So far this season, we have beaten Man City, Spurs and United however we've lost to Spurs in the return fixtures, Arsenal and Liverpool.

This is not to criticise the team in any way as we've been excellent this season but our performances against the top sides haven't particularly mirrored up.

We beat a very poor United side at the time, could have been 3 down to City after 50 mins and scraped past Tottenham. Sign of Champions to do that I will agree however we look quite weak against the top sides.

I put this down to Conte's want to play 352 next season hence the constant rumours of Nainggolan, Vidal and Babayoko (spelling) as they're all midfield players who have the legs to run for days and are very physical. I feel Matic and Kante whilst have been good this season, lack the physicality. A bit like Alonso, he's been okay but seems to struggle with the physicality at times. 343 leaves us very exposed in the middle as proven last night. Wanyama, Alli and Dembele dominated us. We must bare in mind that Conte didn't secure the transfers he wanted in the summer and the fact he's only been with us 5 months in which he has done brilliantly. I think we will have a very different looking side next season.

What do you all think? It's an interesting topic and I would like to hear what some of you have to say.

We were on our arses last season.

We have got a new manager, new players, new formation.

I'd have been ecstatic with a top 4 finish this season, we have excelled on every level thus far.

I'm not really fussed about losing a few of those games (Liverpool and Arsenal were before we changed our formation remember).

I don't see a problem, it didn't work out against the spuds, but it did for the 13 games before that.

We have a 50-50 record within the top 6, won 3 lost 3, scored 10 conceded 8.

But outside the top six we have only dropped two points in 14 games, that's 40 points from a possible 42.

If we get the same again for the second half of the season we will win the league comfortably.

 

There isn't an outstanding squad in the league and the gap in quality between first and sixth is small. That's the nature of the league these days.  It isn't 2005 anymore. 

This isn't a cause for concern. The challenge for conte, Jose, guardiola etc is to build a side that can stand up to Europe's best and that takes more than half a season.  

If it doesn't happen then everyone in the top six will continue to beat and be  beaten by the others. 

8 minutes ago, coco said:

I don't see a problem, it didn't work out against the spuds, but it did for the 13 games before that.

We have a 50-50 record within the top 6, won 3 lost 3, scored 10 conceded 8.

But outside the top six we have only dropped two points in 14 games, that's 40 points from a possible 42.

If we get the same again for the second half of the season we will win the league comfortably.

 

We were lucky to be in the game when Costa scored at Etihad though.

I have been screaming for 3-5-2 for our toughest away matches for a while now. Lets say we sacrificed Pedro/Willian in yesterdays match and instead had a player like Bakayoko joining Matic and Kante in midfield. One of them would have been told to sit back slightly while the other two were pressing to make sure we always have a man to cover to space between midfield and defence and also track Tottenham runs from midfield.

Sure we lose some offensive firepower on paper but away to Tottenham, Liverpool, United or City we should be satisfied with draws anyways for me.

 

3 minutes ago, Sindre said:

We were lucky to be in the game when Costa scored at Etihad though.

I have been screaming for 3-5-2 for our toughest away matches for a while now. Lets say we sacrificed Pedro/Willian in yesterdays match and instead had a player like Bakayoko joining Matic and Kante in midfield. One of them would have been told to sit back slightly while the other two were pressing to make sure we always have a man to cover to space between midfield and defence and also track Tottenham runs from midfield.

Sure we lose some offensive firepower on paper but away to Tottenham, Liverpool, United or City we should be satisfied with draws anyways for me.

 

Thank you for understanding what I mean.

This is exactly what I was aiming at.

Not criticising Conte or the side, just think we may need a bit of steel in the PL nowadays.

18 minutes ago, coco said:

I don't see a problem, it didn't work out against the spuds, but it did for the 13 games before that.

We have a 50-50 record within the top 6, won 3 lost 3, scored 10 conceded 8.

But outside the top six we have only dropped two points in 14 games, that's 40 points from a possible 42.

If we get the same again for the second half of the season we will win the league comfortably.

 

I'm only talking about the top sides, Coco. Our record against the lesser sides this season has been phenomenal at 12 wins and 1 draw. I think performances against the top sides haven't been all that, that's all.

 

20 minutes ago, Chelsbear said:

We were on our arses last season.

We have got a new manager, new players, new formation.

I'd have been ecstatic with a top 4 finish this season, we have excelled on every level thus far.

I'm not really fussed about losing a few of those games (Liverpool and Arsenal were before we changed our formation remember).

Good post, I agree. Was something I was thinking about more for next season.

Of the current top 6, Liverpool have the eassiest run in, their last game aginst any top 6 side is on Feb 11th, thats 3 months of fixtures against the other 14 sides in the league, now, thats where theyve dropped most of their points but with a titel in their sights, that kind of run in is vital and could be pivotal.

 

First and foremost, we simply cannot lose that game at Anfield, a draw isnt a bad result IMO but a loss is a complete back breaker and shifts all the pressure onto us, we then have City and arsenal at home and Man Utd away as our last games against the current top 6.

 

So in essence, we've played 6 of the 10 games we're going to play againsat the "best sides" in the divison. If we manage a 50/50 split of wins and losses against them going into the last 4 games then the games you want to win are Pool away and Arsenal at home, I dont think City or Utd will be close enough to challenge at the end of the season but Arsenal and especially Pool will be very close and we've already gone 50/50 against the Spuds.

2 minutes ago, Delnino said:

Of the current top 6, Liverpool have the eassiest run in, their last game aginst any top 6 side is on Feb 11th, thats 3 months of fixtures against the other 14 sides in the league, now, thats where theyve dropped most of their points but with a titel in their sights, that kind of run in is vital and could be pivotal.

 

What?

They play Arsenal at home on march 4th and City away on march 18th.

After the City game they do have a very favourable run in though.

Everton H
Bournemouth H
Stoke A
WBA A
Crystal Palace H
Watford A
Southampton H
West Ham A
Middlesbrough H
 

Liverpool have dropped silly points against teams outside top six and will continue dropping points so I'm not worried. We've shown that we are capable of smashing teams outside the top six and as long as we keep doing that we'll win the league.

let them win the battle while we win the war.

39 minutes ago, Sindre said:

We were lucky to be in the game when Costa scored at Etihad though.
 

 

It seems to be forgotten that we should really have been 1 up very early in the game after Hazard missed a superb chance, one he would normally put away. So in principal I do agree we got away with it a bit in that half, but alternatively the game could have been totally different had we scored in the 3rd minute ( I think it was?).

Our last three games are against Boro at home, WBA away and Sunderland at home. Very favourable especially if the likes of Sunderland have already been relegated and Boro are safe.

i think this is an over reaction. not just because conte has had only half a season to work, but also because i really didn't think yesterdays game was as one sided as it is presented on this forum. both hazard and costa had great chances in the 1st half before spuds even got a sniff and had the opportunity to level it after half time. nothing affects a game more than goals and when they put away their two chances and we fail to capitalize on ours the nature of the game is the way it is.

that is not to say that i don't think we can strengthen both our first XI and our squad! i think 3-4-3 is just a stepping stone towards 3-5-2, which in theory should be much more solid (due to modern footballs penchant for central play) and as good offensively (especially if you have two goal threatening midfield players). i think the rumored bakayoko, nainggolan and kessie is an indication as to where conte wants this team.

1 minute ago, opinionsarelike said:

i think this is an over reaction. not just because conte has had only half a season to work, but also because i really didn't think yesterdays game was as one sided as it is presented on this forum. both hazard and costa had great chances in the 1st half before spuds even got a sniff and had the opportunity to level it after half time. nothing affects a game more than goals and when they put away their two chances and we fail to capitalize on ours the nature of the game is the way it is.

that is not to say that i don't think we can strengthen both our first XI and our squad! i think 3-4-3 is just a stepping stone towards 3-5-2, which in theory should be much more solid (due to modern footballs penchant for central play) and as good offensively (especially if you have two goal threatening midfield players). i think the rumored bakayoko, nainggolan and kessie is an indication as to where conte wants this team.

There's no overreaction, not once have I criticised the team. Just think our performances against the top teams haven't been great, that's all.

Just now, JMaher94 said:

Just think our performances against the top teams haven't been great, that's all.

if we don't count liverpool and arsenal into this equation, which i believe we shouldn't for obvious reasons, i don't really agree with this. we were dominant over 90 minutes against both spuds and united at home, and being on the ropes against a city side away isn't that much of a shame imo. when city field one of the most attacking line ups in premier league history you're bound to have chances against you.

yesterdays game was always going to be them pressing and us defending imo, and even though we were outnumbered, mostly in midfield, they created very, very little. had we not made two huge similar individual mistakes in defence, the game would have been a mourinho vintage performance away from home.

2 minutes ago, opinionsarelike said:

if we don't count liverpool and arsenal into this equation, which i believe we shouldn't for obvious reasons, i don't really agree with this. we were dominant over 90 minutes against both spuds and united at home, and being on the ropes against a city side away isn't that much of a shame imo. when city field one of the most attacking line ups in premier league history you're bound to have chances against you.

yesterdays game was always going to be them pressing and us defending imo, and even though we were outnumbered, mostly in midfield, they created very, very little. had we not made two huge similar individual mistakes in defence, the game would have been a mourinho vintage performance away from home.

Spurs dominated us for 45 minutes in the first half before Pedro's goal changed the game and the second half was equal. We did dominate United, I will agree with that.

I agree that if Hazard took his chances yesterday then we'd have probably won. However, on the basis of the game I would say that Spurs deserved it.

I reckon in games against the stronger sides we could potentially replace Moses with Zouma shifting Azpi to RWB and Zouma coming into the back 3. 

Moses has been excellent for us but Azpi on the right against the stronger teams would offer us better cover defensively and also provide Moses with some much needed rotation especially during a compact period.

Not overly concerned to be honest. This was essentially our first loss under the 3-4-3 formation.

We've had a great season so far, and I don't think there's any cause of concern unless we have an extended period of poor form which hasn't happened.

I trust that Conte knows what he's doing and he has tricks up his sleeve with any obstacles that we will inevitably face. He's proven himself to be a quality manager, so he deserves that trust and patience from the club and the supporter base.

I think at home we have done well in the big games. I think we would be better off playing something like this away at anfield.

Courtois

Azpiliucueta zouma luiz cahill alonso

Kante fabregas matic

Costa hazard

Moses can switch off a little too easy against the top sides, he made the exact same error as the 1st goal yesterday, against city, but we got away with it.

Everyone is chasing us, so I think we would be better off, soaking up pressure and countering. 

I understand where you are coming from. We have got 3 very good results against the big teams, 2 of them not being very convincing, and 3 pretty poor ones. There is definite room for improvement there. I'm ok with it for now though. We are bouncing back from a horrible season last season and i think we have clearly taken the right steps forward this season. 

On 05/01/2017 at 14:53, JMaher94 said:

Our last three games are against Boro at home, WBA away and Sunderland at home. Very favourable especially if the likes of Sunderland have already been relegated and Boro are safe.

Sunderland and Boro at home defiantly, but West Bromwich away with Pulis in charge is one of the last games id want if there was no room for error.

10 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

I understand where you are coming from. We have got 3 very good results against the big teams, 2 of them not being very convincing, and 3 pretty poor ones. There is definite room for improvement there. I'm ok with it for now though. We are bouncing back from a horrible season last season and i think we have clearly taken the right steps forward this season. 

I think many people thought this and finally someone said it. Thank you.

didnt some juventus  fan said here that Conte didnt really have a good record  against Top 4 teams in italy or something like that!?

 

anyway heres  the stats :

against AC Milan  9 games 6 wins  3 Losses 

against Roma 8 games 4 wins 1 Draw 3 Losses

against Napoli 8 games 2 wins 3 Draws 3 Losses 

against Inter Milan 6 games 4 Wins 2 Draws

against Fiorentina 8 games 5 Wins 1 Draw 2 Losses 

against Lazio 8 games 5 wins  2 Draws 1 Loss

 

Edited January 6, 20179 yr by DidierDrogbalala

16 minutes ago, DidierDrogbalala said:

didnt some juventus  fan said here that Conte didnt really have a good record  against Top 4 teams in italy or something like that!?

 

anyway heres  the stats :

against AC Milan  9 games 6 wins  3 Losses 

against Roma 8 games 4 wins 1 Draw 3 Losses

against Napoli 8 games 2 wins 3 Draws 3 Losses 

against Inter Milan 6 games 4 Wins 2 Draws

against Fiorentina 8 games 5 Wins 1 Draw 2 Losses 

against Lazio 8 games 5 wins  2 Draws 1 Loss

 

Overall 26 wins out of 47, which is 55%, and 12/47 losses, which is 26%. Compare this to Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester United, Everton, and we currently stand at 43% losses so that's going to improve I hope ;)

On 05/01/2017 at 14:08, Sindre said:

We were lucky to be in the game when Costa scored at Etihad though.

I have been screaming for 3-5-2 for our toughest away matches for a while now. Lets say we sacrificed Pedro/Willian in yesterdays match and instead had a player like Bakayoko joining Matic and Kante in midfield. One of them would have been told to sit back slightly while the other two were pressing to make sure we always have a man to cover to space between midfield and defence and also track Tottenham runs from midfield.

Sure we lose some offensive firepower on paper but away to Tottenham, Liverpool, United or City we should be satisfied with draws anyways for me.

 

Although reading your initial post it does seem like you are looking at the negative on what is a very positive position that we are in. I do totally agree with you here. Our midfield lacks physicality against the bigger teams, we just couldn't keep the ball in the middle of the park against Tottenham, Kante was getting hounded and kept giving it away, an extra man in the middle would have been harder for them to deal with. A midfield trio of Fabregas, Matic and Kante with Costa and Hazard up front would have had the numbers and strength to deal with there midfield whilst having the creativity to thread balls to our forwards. The 3-4-3 is great against the smaller teams, but I do think we need to be able to utilise the 3-5-2, which is why i believe we need to be on the look out for a midfielder with creativity, stamina and strength this transfer window. Verratti would be perfect, but will cost too much, hopefully we can get someone decent without breaking the bank.