Antonio Conte - Now Officially Manager

[mclovin83]

1 hour ago, evissy said:

Conte is one of the best managers in the world. If he had a summer he wanted in terms of transfers we are very well in contention to winning the Prem. Any other manager we reel in will be a risk.

Perhaps when he wants to be.....but not at the moment he isn't. 

Quite frankly, he doesn't deserve another season after the way he has chosen to conduct himself this season. 

[Ukraine Bolt]

9 hours ago, Saaladin said:

I don't think he changed the formation to begin with. 

Giroud came on for Morata and Pedro came in for Zappa. Pretty sure Pedro just moved into the wingback position and we stayed in 3-4-3.

Seemed more like a 4231 imo as Hazard had gone more central. Then Moses came back on in the end to revert back. 

[evissy]

I agree with you, but he doesn’t want to stay here. He’ll be gone as soon as the season is over.
His attitude has been disgusting tbh.

His attitude has been disgusting portrayed by the media or how? How is Jose keeping his job at Manu then? Jose's behavior is 200-times worse than the Conte's.

Media is great at emphasising things they want when things are not going well. Seeing Chelsea suffer sells papers. It is a great hobby for fans of other teams.

I really think there are no real major problems in our club in terms of management other than we really really failed in the summer. Part of Conte's fault but only part. City for example gave their all to Pep and they are the Champions.

I think we will change managers if Conte wants to leave. I really don't think the club wants to see him go.

[enigma]

18 hours ago, evissy said:

Conte is one of the best managers in the world. If he had a summer he wanted in terms of transfers we are very well in contention to winning the Prem. Any other manager we reel in will be a risk.

he is, but there's no guarantee he would have won the premier league. the simple fact is, liverpool and city have been the standouts this season. considering the records broken by city this season and the point gap, i struggle to think we would have been that close. also, the way salah and liverpool have been playing would have been tough. also, the formation has definitely been easier to play against this season and i don't think conte would have changed it. sandro (a number one target) hasn't been that good this season, so who is to say he wouldn't have been as mediocre here? in a new league it could be worse for him. 

Edited April 17, 2018 by enigma

[DG19]

We aren't in top 4 because we lost to West Ham,Palace,Bournmouth,Burnley, Watford. It's stupid to blame the board and transfers for it

Edited April 17, 2018 by DG19

[mclovin83]

1 hour ago, evissy said:

His attitude has been disgusting portrayed by the media or how? How is Jose keeping his job at Manu then? Jose's behavior is 200-times worse than the Conte's.

Media is great at emphasising things they want when things are not going well. Seeing Chelsea suffer sells papers. It is a great hobby for fans of other teams.

I really think there are no real major problems in our club in terms of management other than we really really failed in the summer. Part of Conte's fault but only part. City for example gave their all to Pep and they are the Champions.

I think we will change managers if Conte wants to leave. I really don't think the club wants to see him go.

I don't even think the media have made that much of the situation to be honest. My opinion is based entirely on his comments & body language. 

Conte has sulked his way through a season, making it as obvious as is humanly possible that he doesn't want to be here. He has, in my opinion, sabotaged our season in the interest of making a point to the board. 

As far as I am concerned he has acted like a spoiled brat, and has showed the club, as well as the fans who sing his name, absolutely no respect what so ever. 

As bad as Mourinho may be, it's not a comparable situation in my book. 

 

[Saaladin]

40 minutes ago, DG19 said:

We aren't in top 4 because we lost to West Ham,Palace,Bournmouth,Burnley, Watford. It's stupid to blame the board and transfers for it

The EPL is the top league in the world for a reason. You can lose to anyone on any day. Particularly when your board didn't back you and handed you a small squad with little depth. 

 

Man U lost to WBA...

[Ernie_blue]

21 minutes ago, mclovin83 said:

I don't even think the media have made that much of the situation to be honest. My opinion is based entirely on his comments & body language. 

Conte has sulked his way through a season, making it as obvious as is humanly possible that he doesn't want to be here. He has, in my opinion, sabotaged our season in the interest of making a point to the board. 

As far as I am concerned he has acted like a spoiled brat, and has showed the club, as well as the fans who sing his name, absolutely no respect what so ever. 

As bad as Mourinho may be, it's not a comparable situation in my book. 

 

Some people seem to forget the basic management mistakes Conte has made this season or prefer to just blame it all on the board, some decisions Conte has made have been truly awful, I will go as far to say he has lost games on his own decisions far too often. The arrogance, stubbornness and non tactical awareness has reminded me too much of Wenger, difference is Conte wants to leave.

Many managers at lower clubs with less players don't make the simple mistakes Conte has made. Now I wouldn't mind Conte staying if he didn't blame everything on the board and recognised his own faults this season, he doesn't even have to say it but recognise them in how he picks a team, formation, subs etc. He hasn't changed though, if he can't change in a sh*t season like this then what's to say he can change next season? Who wants a manager who will only do his best when he gets what he wants and throws his toys out the pram and blames the board for everything in the press when he don't get his own way.

[dkw]

24 minutes ago, Saaladin said:

The EPL is the top league in the world for a reason. You can lose to anyone on any day. Particularly when your board didn't back you and handed you a small squad with little depth. 

 

Man U lost to WBA...

Come of it, what a crock. Our squad is easily good enough to beat those teams mentioned, especially at home. Losing one game maybe, 2 is possibility, but not all those games. Its also his apathetic attitude that has caused this, along with his stubbornness over not picking/dropping players, changing formations or even attempting to change the direction of a game before the inevitable we can all see coming. to completely absolve him from this because he didnt get the players he wanted is incredible.

[Ukraine Bolt]

22 minutes ago, Saaladin said:

The EPL is the top league in the world for a reason. You can lose to anyone on any day. Particularly when your board didn't back you and handed you a small squad with little depth. 

 

Man U lost to WBA...

No top club loses to the 'smaller' clubs as regularly as us this season. 

Top losses in the league:

City - Liverpool

Liverpool - Man City / Spurs / Swansea / Man Utd

Utd - Huddersfield / Chelsea / Man City / Spurs / Newcastle / West Brom 

Spurs - Chelsea / Man Utd / Arsenal / Leicester / Man City / Man Utd / Man City

Chelsea - Burnley / Man City / Crystal Palace / West Ham / Bournemouth / Watford / Man Utd / Man City / Spurs 

 

I've highlighted all the small teams for you, as you seem a bit dim, that have managed to beat the big teams this season. City, 'Pool, Utd, Spurs have lost to 6 'small' teams between them. Chelsea have lost to 5 on their own. 

 

These losses are down to Conte. Our squad is more than capable of beating these teams but Conte can't alter his dead tactics to get anything from them. Open your eyes. 

 

[Luca Vialli]

48 minutes ago, Saaladin said:

The EPL is the top league in the world for a reason. You can lose to anyone on any day. Particularly when your board didn't back you and handed you a small squad with little depth. 

 

Man U lost to WBA...

Man U are one of the least convincing sides in this league. Massively overrated.

[TheChelsRVA]

16 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

No top club loses to the 'smaller' clubs as regularly as us this season. 

Top losses in the league:

City - Liverpool

Liverpool - Man City / Spurs / Swansea / Man Utd

Utd - Huddersfield / Chelsea / Man City / Spurs / Newcastle / West Brom 

Spurs - Chelsea / Man Utd / Arsenal / Leicester / Man City / Man Utd / Man City

Chelsea - Burnley / Man City / Crystal Palace / West Ham / Bournemouth / Watford / Man Utd / Man City / Spurs 

 

I've highlighted all the small teams for you, as you seem a bit dim, that have managed to beat the big teams this season. City, 'Pool, Utd, Spurs have lost to 6 'small' teams between them. Chelsea have lost to 5 on their own. 

 

These losses are down to Conte. Our squad is more than capable of beating these teams but Conte can't alter his dead tactics to get anything from them. Open your eyes. 

 

You forgot to highlight Spurs as a small team...

[Saaladin]

29 minutes ago, dkw said:

Come of it, what a crock. Our squad is easily good enough to beat those teams mentioned, especially at home. Losing one game maybe, 2 is possibility, but not all those games. Its also his apathetic attitude that has caused this, along with his stubbornness over not picking/dropping players, changing formations or even attempting to change the direction of a game before the inevitable we can all see coming. to completely absolve him from this because he didnt get the players he wanted is incredible.

Again, this is not about the quality in our top 11. This is about overall squad quality. And when you are playing a stretch of 1 game every 3-4 days and you are over-extending that top 11, in the EPL you are going to lose.

Conte was CLEAR that he thought our squad size was too small and needed depth. They ignored him and he has every right to be pissed because there is nothing else he could have done with this squad this season. In addition, I think you are over-valuing our top 11 a least a bit. Fabregas is clearly spread thin at this point in his career, Baka was a disaster, DD has been average, Morata as replacement for Costa has been sub-par and Pedro has lost his shine from last season.

Your dismay should be directed to the Chelsea board who screwed us once again from repeating as EPL champs and possibly competing for a CL title. Of course you would rather direct your anger and Conte because he is an easy target. 

Conte is clearly a guy that wants to win, everything, everyday. But when you're given literally nothing after what he did in year 1, what else can be expected. How about you criticize Abramovich or Granskaiova? Probably because there would be zero impact. But criticizing Conte will have him out and that's what everyone always wants to do, have someone pay the price for a poor season.

[Ukraine Bolt]

17 minutes ago, TheChelsRVA said:

You forgot to highlight Spurs as a small team...

I was tempted to but it didn't suit my narrative  

[Saaladin]

27 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

No top club loses to the 'smaller' clubs as regularly as us this season. 

Top losses in the league:

City - Liverpool

Liverpool - Man City / Spurs / Swansea / Man Utd

Utd - Huddersfield / Chelsea / Man City / Spurs / Newcastle / West Brom 

Spurs - Chelsea / Man Utd / Arsenal / Leicester / Man City / Man Utd / Man City

Chelsea - Burnley / Man City / Crystal Palace / West Ham / Bournemouth / Watford / Man Utd / Man City / Spurs 

 

I've highlighted all the small teams for you, as you seem a bit dim, that have managed to beat the big teams this season. City, 'Pool, Utd, Spurs have lost to 6 'small' teams between them. Chelsea have lost to 5 on their own. 

 

These losses are down to Conte. Our squad is more than capable of beating these teams but Conte can't alter his dead tactics to get anything from them. Open your eyes. 

 

Chelsea Schedule before playing Bournemouth:

Jan 13th - Leceister

Jan 17th - Norwich

Jan 20th - Brighton

Jan 24th - Arsenal

Jan 28th - Newcastle

Jan 31 - BOURNEMOUTH

 

Bournemouth Schedule:

Jan 14th - Arsenal

Jan 17th - Wigan

Jan 20th West Ham......................

Jan 31st - CHELSEA

 

Six days later we played Watford -- Conte rotated the squad and put in Baka after giving him a reset. RED CARD BAKAYOKO after a terrible first half for him. We lose 4-1 despite actually playing well in the second half down to 10 men. They gave it all they could. 

 

After that we go into the toughest stretch of games all season including matches against Barca twice, United, City, Leicester and Tottenham. For a squad like the one gifted to Conte by the Chelsea board, they never stood a chance. 

[Ukraine Bolt]

1 minute ago, Saaladin said:

Chelsea Schedule before playing Bournemouth:

Jan 13th - Leceister

Jan 17th - Norwich

Jan 20th - Brighton

Jan 24th - Arsenal

Jan 28th - Newcastle

Jan 31 - BOURNEMOUTH

 

Bournemouth Schedule:

Jan 14th - Arsenal

Jan 17th - Wigan

Jan 20th West Ham......................

Jan 31st - CHELSEA

 

Six days later we played Watford -- Conte rotated the squad and put in Baka after giving him a reset. RED CARD BAKAYOKO after a terrible first half for him. We lose 4-1 despite actually playing well in the second half down to 10 men. They gave it all they could. 

 

After that we go into the toughest stretch of games all season including matches against Barca twice, United, City, Leicester and Tottenham. For a squad like the one gifted to Conte by the Chelsea board, they never stood a chance. 

And who didn't rotate the squad so as to burn out players for that stretch? Who keeps playing the same stale tactics? Who can't see a gameplan going wrong and refuses to make a change? 

 

What's is your excuse for the other losses then?

 

Get your nose out of Conte's arse, its embarrassing. 

[Saaladin]

5 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

And who didn't rotate the squad so as to burn out players for that stretch? Who keeps playing the same stale tactics? Who can't see a gameplan going wrong and refuses to make a change? 

 

What's is your excuse for the other losses then?

 

Get your nose out of Conte's arse, its embarrassing. 

 

How about you actually try thinking like a manager instead of a fan. 

He had ZERO options off the bench to rotate. DD was nicked up and ineffective when healthy, Bakayoko has been an embarrassment. Who exactly does that leave in midfield?

Has Pedro done anything all season with all the substitute appearances? Has Zappacosta impressed you? When was an alternative for Marcos Alonso brought in? When was an alternative to Morata brought in? How many games did Morata himself miss due to back injury? 

Try thinking critically instead of just criticizing...  

Edited April 17, 2018 by Saaladin

[Ukraine Bolt]

2 minutes ago, Saaladin said:

 

How about you actually try thinking like a manager instead of a fan. 

He had ZERO options off the bench to rotate. DD was nicked up and ineffective when healthy, Bakayoko has been an embarrassment. Who exactly does that leave in midfield?

Has Pedro done anything all season with all the substitute appearances? Has Zappacosta impressed you? When was an alternative for Marcos Alonso brought in? When was an alternative to Morata brought in? How many games did Morata himself miss due to back injury? 

Try thinking critically instead of just criticizing...  

Okay i'll think critically for a second. There will be a few questions thrown in that i would like you to answer, i'll highlight them as i go along.

Formation

No other top team in the league, or in the world as far as i can see, uses a three at the back as their only formation. Even teams like Juve, who are known for the three at the back, more often than not use a back 4. Since the start of the season Conte has continued to use it. It has taken him until mid way through April to try a back 4 half way through a game and we smash 3 goals in and come back from a two goal deficit for the first time since 2002. Coincidence? No, stubborness from Conte. 

Do you still trust in Conte choosing the 3 at the back?

Rotation

At the start of the season Bakayoko started well but quickly went to sh*t. Even though this was the case Conte kept picking him until he finally reached breaking point (the sending off). Any other manager would have seen Baka struggling long before that and taken him out of the firing line. We play largely with 2 CM's. For that position we have Kante, Bakayoko, Cesc, Barkley (inj), Drinkwater. He hasn't set the world alight but Drinkwater more often than not will put in a 7/10 performance for the team. Our strikers have been failing, why not give Batshuayi a go, as he seems to score anywhere else he goes. Alonso's legs have gone, we've had Emerson since January yet still to see him feature properly. Conte's inability to rotate saw us lose the likes of Chalobah and Ake as they wanted actual minutes. 

Do you think Emerson should have been given more time and rested Alonso?

Has Drinkwater been so bad that he deserved to play less than 600 minutes this season?

Batshuayi has scored goals everywhere he goes, why is it only Conte that can't get the best out of him? Should he have adapted his formation to play to his strengths/ given more chances to shine?

Moses has been very poor, do you honestly think Zappa wouldn't have been better?

Moaning/transfers

All season Conte has moaned about the players made available and who the board has signed. From a confidence point of you how do you think the players would feel about this. They're basically being told they aren't good enough and that he didn't want them. Never have i heard a manager kick up such a fuss. More to the point Conte actually got a lot of the transfers he wanted. He wanted Costa sold and had wanted Morata since the year before. He got Morata and he's been sh*te. He was an advocate of signing Bakayoko and continued to play him so clearly wanted him, once again sh*te. He wanted more depths in the squad so we went out and signed Zappa, Emerson, DD, Barkley, Wily, Giroud. All very good depth players that Conte refuses to use. He can't expect to have a 18 world class players available. All i can say, with the look of Morata and Bakayoko i'm just glas Conte wasn't given a blank cheque to sign who he wants.

Are you happy with Conte's signings (Morata/Bakayoko)?

Do you think we should have a full squad of world class players?

Youth

I actually have to praise Conte a bit on this point. I think he's done an okay job in regards to youth, especially Ampadu. Christensen was already very established and was expected to take a starting spot this year so less so with him. The glaring failure is CHO though. As you have mentioned Pedro has been complete dross this season. Even so, he still comes on at the end of most games and offers f**k all.

Should Conte be giving Pedro's minutes to CHO?

 

  

[Saaladin]

8 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Okay i'll think critically for a second. There will be a few questions thrown in that i would like you to answer, i'll highlight them as i go along.

Formation

No other top team in the league, or in the world as far as i can see, uses a three at the back as their only formation. Even teams like Juve, who are known for the three at the back, more often than not use a back 4. Since the start of the season Conte has continued to use it. It has taken him until mid way through April to try a back 4 half way through a game and we smash 3 goals in and come back from a two goal deficit for the first time since 2002. Coincidence? No, stubborness from Conte. 

Do you still trust in Conte choosing the 3 at the back?

Rotation

At the start of the season Bakayoko started well but quickly went to sh*t. Even though this was the case Conte kept picking him until he finally reached breaking point (the sending off). Any other manager would have seen Baka struggling long before that and taken him out of the firing line. We play largely with 2 CM's. For that position we have Kante, Bakayoko, Cesc, Barkley (inj), Drinkwater. He hasn't set the world alight but Drinkwater more often than not will put in a 7/10 performance for the team. Our strikers have been failing, why not give Batshuayi a go, as he seems to score anywhere else he goes. Alonso's legs have gone, we've had Emerson since January yet still to see him feature properly. Conte's inability to rotate saw us lose the likes of Chalobah and Ake as they wanted actual minutes. 

Do you think Emerson should have been given more time and rested Alonso?

Has Drinkwater been so bad that he deserved to play less than 600 minutes this season?

Batshuayi has scored goals everywhere he goes, why is it only Conte that can't get the best out of him? Should he have adapted his formation to play to his strengths/ given more chances to shine?

Moses has been very poor, do you honestly think Zappa wouldn't have been better?

Moaning/transfers

All season Conte has moaned about the players made available and who the board has signed. From a confidence point of you how do you think the players would feel about this. They're basically being told they aren't good enough and that he didn't want them. Never have i heard a manager kick up such a fuss. More to the point Conte actually got a lot of the transfers he wanted. He wanted Costa sold and had wanted Morata since the year before. He got Morata and he's been sh*te. He was an advocate of signing Bakayoko and continued to play him so clearly wanted him, once again sh*te. He wanted more depths in the squad so we went out and signed Zappa, Emerson, DD, Barkley, Wily, Giroud. All very good depth players that Conte refuses to use. He can't expect to have a 18 world class players available. All i can say, with the look of Morata and Bakayoko i'm just glas Conte wasn't given a blank cheque to sign who he wants.

Are you happy with Conte's signings (Morata/Bakayoko)?

Do you think we should have a full squad of world class players?

Youth

I actually have to praise Conte a bit on this point. I think he's done an okay job in regards to youth, especially Ampadu. Christensen was already very established and was expected to take a starting spot this year so less so with him. The glaring failure is CHO though. As you have mentioned Pedro has been complete dross this season. Even so, he still comes on at the end of most games and offers f**k all.

Should Conte be giving Pedro's minutes to CHO?

 

  

 

Ok now we're talking...

 

1. Do I trust Conte using 3 at the back? Yes, I see no issue with Conte going 3 at the back 100% of the time. We won the league with it, Juve use it if not 100% at least 95% of the time. I personally do think it was a coincidence that we got the win moving to 4 at the back but it's anyone's guess. The first goal was a typical cross from Alonso and a striker who wants to compete made an incredible play. The other goals came from sheer pressure. 

1. Do you think Emerson should have been given more time and rested Alonso? I think Emerson came from Roma out of form and hadn't played barely a single match all season. He wasn't even used a single time in the CL either. So Conte got, as an alternate to Alonso, a player who is himself out of form and match fitness.

 

1. Has Drinkwater been so bad that he deserved to play less than 600 minutes this season? Drinkwater hasn't been bad, no. But if you ask Conte he probably would tell you that Fabregas is far and away the better passer and playmaker and Kante far and away the best defender. Therefore for any game that matters, and they seem to all have this season, Fabregas/Kante was really the only pair he could use.

 

1. Batshuayi has scored goals everywhere he goes, why is it only Conte that can't get the best out of him? Should he have adapted his formation to play to his strengths/ given more chances to shine? Batshuayi is a poacher, he thrives in the box. His build up/hold up play is atrocious. He was losing the ball constantly when receiving back to goal as he has a heavy first touch and a thoughtless second touch. He was hurting our style of play overall. So yeah, maybe coming on in the last 10 minutes make some sense but he struggled in Chelsea's setup. Conte is not about to change the mentalities of 10 other players to match a striker he didn't want in the first place.

 

1. Moses has been very poor, do you honestly think Zappa wouldn't have been better? My opinion on this is that Moses hasn't been poor. He has been great offensively and defensively. However he has struggled severely in the final third. His delivery and final pass has no thought and unfortunately it costs us. But he performs at such a high level on the other 90% of the pitch. Zappa on the other hand has struggled everywhere. His delivery has been equally bad and doesn't offer the same ability in build up and defensive cover. Therefore, once again, for Conte the decision was being made out of his hands. 

 

1. Are you happy with Conte's signings (Morata/Bakayoko)? I do believe Conte wanted Morata but I also believe Conte desperately wanted another striker to pair with him or as quality off the bench with Bats sold or loaned in the summer. Morata was Conte's target but he was clearly asking for 2 strikers not ONE. With Costa being sold also. So it was obvious he wanted to Sell Costa and Bats and bring in Morata and another top striker. He didn't get it and that was probably his second biggest frustration. I don't believe Baka was his first or even second choice CM. Maybe he accepted it later in the summer but that transfer took a long long time when you compare it to the Silva transfer City completed with Monaco. I think Conte wanted a much more established player and again didn't get it. So in the end he lost Costa and Matic and ended up in the negative in terms of quality.

 

 

1. Do you think we should have a full squad of world class players? Absolutely not, I don't think that's reasonable. But, 14-15 world class players, yes. At least if our ambition is to win important things consistently. Again it goes back to expectation, Chelsea will likely finish 5th this season, when you consider what City, United, Liverpool and Tottenham have in their starting 11s and off the bench is it really unrealistic to finish 5th? Could have been 4th? Sure but 5th is not far off reality. You can surely admit that. The problem is Chelsea fans didn't evaluate the squad critically before the season, Conte did. And knew it and probably spent his summer pushing the board to do something about it to no avail. So again, I expect that at critical positions we have a world class player that can come off the bench and help. This season, it should have been Fabregas and Bakayoko coming in for Kante and Matic. 

 

1. Youth
2. I actually have to praise Conte a bit on this point. I think he's done an okay job in regards to youth, especially Ampadu. Christensen was already very established and was expected to take a starting spot this year so less so with him. The glaring failure is CHO though. As you have mentioned Pedro has been complete dross this season. Even so, he still comes on at the end of most games and offers f**k all.
3. Should Conte be giving Pedro's minutes to CHO? At this point in the season yes, but the only excuse I give Conte is that for him he is trying to win as many games as possible and although Pedro has not been great he's still ahead of CHO in the defensive aspect of the game and more experience in playing with our top players in tight situations. CHO is a man among boys in the U21 but it's anyone's guess how he would do as an alternate to Willian or Hazard. Pedro is basically getting scraps right now anyway. So Conte intelligently is giving those scraps to a well respected spanish player. If Pedro was getting completely frozen out it could cause locker room politics. That unfortunately does play a role.

[Argo]

1 hour ago, Saaladin said:

Chelsea Schedule before playing Bournemouth:

Jan 13th - Leceister

Jan 17th - Norwich

Jan 20th - Brighton

Jan 24th - Arsenal

Jan 28th - Newcastle

Jan 31 - BOURNEMOUTH

 

Bournemouth Schedule:

Jan 14th - Arsenal

Jan 17th - Wigan

Jan 20th West Ham......................

Jan 31st - CHELSEA

 

Six days later we played Watford -- Conte rotated the squad and put in Baka after giving him a reset. RED CARD BAKAYOKO after a terrible first half for him. We lose 4-1 despite actually playing well in the second half down to 10 men. They gave it all they could. 

 

After that we go into the toughest stretch of games all season including matches against Barca twice, United, City, Leicester and Tottenham. For a squad like the one gifted to Conte by the Chelsea board, they never stood a chance. 

Hold on, are you actually making excuses for losing 3-0 at home to Bournemouth?

[Saaladin]

Just now, Argo said:

Hold on, are you actually making excuses for losing 3-0 at home to Bournemouth?

Are you actually saying that you don't think a soli EPL team can beat an elite EPL team given 11 days rest while the elite team had no rest? I thought the EPL was the best league in the world for that reason alone? So yes, when you're a team with little depth, very little rest, playing a team who is historically been solid and was very well rested, I think it is a valid reason to lose at home or anywhere. 

[Argo]

1 minute ago, Saaladin said:

Are you actually saying that you don't think a soli EPL team can beat an elite EPL team given 11 days rest while the elite team had no rest? I thought the EPL was the best league in the world for that reason alone? So yes, when you're a team with little depth, very little rest, playing a team who is historically been solid and was very well rested, I think it is a valid reason to lose at home or anywhere. 

There has been many times down the years we and other top have been at that type of disadvantage, we would be losing ten times a season like that if that was the case. There is no excuse for getting battered at home to Bournemouth, none!!!!

[Saaladin]

7 minutes ago, Argo said:

There has been many times down the years we and other top have been at that type of disadvantage, we would be losing ten times a season like that if that was the case. There is no excuse for getting battered at home to Bournemouth, none!!!!

We'll have to agree to disagree. Peronally I knew we would lose or draw even before the match. It was just all adding up to a loss. 

Once again in that game Conte tried what everyone here is saying he should have been doing (he did but people forget) Barkley and Baka started this match. 

So again, tired team vs fresh team and despite trying to use depth we get battered anyway because team was left short-handed in summer.

[Argo]

51 minutes ago, Saaladin said:

We'll have to agree to disagree. Peronally I knew we would lose or draw even before the match. It was just all adding up to a loss. 

Once again in that game Conte tried what everyone here is saying he should have been doing (he did but people forget) Barkley and Baka started this match. 

So again, tired team vs fresh team and despite trying to use depth we get battered anyway because team was left short-handed in summer.

If that's the case, then what's your excuse for losing 4-1 to Watford the following Monday? A team who also had a midweek game and an FA Cup game, just like we did!!!

[Saaladin]

23 minutes ago, Argo said:

If that's the case, then what's your excuse for losing 4-1 to Watford the following Monday? A team who also had a midweek game and an FA Cup game, just like we did!!!

I already explained that read my earlier post.