Antonio Conte - Now Officially Manager

[abramovich]

3 minutes ago, Ernie_blue said:

PSG anyone will win the league with that team, not a proven champions league record. 

Real he won't be getting the player's he wants.

Real already has the players most managers want.

[didierforever]

That barkley comment was harsh. And way out of line.

[Odiddy]

7 minutes ago, didierforever said:

That barkley comment was harsh. And way out of line.

from Conté? what did he say?

[Brutos]

Wenger has his number for some reason.
Hopefully we can get over this. There is bigger fish to fry.
CL against Barca, matches against the Mancs for Top4. 
Really need to get back to best. Come on Chelsea.

Yep he can beat everyone else but Wenger

[didierforever]

47 minutes ago, Odiddy said:

from Conté? what did he say?

That we were playing really well, started very well, then one of our best players got injured and he only had barkley to replace him with.

[strider6004]

11 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

I would love to ask Conte why he has switched from 3-4-3 to 3-5-2 so much this season. 30 league wins last season and he thinks it needed changing ? i just don't understand it. I'm not even sure how 3-5-2 can work in the Premier League. Premier League defenses know how to soak up pressure, what they don't like is quick movement and crosses into the area. 3-5-2 is too narrow, the attackers and midfielders are too far apart, the wing backs are isolated and can't get forward or find enough space to get a cross in, it's just sh*t, it doesn't work. You could have Messi in that formation and it still wouldn't work.

I kind of think he did this because Matic went and our new M/Fs were injured which meant we had Fab in a M/F two and were getting overrun. So he went for a 3-5-2 and while Azpi was finding Morata with those deep in-swinging crosses it worked to a degree. Once that was closed down we had no outlet until at the weekend he went back to 3-4-3 with the movement of Willian and support of Pedro / Musonda.

The tragedy for me was that Musonda was not on the bench.

Can 3-5-2 work, yes yet you require supremely fit WBs that can take on a first man and then using 1-2s with a central MF to get down the pitch and put in great crosses. 

We don't have those supremely fit WBs and once the Azpi-Morata link was recognised we needed a plan B, Conte was too slow in recognising or changing this.

 

Edited January 25, 2018 by strider6004

[ducavis]

1 hour ago, abramovich said:

Real already has the players most managers want.

No they have an aging squad that needs to be replaced. 

No way he gets either the PSG/Real job with the way he sets up his team in big games. The Barca game will be the nail in that respect.

[EmeraldBlue]

A great team does not to have 11 great players, it is the hunger, the psychological strength, the never-say-die attitude etc. that makes the real difference.

[the special one]

4 hours ago, ducavis said:

Like they will give him the job.

Italian FA might, they're still yet to appoint a new head coach.

[Van Butsen]

11 hours ago, axman2526 said:

His record in cups continues to be shocking. But when you come out with stuff about trophies not being important just that the manager and players work hard and very well together you cannot be surprised.

Though if you are reading Antonio while losing a league cup semi is no skin off Romans nose seeing his team get ripped apart by barca I am pretty sure would be. Best you sort us and your own cup form out before we play them.

Fa cup final and league cup semi final is excellent even before I've bothered trying to look up how we did in last years league cup.  How is that shocking?

1 hour ago, Ernie_blue said:

Has Conte ever played a back 4 since last year? Even when we are losing and need more numbers going forward?

I do think Chelsea have the defender's to do it specially if they sign another LB. Going forward Chelsea are very predictable.

Yep we have done it a few times this year.

[Ernie_blue]

10 minutes ago, Van Butsen said:

Fa cup final and league cup semi final is excellent even before I've bothered trying to look up how we did in last years league cup.  How is that shocking?

Yep we have done it a few times this year.

When?

[ForeverCarefree]

Needs to stop f**king moaning about transfers and his lack of involvement in them to the press. 

His press conferences have a constant negativity around them and it's got like Jose was in his second spell again. 

It's boring and the fans don't want to keep hearing it. 

Get your head down and get on with trying to win games rather than taking pot shots at your employer. 

[Odiddy]

1 hour ago, didierforever said:

That we were playing really well, started very well, then one of our best players got injured and he only had barkley to replace him with.

oh god 

[BuBbA]

That we were playing really well, started very well, then one of our best players got injured and he only had barkley to replace him with.

So basically what everyone said, including on this forum?

[didierforever]

13 minutes ago, BuBbA said:

1 hour ago, didierforever said:

That we were playing really well, started very well, then one of our best players got injured and he only had barkley to replace him with.

So basically what everyone said, including on this forum?

There is a difference saying it on a forum compared to your manager saying that my substitute player simply was not good enough. 

[abramovich]

1 hour ago, ducavis said:

No they have an aging squad that needs to be replaced. 

No way he gets either the PSG/Real job with the way he sets up his team in big games. The Barca game will be the nail in that respect.

Their aging squad isn't that old and is still miles better than what we've got. And their younger players, like Isco, Casemiro, Varane, Ascensio look pretty good, too. And when they decide to refresh it (Eden, Thibaut etc ) they have prestige and money to do so.

Conte sets up his team in a way that suits its strengths. We don't have a world class midfield that can dominate possession and dictate the tempo, so we're better suited to play on the counter. You set up your team based on what type of players you've got, you have to adapt.

Pep, for all his brilliance, would have never won the last season's title with the players Conte had at his disposal. That's why I feel for Antonio and share his frustration with our board. He's a winner and a perfectionist and he doesn't feel he's been backed by his employers.

 

[Pendergast]

Not sure at all he has "no say". We bid for Koulibali, Radja, Sandro, Bonucci - ok, we failed. But we also managed to bring him Alonso, Zappacosta, Rudiger, Morata and now Emerson and Dzeko. All from fuc*ing Italy, all. All of them either slow, or frail, or just not good. Because Calcio is not the same as it was. No excuses, Antonio. The profile he's looking for just does not suit our club. He wants soldiers, tactical yesmen that follow the instructions diligently. I'm willing to believe he's afraid of coaching world class players. 

[Ewell CFC]

33 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

Needs to stop f**king moaning about transfers and his lack of involvement in them to the press. 

His press conferences have a constant negativity around them and it's got like Jose was in his second spell again. 

It's boring and the fans don't want to keep hearing it. 

Get your head down and get on with trying to win games rather than taking pot shots at your employer. 

Well said that man.

Hes starting to make Mourinho look like the laughing policeman. 

[CFCCAN]

We can guess all we want about what's going on behind the scenes.  Who knows, Conte may have put himself in the position he currently finds himself.  Perhaps after winning the league the club did offer him a contract extension but as he was not entirely happy being away from his family he wouldn't commit; so they gave him a raise instead. So with his non commitment they weren't going to spend a fortune on players if he wasn't going to be around for the next season.  They probably asked him to integrate some of the young players, but perhaps he didn't rate them enough and was told to get on with what he has and in any event as this club has a history of doing, they farm them out.  Clearly his recent rants about transfers probably have some truth behind them, i.e. that he has no say in who the club buys, his job is to simply coach what he is given and those players are not the quality he wants, so he'll have a dig.  

Our recent results do not reflect the honest truth; defensively we have been poor and ridden our luck on more than a few occasions, Brighton should have had a few goals, Norwich missed a few , Arsenal missed a few but certainly got lucky last night; our midfield apart from Kante is really not as good as we think it is; and both Moses (despite his goal) and Alonso have been relatively poor recently, especially defensively...Alonso simply cannot defend and he certainly cannot defend to stop a cross; Conte is forced into team selections simply because the squad is not able to cope with the intense fixture list that being a top 6 side has to do.  I think once we get bumped out of the Champions League things will improve, as we will only be playing one game a week with the odd midweek game thrown in....of course Conte may not be around to see it.

 

[big blue]

The system is no longer getting the best out of our best players. The reasons 4 at the back took a nose dive for have been rectified. We now have pace at the back, legs in midfield, and a left footed full back to give us balance going forward. I would love to see us go back to 4231 and have more players that can hurt teams on the pitch. 

Courtois

Azpi christiensen rudiger Emerson

kante bakayoko

William fabregas hazard 

morata

Relying on moses and alonso for creativity is killing us.

[Ernie_blue]

There was 3 other options after Willian went off injured and that was Musonda coming on if selected, Batman on and Pedro on the right or as I saw mentioned earlier and I thought about this, Zappa on and push Moses forward. When Baka keeps getting selected you will see people say well Conte must be seeing something in training, surely it works the other way with Barkley. He clearly lacked match fitness and wasn’t capable of playing 10mins at the end of the Brighton game but could come on after 30mins in a cup semi-final with the risk of extra time.

Conte made a point in his interview his only option was Barkley and maybe he was showing the board again look what you have given me it’s not good enough, abit harsh putting that on Barkley who looked of the pace.

[Ernie_blue]

12 minutes ago, big blue said:

The system is no longer getting the best out of our best players. The reasons 4 at the back took a nose dive for have been rectified. We now have pace at the back, legs in midfield, and a left footed full back to give us balance going forward. I would love to see us go back to 4231 and have more players that can hurt teams on the pitch. 

Courtois

Azpi christiensen rudiger Emerson

kante bakayoko

William fabregas hazard 

morata

Relying on moses and alonso for creativity is killing us.

Like the team, if Emerson does sign that’s 2 players for every position at the back, Luiz could push into midfield if needed or Fabregas when playing smaller teams at home. It just gives the team more going forward and like you say relying on the wingbacks supplying creativity is doing nothing.

[enigma]

3 hours ago, abramovich said:

Real already has the players most managers want.

they are all declinging. You seen them this season? marcelo is a shell of his former self, benzema is sh*te, ronaldo's legs are going, bale is injury prone and can't go half a season without an injury. isco is not performing, modric is getting older and will be on the decline soon. as well as that, real's defence is a shambles. real madrid need more than just one player. real madrid's squad is criminally overrated. apart from modric and kroos, their midfield is overrated. their front 3 were good a few years ago, but now they're shockingly poor. real madrid without a prime ronaldo pulling them out the sh*t are abysmal. of course they can pull out of it because they are real madrid, but there are players in their current team who are not world class. 

[enigma]

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2018/jan/25/chelsea-antonio-conte-carabao-cup-arsenal-arsene-wenger

Antonio Conte’s reign at Chelsea, or at least the meaningful part of it, began with a half-time switch to a back three at the Emirates, and it feels a lot like it has ended with a half-time switch to a back three. Perhaps the Champions League could yet save a drifting season – memories of that win away against Atlético have not entirely faded – but it was the feel of Wednesday night that was so damning. When, after all, was the last time anybody was out-tacticked by Arsène Wenger?

It was at half-time the 3-0 defeat away to Arsenal last season that Conte switched to the back three that would lead to a run of 13 successive league wins and ultimately the title. On Wednesday Arsenal had been largely outplayed in the first half, but dropping Mohamed Elneny deeper to become a third centre-back helped clog the pastures in which Eden Hazard had been frolicking. Chelsea, bafflingly, had no solution.

Arsenal were lucky with both goals they scored but while it would be misleading to suggest they were much more than dogged, there is at least a sense of new life breathing through the club once again. They have been there before of course, three times a season or so over the past decade without anything really coming of it, but the relief that the Alexis Sánchez saga is finally over is almost palpable. Wenger has been so rejuvenated he is not merely changing formation mid-game but has taken to devising funky corner routines. A new padded coat and a reckless haircut could come at any moment.

But a League Cup here or a League Cup there will not significantly alter the Wenger legacy, however nice it may be for him to complete the set of domestic English trophies. The far bigger issue is Chelsea. Crisis is a word devalued by overuse in modern football, and rarely means more than the thing we’re talking about this week, but then most many basic aspects of football have seen their values change over time: winning, for instance, and trophies.

The difficulty in which Chelsea find themselves is a very modern one. Before Wednesday’s defeat they were unbeaten in 12 games. They’ve lost only two of their past 21. They’re still in Europe and the FA Cup and they’re third in the Premier League. At almost any previous point in football history, that would represent an extremely promising start to the season, but not now, not in the era of the super-clubs, when most of the league is there to be trampled upon and the restriction of success to a tiny elite means the slightest slip-up can appear catastrophic.

Chelsea looked physically jaded at the Emirates. It can have come as no great surprise that what was possible last season with no European football has proved impossible to replicate with a similarly sized squad this (in that sense, at least, José Mourinho is right to claim some credit for Conte’s success). Conte has warned of the thinness of his squad since last summer, culminating in his comment this week that Chelsea can no longer compete financially with the Manchester clubs.

Few will have much sympathy given it was Chelsea, with the accession of Roman Abramovich in 2003, who dragged English football into its new financial age, and so torpedoed Arsenal’s vision of a golden supremacy rooted on the riches of a new stadium (modern English football, in that sense, began with Wayne Bridge’s 87th-minute winner at Highbury in the Champions League quarter-final in 2004). But the result of their policy of retrenchment, at least until somebody remembered how well Edin Dzeko had played against them this season, was a recruitment strategy apparently based on a decade-old list predicting Young English Stars of the Future: Danny Drinkwater, Ross Barkley, Andy Carroll, Peter Crouch … Chelsea 2018, the team England’s Euro 2012 squad could have been.

There was a time when a major part of football management was working out ways to reinvigorate talent that hadn’t quite developed or had gone off the boil. That was a significant part of the genius of Brian Clough or Bob Paisley. It may even be the case that football would be a better place if that were still a relevant skill, but it feels a curiously quaint approach at the top end of the modern game.

And that contributes to the other troubling aspect of Chelsea’s performance on Wednesday: their mental weariness. Yes, the hamstring injury sustained by Willian in the first half hampered them. Yes, their options were reduced by injuries to Cesc Fàbregas and Álvaro Morata, and by Pedro’s slump in form. But still, it was startling how becalmed they were once the initial plan of giving the ball to Hazard stopped working.

Perhaps the arrivals of Dzeko and Emerson Palmieri will jolt them back into life, but Wednesday’s performance was that of a team that had already begun a long slow drift to the end of the season and the inevitable departure of their manager.

[enigma]