14 hours ago, Saaladin said:

1. Who should he have brought on before 80 minutes to flip a game? Barkley? Hudson-Odoi? Zappa?

2. Your statement makes no sense here - He is obviously complaining about the size and quality of his squad to he will clearly keep picking the same team. Which rotations should he have made? What were the results when he did a rotation? If you remember it may have been the Watford game where he rotated the team - as you suggest he should have - after the loss he said that he chose the wrong team - Bakayoko got a red I believe and there were one or two other guys who got a start.

3. Who else should he choose in his 2-man Mid? Vidal? Fabregas was the only choice and every supporter knows it. Bakayoko was tripping over his laces and Drinkwater was pedestrian.

4. Moses was average all-season - all flare no result - however - our last minute bargain basement purchase Zappacosta was worse. So again, no choice for Conte.

5. I believe Conte tried for the last 3 transfer windows to buy the Juve wing back only to be rejected despite the price going down. Then he tried about 2-3 other targets and couldn't get the board to spend for them. Only in January did we finally get Emerson who was injured all season up to that point. Great!

6. Batshuayi was not fitting in to Conte's football. He wasn't holding the ball and was inefficient in playing simple passes on the ground. He was losing the ball under pressure too much. 

7. It is not a coincidence that the teams that spend money in football win. City and United are #1 and #2 for a reason. Madrid and Barca the same. What you are asking from Conte, "To fight" he did that as best he could. I see a team that is playing for him the best they can. I haven't seen guys giving up. Even against West Ham it was a great performance but lacking in critical areas. I saw no giveup in them. And Conte was visibly frustrated and has been throughout this poor run.

1. Thats a real toughie. Given that our midfield gets dominated every game, how about cesc off and DD on? For starters. Hazard looked knackered, Morata had not done a single thing right in the 2nd half. Maybe one of those? And yes, bring on CHO.

2. & 3. & 4. Really? zappa is worse? And that is based on what exactly? He did more in 30mins against barca than moses did in 150. The guy has looked good whenever he has played. The manager's job is to get the best out of the players. DO THAT. Stop moaning like a little bitch. How many of us were fans of the alonso buy. Hell, how many of us thought moses would be a starting 11 player in the league winning team. Its about getting the best out of those players and playing to the strengths. Which conte did last season. This season, like a little bitch, he has done nothing but throw tantrums and put the players/board and literally everyone under the bus except for himself. Makes sense now? Palmeiri, zappa, DD, giroud are good players. Easily rotatable with the current first teamers taking their spots. The only issue is Conte's ego. Also I would taken a pedestrian DD over the over-hill grandpa Cesc. And "every supporter" knows it? HAHHAHA. All you have to do is go over the last 2-3 pages and you would get atleast 10 posts of people saying the same thing - Cesc does not work in a 2-man mid. Or you can go to the match thread and see their opinion over the team sheets. The only people who think choosing Cesc in a 2-man mid is the right thing is Conte and a couple of his fan-club. Most of the supporters see it for what it truly is. A sham of a tactic.

5. So just because he did not get his target, he would simply not play the player? Well, that seems a perfectly legit solution to me. GREAT, indeed! Was not Palmeiri's Juve's target to replace Sandro? Oh well, if only conte could get his over inflated egotistical head out of his ass.

6. And thus Hazard was played as a false 9. Hmmm. Our best player and our greatest threat, nullified because Conte could not play to a player's strength. Our best who has iterated over and over again that he simply does not like playing in that position. Ends up with the fact that we cant go long as their is no aerial presence and our defenders normally screw up playing the ball out of the back. That is great, again, is not it the manager's responsibility to adjust his tactics based on the players available?

7. "You have not seen guys giving up?" - Which games are you watching. "Most money" - WTF, are we really down to this arsenal-ish excuses? We spent 200mil pounds this year. We have a squad atleast at par with Spurs and Pool, and yet we are 10 points behind each with one of them in the semis of CL. So dont give that Money is the paramount sh*t. As i said, would not have mattered if we missed top 4. Its the way we have gone down. Without fight, playing the same way, same tactics, same players. Last season we won the league because Conte made the changes - personnel, formation, tactical. This year, he has simply gone through the motions, as have the players. The only "Fight" conte has put up is in bitching and moaning. Making a negative environment for the players, who clearly seem impacted by the lack of faith the manager has shown in them. 

14 hours ago, Saaladin said:

Same here. Hope there's some quality here to replace us.

If their posts are anything like yours i won't hold my breath. 

I don't think Conte knows how to manage a big squad to win multiple competitions. Last year Fabregas didn't get a look in when playing in a midfield 2, now his playing every game. Granted Baka has been awful but Drinkwater barely gets a look in, since he has joined he hasn't really had a good run in the team, I can't remember the last time he played some minutes. Then you have Barkley who he rushes on not match fit into a cup semi final which was a sh*t decision.

Moses form has been awful for 4 months, his first name on the teamsheet. I personally think Zappacosta has played better than Moses recently, but he loves the golden boy doing f**k all with 10 crossing opportunities. Emerson simply hasn't has a look in either, he would rather let Alonso run himself into the ground.

Waiting till the 80th minute to make changes is absolutely awful management, even when your winning or drawing and can see the game turning against your team, he does f**k all. I don't think he knows how to change a game and being so stubborn has had such a negative impact on results.

Tweet from Simon Phillips:

”I understand from information I received this morning that Luis Enrique remains to main Manager target for Chelsea, along with Maxi Allegri.

They want Enrique over Allegri, he’s their first target.”

30 minutes ago, JM7 said:

Tweet from Simon Phillips:

”I understand from information I received this morning that Luis Enrique remains to main Manager target for Chelsea, along with Maxi Allegri.

They want Enrique over Allegri, he’s their first target.”

Straight off the bat, I think that's the wrong choice! 

I would say Allegri is a good choice if we want to continue in a similar playing style to Conte. His sides are built around a solid defence, but I suspect he would also have a list of demands for new players. If we are going down the route of a manager who has no say in the players signed, and needs to incorporate the youth, Jardim would seem to be a better option.

If we end up getting Enrique I predict he will be as disastrous as Big Phil Scolari. However if he ends up being the new boss I hope I am wrong.

 

 

Enrique will be a failure and Im willing to bet with anyone here......Allegri I wouldnt mind if Conte goes. Enrique will just be another benchmark of disaster by our dear board.

Enrique has all the hallmarks of a an AVB / Scolari miss-match of in terms of the squad v playing style. 

Perhaps a bit harsh to write him off, it is just one of those ones that doesn't smell good to me. 

Allegri makes much more sense to me, so I am sure we will end up appointing Enrique.

Edited April 12, 20188 yr by mclovin83

29 minutes ago, mclovin83 said:

Enrique has all the hallmarks of a an AVB / Scolari miss-match of in terms of the squad v playing style. 

Perhaps a bit harsh to write him off, it is just one of those ones that doesn't smell good to me. 

Allegri makes much more sense to me, so I am sure we will end up appointing Enrique.

Funny thing with AVB is, if he took over this squad he would probably do a whole lot better. I have had it in my mind for a while but now you have mentioned him i though i'd share my POV to the site see if anyone feels likewise.

I think his experience with us damaged him because he made his Spurs and Zenit sides Pulis esque boring but that wasn't the manager we got from Porto. His Porto team was vibrant, energetic and played some wonderful attacking football, he made a fatal mistake coming here in 2011 to a squad that was so set in their ways and had one way of playing that was so successfully integrated. I made a comment last season that if Conte's time came a few years earlier and he tried to force a high energy 343 on the old guard (especially the declining versions AVB had) he probably wouldn't have lasted the season either. 

If hypothetically his emergence at Porto was this season and we got him this summer we already have the players suitable to the style he tried to implement with us. Courtois is much better at collecting and coming of his line than Cech was, our defenders are fast and mobile enough for the infamous high line which back then none of them bar Luiz were and Kante's proactive ways of defending would suit that set up better than Mikel's more passive style did.

Obviously he went about managing the squad he had all wrong so deserved to go and with what happened two months later we could never have any regret, but part of me can't help but think if he/we waited a few years or even a year things could have panned out a whole lot differently.

To be fair to the club, they don’t normally get manager appointment wrong. I can only really think of Scolari and AVB who were failures and even then I think there were circumstances such as poor language (Scolari) and wrong type of squad (AVB). 

Everyone else has been a decent to excellent choice. 

2 hours ago, JM7 said:

To be fair to the club, they don’t normally get manager appointment wrong. I can only really think of Scolari and AVB who were failures and even then I think there were circumstances such as poor language (Scolari) and wrong type of squad (AVB). 

Everyone else has been a decent to excellent choice. 

Big Phil Scolari - there used to be big Jock, Big Mal, Big Laurie, Big Jack, Big Ron, pretty much any manager over 5'11 wore the " big" moniker. All that's left now is the fella with a head like a twenty bob cabbage- Big Sam. 

Didnt work out well here for Phil but there you go.

 

Edited April 12, 20188 yr by Ewell CFC

More from Simon Phillips  

“Sarri is an option being explored, along with Jardim and Allegri. 

But as I tweeted earlier today, I’m hearing that Enrique remains the main target.”

I dont see what so wrong with Enrique. Our squad is one world class CM away from being a very good squad. I dont buy this "The board screwed us over, the squad is sh*t" argument. IF we get veratti, lets look at our first 11:

Tibo

Azpi AC Rudi Palmeiri

Kante DD Verrati

Willian Morata Hazard

I think that team is much better than 2 of the Cl semi-finalists right now. The only position I would be worried about is the striker position, have no faith in morata at all.

Our squad player 11:

Willy

Zappa Zouma GC Alonso

RLC Ampadu Baka

Barkley Giroud/Bats CHO

is decent too. only issue is a manager who trusts in these players. I feel we can employ enrique's methods with the squad. But that would surely mean a World class CM.

6 hours ago, didierforever said:

I dont see what so wrong with Enrique. Our squad is one world class CM away from being a very good squad. I dont buy this "The board screwed us over, the squad is sh*t" argument. IF we get veratti, lets look at our first 11:

Tibo

Azpi AC Rudi Palmeiri

Kante DD Verrati

Willian Morata Hazard

I think that team is much better than 2 of the Cl semi-finalists right now. The only position I would be worried about is the striker position, have no faith in morata at all.

Our squad player 11:

Willy

Zappa Zouma GC Alonso

RLC Ampadu Baka

Barkley Giroud/Bats CHO

is decent too. only issue is a manager who trusts in these players. I feel we can employ enrique's methods with the squad. But that would surely mean a World class CM.

That starting 11 lacks goals. 

8 out of the 11 have never scored more than 3 in a season, hazard has never hit 20, Willian has never hit 15, and while I would expect morata to improve, the most he has scored is 20. 

If we play 433 I think we need a mobile playmaker, that can also defend, a box to box midfielder, that can chip in with goals, and support morata, and we need another option in the wide positions, preferably a left footer, that plays more direct than hazard and willian. 

If we go 4231 I think we would need a box to box destroyer to work in tandem with kante, and we would still need another option in the wide positions, assuming 1 of hazard or Willian play as the 10. 

I agree the squad doesn't need drastic surgery, but I think it needs quality adding in midfield and attack, and that is if we manage to keep Courtois, and we put faith in establishing a good centre back partnership out of the 5 or 6 we currently have on the books. 

Edited April 13, 20188 yr by big blue

We have very little options when it comes to ST and CM.  Right now, Kante is the only CM we have that is worth a damn. Truly, no other CM we have is anything other than a specialist.  Fabregas is a "creative" player that is essentially non-existent when it comes to anything physical (defending, winning the ball, scoring goals). Baka is a destroyer at best, and a liability usually.  Drinkwater just isn't good enough honestly.  We absolutely NEED 2 CM signings at least.  We are overrun in midfield by pretty much every team we play.  

The combination of Morata, Bats, and Giroud is not good enough.  Not for the way we play today.  Maybe if Enrique comes in he can turn our front three into a versatile group that focuses more on scoring goals than dropping deep and playing with their backs to goal.  

The only way Enrique would work is if he has a short list of players he absolutely wants and the board goes out and gets them.  His play style is too different than what we do now...

On the other hand, I think bringing in Enrique would be more likely to keep someone like Hazard around as attractive football is something he wants to play and he could really thrive.  

I’d take Enrique tbh. At least I like his play style, and hopefully Enrique will be the first step to a great attacking style.

Sack him a few years later, we should make sure we stay on the right path by employing another attacking minded manager not revert back to Jose style.

I miss the old Conte who p*ssed off opposing managers with his wild goal celebrations.  Where did that guy go?

Edited April 14, 20188 yr by mwblue10

5 minutes ago, mwblue10 said:

I miss the old Conte who p*ssed off opposing managers with his wild goal celebrations.  Where did that guy go?

He's the shadow of what he was last year.

Just doesn't look emotionally invested these days, which is sad for everyone concerned.

Why did he feel the need to switch to a back 3 again after making a brilliant tactical switch to a back 4. We were controlling the game and were dominant then we sat back and invited pressure when Moses came on. Rudiger was right. 

Forget the win. I'm happiest about Conte making a double change after 60 minutes and getting a positive response. See how things can work Antonio?

4 minutes ago, TheChelseaBlues said:

Forget the win. I'm happiest about Conte making a double change after 60 minutes and getting a positive response. See how things can work Antonio?

Credit where credit's due, he made the changes. Only worrying this is - it took us being 2-0 down for it to happen. 

On ‎12‎/‎04‎/‎2018 at 20:29, Ewell CFC said:

Big Phil Scolari - there used to be big Jock, Big Mal, Big Laurie, Big Jack, Big Ron, pretty much any manager over 5'11 wore the " big" moniker. All that's left now is the fella with a head like a twenty bob cabbage- Big Sam. 

Didnt work out well here for Phil but there you go.

 

And why are left footed players always described as having a cultured left foot ?

41 minutes ago, didierforever said:

Credit where credit's due, he made the changes. Only worrying this is - it took us being 2-0 down for it to happen. 

The more worrying thing is he went straight back to the failing 3 at the back and almost cost us the game after we had took the lead. 

1 minute ago, RIP Mourinho said:

The more worrying thing is he went straight back to the failing 3 at the back and almost cost us the game after we had took the lead. 

True.

Btw, I was going to tag you in match thread when he made those 2 changes - your dream come true.  But thought it was too surreal, given the situation

So we signed a left wing back in January to rotate with Alonso who is yet to have one start in the Premier League, it's MID APRIL... What the f**k is going on with the decisions around here?