Our problems listed down:

. Little goal threat (Only Costa as a consistent goalscorer)

.Little to no creativity  (Fabregas is the only player who seems to be creative and decisive with his passing and he is inconsistent)

. A midfield that can't keep hold of the ball under pressure

. No width as both wingers and fullbacks are inverted (Both opposite foot) or old and past it

. Defenders who can't handle sustained pressure from an offensive side and lack organisation

. Half the team seemingly wanting to press up high and the other half wanting to sit deep 

 

We are a complete mismatch of players that don't fit together. Like a jigsaw for different puzzles just jumbled together. We need much more cohesion in our style and the players we want to sign in the future. We need creative, decisive offensive players. Too many guys like Hazard and Willian doing silly little tricks which don't affect the game. We need midfielders that can hold onto the ball and bridge the gap between defence and attack. We need faster defenders who want to push up and close the gaps between defence and attack. And we also need fullbacks who will offer width and first time balls into the box. 

 

About 5/6 players there.

Don Conte certainly has his work cut out for him. If this performance hasn't made him see that we need to change the naff players as well as the naff formation then he won't last long unfortunately.

50 minutes ago, didierforever said:

Also the man whose decisions made sure that it would be atleast 20 years for which we wont win the title.

I would love to have a manager take such decisions every year. Win this season year build from next one should always be the mantra.

1 hour ago, brownindian said:

The pressing game also cannot be implemented in a whim, It took Liverpool half of last season, the off season and getting the right players (and younger players) to be able to learn the Gegenpress technique and implement it. Conte just walked into his job and he did not even have time to test out his 3 CB formation. We truly look terrible in all aspects of the game. If you want to try the Liverpool style, it is not going to happen with the likes of Pedro, Cesc, Hazard, Oscar in our midfield. We need a make over. 

 

I am theorizing here, but the only formation that I think may help us will be to play the 2 striker system which will give the oppositions defenders something to do than marching comfortably into our half. We need someone like Vidal who can effectively like the midfield with the attack.

Our CM positions seems to be a pick your poison options. Play the CMs closer to the defenders to shield them, but it blunts our attack. Or play them closer to the forwards to allow them to support the forwards but leave the defense exposed.

Sure there are specific ways to go about it, but it isn't rocket science. 

Call it whatever fancy name you want, any 10 players can understand what collectively limiting space and time on the ball means. They've done it before. They're footballers.

 

He seems to have given them very specific instructions which led to them to play timidly and make it very easy for both Arsenal and Liverpool. 

Though our team of seemingly weak-minded individuals played below the level of a Sunday-league kickabout, this one is down to Conte. Such a poor showing is unforgivable. It's his job to get it right - the line-up, tactics, subs, motivation, mentality - he got it all wrong on this occasion.

This evening we saw a ruthless Arsenal team that I thought was myth... playing with a cut-throat mentality, direct, incisive play, on the break and in possession, much like we used to do. I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking: we made Arsenal look much better than they really are. No real leadership, organisation, pressing, attacking strategy on our part, went through the motions and allowed Arsenal to play their usual game - one that we know very well how to beat... Only this time around we fielded a poor team + tactics and handed them a win on a platter.

______

After seeing the lineup at 5:29pm today I immediately thought back to that 5-3 mauling we were dealt, given the similarities between the starting line-ups, our poor form, and an unfamiliar system/formation. Remember - an over-the-hill RB who cannot defend, two sluggish CBs covering an even slower midfield sporting limited technical ability/energy, an isolated playmaker, narrow-playing wingers, and a striker feeding off scraps?

• 2011: Bosingwa at RB, CB duo of Terry/Ivanovic, Mikel/Lampard as DMs, Mata at CAM, Ramires on the wing, and of course, Torres... not to mention the AVB high-line suicide tactics.
   
• Today: Starting Ivanovic at RB (against Arsenal... at home... with the quickest squad in the League), no JT but fielding Cahil/Luiz as an erratic CB paring, a sluggish + limited midfield of Kante/Matic to "try" generate attacks from deep, and feed a static Fabregas to dictate play and supply Hazard/Costa.

No pace or urgency in midfield create, close down, or to cover a defensive line you'd piece together at TK Maxx. To be honest, what were we expecting with that team? This was asking for a spanking.

It looks as though Conte still doesn't know how to deploy our squad. Surely three months in the job is sufficient? Failing that there's always last season's footage, or even backroom staff/board/whoever's insight to draw from... I really don't know. But to not know your strongest XI/formation after a full pre-season, six games into the PL, without Europe to worry about, and give probably the worst performance I've seen since maybe the early 2000's?? 

_____

Yes he's got the backing, funds, depth, but seeing Pep turn City into the team they are currently makes our situation very hard to swallow. Implementing a foreign possession-based style, flogging off deadwood/unsuitable players, while introducing a number of new/unproven signings AND making use of old players on the books who aren't necessarily the best fit - all literally within weeks of walking into the job is impressive.

We both have:

• A clinical strikeforce
• Similar [deep] midfielders: Fernandinho/Kante - Gundogan/Fabregas - Silva/Oscar+Willian+Hazard
• Hit-n-miss wingers - Sterling/Navas/Nolito - Willian/Moses/Hazard/Pedro (ok, Pedro is just miss)
• Dodgy CBs, limited fullbacks, and porous 2015-16 backlines. 

Yet again, City are pulling away from us... not just on the table but also in regards to quality of play, attack/defence, signings etc. etc. Liverpool, Spurs, Arsenal all upping their game, too. Just can't work out why we aren't clicking.

Lack of new quality? Are our players not as good as I/we think? Conte failing to turn it around? Last season lingering?

 

Despite today's dreadful display, I feel Conte was pressured by fans, media, pundits, even the players themselves, to start a team/formation that he wasn't completely happy with - i.e Cesc. Here's hoping that today has shown Conte everything he needs to know about his players to make the necessary adjustments, and get this team playing at a level they are capable of. Such a shame seeing talent wasted, our top players dragged down by a select few. Look forward to seeing JT/Zouma back in the team.

 

Edited September 25, 20169 yr by joshd24

I expect Conte to walk away this season from the mess the Board has created.  I fail to see how he would last when he was not backed with the first choice players he wanted and the quality of the defense and midfield is far too low for him to be able to make anything of it.  

As Long as the Board continues to dish out contract extensions to the likes of Ivanovic and keep a bunch of Cahill and Mikel deadwood hanging around while refusing to spend top dollar to buy real quality players (not last minute panic buys ala Luiz and Alonso), no coach in the world would be able to improve the current dire predicament at the bridge.  

And no decent coach would want to touch this job - why would he if the expectations are to win the league or at the minimum finish top 4 while the Board only sanctions he transfer of second rate players and keeps extending the contracts of deadwood players?

We're worse than last season. At least last year we would start games off quite well, then collapse when we conceded the first goal. This year we don't even have a good start. Poor performances all season. Got a couple of late goals to salvage some points otherwise we'd be right down the table again.

only pep or ancelotti i would take over conte, but right now there's no other coach/manager out there available. i want us to keep him here, even if it means going through some rough periods along the way. i just don't want any more instability at the club. keep conte and the board need to look at how they can do their part to make the club top again. 

@enigma

 

you seriously wouldnt take the best manager in the world in simeone? he might be available this summer with the right money

i'm not implying that i want conte to be sacked, but with this circus of a defense and if zouma can't regain his form quickly, and if terry can't stay fit (showing symptoms of old age already a light ligament bruise and he needs almost 3 weeks to recover), and with out trigger finger owner, it's just not looking good honestly, 

It's defintely going to take longer than we thought to rebuild. I think thought that Conte's target is top 4 minimum but that is looking unlikely. 

The players don't look as if they are playing together - all individual players and lacking confidence. 

Its going to take longer than 5 games. 

I think Conte might tinker with the formation. If he tries 3 at back it would be Zouma-Luiz-Terry. Cahill has no place being a center back that holds the ball and creates from deep. 

Just now, havelschayes said:

@enigma

 

you seriously wouldnt take the best manager in the world in simeone? he might be available this summer with the right money

i'm not implying that i want conte to be sacked, but with this circus of a defense and if zouma can't regain his form quickly, and if terry can't stay fit (showing symptoms of old age already a light ligament bruise and he needs almost 3 weeks to recover), and with out trigger finger owner, it's just not looking good honestly, 

Simeone has already said he doesn't want to manage in England because of the language. He wants to return to inter and tbh, I'm just not a fan of his tactics and style of football. I feel ancelotti left the club too early and pep would've been fantastic but we messed up our chance with poor player acquisitions and sacking managers left n right. Klopp wasn't great last season, but this season liverpool are looking good. The coach needs time, and on top of conte being new to the league and country, he also implementing a new tactics and also it's been a while since he was last in club football so he's needing to adjust too. 

Edited September 25, 20169 yr by enigma

This time last year we were or were about to make fun of Klopp for having similar/worse record to Rodgers. Just saying.

24 minutes ago, Stim said:

This time last year we were or were about to make fun of Klopp for having similar/worse record to Rodgers. Just saying.

This time last year Klopp did not sign for Liverpool yet ?

skip the were part and use the were about to. I didn't really care about liverpool enough to check so covered both bases. Point still stands.

1 hour ago, Stim said:

This time last year we were or were about to make fun of Klopp for having similar/worse record to Rodgers. Just saying.

Yeah but while his results were poor, you could see how he was changing their style of play. The team was clearly evolving under him even if they weren't winning games. I don't see what style Conte is trying to bring to our play. We still look to be trying to drop off and hit teams on the counter in the big games, which is what we have done for years already, only now we are doing it less effectively than we used to

I think that's a bit of revisionist history.

I agree with Stim, people were talking about Klopp already being a dud within the first few months of him being at Liverpool. We need to give him time, Conte won't have got any sleep last night because he will do everything he can to turn this around and he genuinely cares, whereas most of our players would have forgotten about it after a shower. Conte definitely isn't blameless for our current form but pointing the finger firmly at the manager isn't going to help, we did that last season, changed managers and we still finished 10th. The board have been very very naive in thinking that we can turn this team of lazy underachievers, old men and bumbling idiots back into title challengers so he fact that Conte couldn't get his top targets already gave him a disadvantage.

We aren't even doing that. We are sitting deep and then playing possession football when we get the ball. It's paradoxical.

 

I don't think I have ever seen a new manager come in and show absolutely zero change in style or form the way Conte has. It's been prettysh*t from him up till now. He doesn't seem to even know what he wants to do with the team.

Sacked a world class manager, barely changed the team, brought in another world class manager and the team is still sh*t, who could have guessed?

Perhaps we need to sack Conte and bring in another manager who will be expected to work miracles with the same sh*t again.

Although he really isn't helping himself by persisting with the likes of Ivanovic.

Edited September 25, 20169 yr by Jonty

A couple of late goals made the start look better than it really was before some big teams can around.

When you look at Chelsea's defence it is actually better than most other top teams and the best team in the league which is City. For me it's Dave, Luiz, Terry, Alonso. I rate it higher than every other team apart from Spurs.

Admittedly Chelsea haven't had the chance to play Terry with Luiz but how do other managers make it work?

Chelsea have a good keeper but he seems to lack confidence without a leader at the back. Chelsea also have the best DM in the prem who just needs to sit there and break up the play.

That should be enough defensively, it is for every other top team.

Chelsea just lack a lot going forward and teams know you stop Hazard and you stop Chelsea.

3 hours ago, JM7 said:

It's defintely going to take longer than we thought to rebuild. I think thought that Conte's target is top 4 minimum but that is looking unlikely. 

The players don't look as if they are playing together - all individual players and lacking confidence. 

Its going to take longer than 5 games. 

There wouldnt be much left to rebuild for in a couple of seasons. City, United and Arsenal will always be strong. If dippers and spurs establish themselves above us, we will become bottom feeders like west ham and spurs used to be.

This is a very peculiar time to be rebuilding with everyone else doing so well.

Anyone who thinks getting rid of another manager Is the answer is sadly deluded. This manager must be given the opportunity to build HIS team. Also absolutely no top class manager will touch us now they are all avoiding us because of the sack him mentality. I have accepted we will be battling for Top 6 at best next few seasons but it will turn around we have been spoilt for a while now so it's time for a reality check and enjoy our mid table scraps it won't be for ever Conte will turn it around given the backing he needs. The team needs a rebuild and we are not first choice anymore in the market we are not top 5 either when top players are deciding to move

Ideally Conte, his top coach, Roman, Emanalo and whoever else need to sit around the table and discuss which players and team will work for us.

Being alble to land transfer targets is one thing but making the best of the squad you have is another. And really, our team is seriously underperforming. Ever presents like Cahill, Matic and Ivan no not work in this team. Playing defensive players on the wrong sides is also flawed. And its simply clear that 2 DMs do not work.

Starting births need changing immediately if Conte want to survive in this job.