal did, and if we don't make top 4 this season, I will seriously worry about our short-term future, as I can't see Hazard wanting another season without CL football, nor Courtois.

[Kentonio]

I am so f**king angry right now. Taking Hazard off was utterly and completely stupid and just handed control of the match to United. What the hell was he thinking?!

[Total-Football]

20 minutes ago, The Liquidator said:

We also said the same thing when Mourinho lost the plot here 2nd time around. "No one can replace him". Listen, Conte out and lets get a proactive manager in. Tuchel, Sarri, Jardim. It's obvious that our board can not compete with the 2 Manchester clubs financially so its going to be incrediblly difficult for us to seriously fight for titles. Let's focus on consolidating top 4 and finishing up the expansion of Stamford Bridge. If we're not going to be fighting the league at least lets not be subjected to rudimentary counter attacking football and reactive tactics. 

The only one of those who is available right now is Tuchel and he is as bad as Conte with regards to arguing with the board over transfers. We need a guy who will work with a board that constantly weakens his team every summer but can also get good results with good football. Jardim and Sarri are the best choices but aren't available right now.

[brownindian]

2 minutes ago, Total-Football said:

The only one of those who is available right now is Tuchel and he is as bad as Conte with regards to arguing with the board over transfers. We need a guy who will work with a board that constantly weakens his team every summer but can also get good results with good football. Jardim and Sarri are the best choices but aren't available right now.

No manager can do that. As much a manager can setup the teams formation to allow them to play to their max potential and have the team playing as a unit, the more talent we lose the sh*ttier the team gets. This is not a vote for Conte. I am still torn on if he needs to stay or get fired. 

[The Liquidator]

5 minutes ago, Total-Football said:

The only one of those who is available right now is Tuchel and he is as bad as Conte with regards to arguing with the board over transfers. We need a guy who will work with a board that constantly weakens his team every summer but can also get good results with good football. Jardim and Sarri are the best choices but aren't available right now.

If we offer Jardim or Sarri enough money they will be. I see no reason why Jardim will turn us down. And Tuchel is not the type of manager who will want to sign Alex Sandro for 60 million. Sarri will be a bit more difficult as he loves it in Naples and Laurentis is a pain to deal with but again I see no reason why he should be unattainable for us. Anyway, Conte doesn't like our board and I don't like his football. Top 4 is looking increasingly unlikely. Invariably, he's going to be gone next summer and I want his replacement to be a manager with an attacking philosophy. We haven't played great football consistently since Ancelotti. That's shameful. We actually played better football in the 6 or 7 preceeding years before Abramovich's takeover. That makes no sense, unless you're consistently employing managers with similar playing philosophies. 

[Ernie_blue]

A team with more attacking ambition would have been at least 2-0 Up at half-time with the amount of possession Chelsea saw. We had the ball a lot but I just don't ever see Chelsea notching it up that extra gear and punishing a team, then I would understand sitting back in the second half.

[brownindian]

3 minutes ago, Ernie_blue said:

A team with more attacking ambition would have been at least 2-0 Up at half-time with the amount of possession Chelsea saw. We had the ball a lot but I just don't ever see Chelsea notching it up that extra gear and punishing a team, then I would understand sitting back in the second half.

I miss the days when Chelsea used to do this. I really think if we need to adopt that mentality we need to hire a manager who can do that, trophies be damned. Tuschel would be a good choice - Brendan Rodgers would be the poor mans choice ... LOL. How is Luiz Enrique ? 

[Eden17]

Enrique knows f**k all about football guys...

[enigma]

One thing i will say though is that i agree with conte's sentiments earlier in the season when he spoke about replacing the old guard and having brought in younger players who are new to the league and style of play. It is a different era, we've now got a new backline and midfield. Of course the transition was never going to be instant. We had to replace the old guard. The likes of Spurs and Liverpool, even City with Pep last season have had time to get used to each other and the style of football. I know Klopp and Poch haven't been successful, but their philosophy is now being understood and coming good.

Whether it will continue we don't know, but we have had to try and replace those experienced players, which was never going to be simple to do. The problem with modern day football is the results need to be instant because expectations are high, so there's no time for players and the coach to get comfortable. Spurs and Liverpool have had the time to do exactly this, more so than ourselves as the managers and players have been at the club longer, and also the pressure is so much less than at Chelsea. 

[Total-Football]

21 minutes ago, The Liquidator said:

If we offer Jardim or Sarri enough money they will be. I see no reason why Jardim will turn us down. And Tuchel is not the type of manager who will want to sign Alex Sandro for 60 million. Sarri will be a bit more difficult as he loves it in Naples and Laurentis is a pain to deal with but again I see no reason why he should be unattainable for us. Anyway, Conte doesn't like our board and I don't like his football. Top 4 is looking increasingly unlikely. Invariably, he's going to be gone next summer and I want his replacement to be a manager with an attacking philosophy. We haven't played great football consistently since Ancelotti. That's shameful. We actually played better football in the 6 or 7 preceeding years before Abramovich's takeover. That makes no sense, unless you're consistently employing managers with similar playing philosophies. 

Tuchel quite Dortmund because they sold Hummels. He would pull the same sh*t as Conte and for that reason it's a no-go. 

Sarri plays the best football but would be a massive pain in the arse to sign and least likely to come.

Jardim plays good attacking football but may not be suited for a top side (His sides counter a lot). He does play a lot of youth and deals well with losing his best players. I think he would be our best bet right now.

Simeone is a dog sh*t style worse then any other managers at a top club. Signing him would be horrible to watch.

Allegri is too similar to Conte. He doesn't play great football and is a bit uninspiring.

Ancelotti has been left behind by the game (Similarly to Mourinho) and Bayern regressed heavily under him. He would fail at Chelsea and the football wouldn't improve much.

LVG would likely be awful and even worse to watch then Conte.

Brendan Rodgers has not done anything to show that he can handle a club like Chelsea. He needs to do more to prove himself.

Luis Enrique is a mystery. He was awful at Roma but great at Barca. His time there is skewed by having such an awesome front three. Also the football was hit and miss and a lot of Barca fans reckon he had no clue tactically. Would be interesting and could go either way.

I can't think of many other managers who we could sign.

[Ernie_blue]

13 minutes ago, enigma said:

One thing i will say though is that i agree with conte's sentiments earlier in the season when he spoke about replacing the old guard and having brought in younger players who are new to the league and style of play. It is a different era, we've now got a new backline and midfield. Of course the transition was never going to be instant. We had to replace the old guard. The likes of Spurs and Liverpool, even City with Pep last season have had time to get used to each other and the style of football. I know Klopp and Poch haven't been successful, but their philosophy is now being understood and coming good.

Whether it will continue we don't know, but we have had to try and replace those experienced players, which was never going to be simple to do. The problem with modern day football is the results need to be instant because expectations are high, so there's no time for players and the coach to get comfortable. Spurs and Liverpool have had the time to do exactly this, more so than ourselves as the managers and players have been at the club longer, and also the pressure is so much less than at Chelsea. 

Drogba, Lampard and Cole left a while ago.

[zes]

Negative defensive football doesn't win you trophies anymore. All the top teams in the champions league attack. They have strong technical players who move the ball forward rather than sideways and backwards. Mourinho is suffering now as he is similar to Conte with his football philosophy. Plenty of evidence for everyone to see. Even Juventus the other week got battered by Spurs when they parked the bus and had no free flowing attacking play, most likely to get knocked out by Spurs now. All it requires is a small brainfart like the one from Christensen to undo all the work of maintaining a 1-0 lead. The board need to attain a coach in the same vain as Sarri or Pep.

[Kentonio]

22 minutes ago, zes said:

Negative defensive football doesn't win you trophies anymore. All the top teams in the champions league attack. They have strong technical players who move the ball forward rather than sideways and backwards. Mourinho is suffering now as he is similar to Conte with his football philosophy. Plenty of evidence for everyone to see. Even Juventus the other week got battered by Spurs when they parked the bus and had no free flowing attacking play, most likely to get knocked out by Spurs now. All it requires is a small brainfart like the one from Christensen to undo all the work of maintaining a 1-0 lead. The board need to attain a coach in the same vain as Sarri or Pep.

No Pep wannabe please, I despise his style of football.

[JM7]

I love Conte but he has spent far too much of this season up his own backside complaining and moaning. It will cost us while he walk away. 

I think if he fails to get us top 4, the club should ask him to do one more season and get us back into CL. Unlikely but it’s the least he should do. This squad is good enough for top 4 easily. 

[Bobbywoodhogan]

2 hours ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Only attacking when we’re losing is painful. 

Yeah that was frustrating as hell, we should have taken the game to them after the first half. They couldn’t handle us but again poor tactics and subs cost us. This might seem hyperbolic but I’m fed up with Conte and I’ll be glad when he leaves.