The Conte Thread

[LAM09 6,744]

He keeps making terrible selection choices that are ultimately costing him.

I honestly believe his job hangs on Sunday's result. A similar showing to tonight and another one could bite the dust.

[Laylabelle 9,351]

That's it. Not surprised at our position. Didn't expect us to play as bad but didn't think do well. 4th place and last 16 thought at start though bit unsure about 4th I think.  

He goes and the circle continues...same problems will arise eventually with new manager and they go..Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. 

[Alabama 1,992]

Pathetic Conte comments coming out here... we can't have that abysmal kind of summer transfer window and get away with it....reward of the shit show summer window...all he needs to do us stop playing the likes of Cahill fabregas willian and for a while give bakayoko a rest...then if our pathetic board will be reasonable enough to back him in January transfer window..

[Special Juan 27,424]

It isn't a surprise that we always go fucking scrambling in January, it's a given....See the pattern?

[Beigl 1,387]

He really deserves a statue for winning the BPL with this team. Not to mention that our board has clearly set the standard for Chelsea FC really low and didn´t back him for two summers now. He might be off in a few weeks, but there isn´t much he can do against the Manchester clubs when you are forced to play the likes of Alonso, Bakayoko, Cesc, Moses, Cahill and so on without having the squad players to change the team. To add to that we had injuries to crucial players, so we paid for our lack of squad depth. 

[Vybzkartel 284]

The board doesnt pick Cahill, Fabregas and Bakayoko who have all been off form. The board doesnt pick Azp as RWB when you have Zappacosta an actual Wingback who just had a good game. Board out is just an easy excuse 

[Jase 43,479]

I know we have had injuries and suspensions and I know that we have been playing every 3-4 days and will continue to do so at least until January. But could Conte try to play a consistent backline for 2 consecutive matches at the very least? We're seeing a different back 5 every match and all this constant chopping and changing isn't helping the team defensively. I mean suddenly we see Cahill at RCB today with Rudiger at LCB, like WTH?! No chance for the players to get familiar with one another - especially when Rudiger/Christensen/Zappacosta is/are in - and forge an understanding with one another. With all the nonsense that's going on further forward, the least you should want is stability at the back. We are struggling for goals at the moment and can't win games if the defence continues to give stupid goals away with stupid defending.

[El P. 1,354]

I too think he shouldn't mix our defense up so much. I think Cahill and Rudiger switched placed today, don't know why. And let Azpi play at his position.

It won't help much, but could help to not look ridicules like against Roma.

[AlesJuve 264]

1 hour ago, Vybzkartel said:

Dont give me Board Out talk we spent fucking 200 million in the summer and Conte alienated Costa and matic so its his fault we are here 

Conte did not want to sell Matic.

[Vybzkartel 284]

Just now, AlesJuve said:

Conte did not want to sell Matic.

Thats actually not true. If he didnt want to sell him he would have taken him on tour to Asia. 

[AlesJuve 264]

Just now, Vybzkartel said:

Thats actually not true. If he didnt want to sell him he would have taken him on tour to Asia. 

Board had already decided to sell Matic. Conte did not want to sell Matic,he said it clearly in a couple of conferences

[AlesJuve 264]

In the first half, Chelsea deserved the draw. Rudiger's mistake in the second goal is ridiculous.In the second half Chelsea was ridiculous and Roma deserved 3-0. You have an obvious problem in the midfield of agonistic intensity without Kante and even him is not enough for 4 competitions.The worst thing, however, was the lack of anger.

[robsblubot 3,502]

19 minutes ago, Vybzkartel said:

Thats actually not true. If he didnt want to sell him he would have taken him on tour to Asia. 

while I agree Conte is partly to blame for the abysmal performance against Rome, i think your take on Matic is factually incorrect.

Matic forced his exit, so he did not travel because his mind was already elsewhere. I too wasn't happy about selling him (he was an important player in 2 PL wins!!! starting every match) much less selling him to a rival, but it was really down to the club to try to match what United was offering or not. And even then, perhaps the player wasn't happy under Conte... it happens. At the very least they should have demanded something in return from United - they have a large squad with many players capable of helping us. (heh we would've ended up with Ashley fucking Young)

Our signings have been mediocre... regardless of the money spent or not, the agents, scouts, and coaches have not been pulling their weight. The fact they only start moving *during* the transfer window is very telling.

[OneMoSalah 8,776]

This was bound to happen eventually, we would get steamrolled by somebody because of a build up of poor out of sync performances, it was inevitable eventually.

This season has been hit and miss but before the season even began there were 4 major fuck ups on the board and Conte’s behalf 1) releasing John Terry and NOT offering/begging him to take a coaching role 2) alienating and selling Diego Costa 3) selling Nemanja Matic. Without even mentioning to Man Utd by the way and 4) Poor recruitment.

1) Well it’s fair to say we could do with some stronger leaders on and off the pitch, guys like Cahill, Luiz and Azpi are all experienced enough but are they even half the leader Terry was? Heck he didn’t play much last season I know but he has always been a key part of the dressing room and you can bet your money on what he’d be saying to certain players in these last few games we’ve had. Guys like Azpi, Cahill, Cesc, Hazard they seem to me as if they are all “too nice”, there’s moments from tonight and lots of other games were years ago you’d expect to see a JT, Drogba, Lampard or somebody in that sort of mound taking people aside and saying a look cmon what is happening here, sort it out sort of thing. Sure Terry is one guy but he always sets an example and his experience and character is undoubtedly missed.

2) Alvaro Morata is a great footballer and will be a good long term investment eventually as he has won a lot and has a good skill set but he’s not Diego Costa. He’s not got that bullishness or brute force that Costa has, not able to bully defenders and that is hurting the team in some games. Morata has got some key goals yes but has shown also some limitations against much more physical defenders in the PL particularly. Sure he’s adjusting still but he needs to get prepared better for next season physically for sure. I wonder what it would of been like if Costa and Conte were on good terms and he was kept until Janary at least. Would of been a great alternative.

3) Matic. What more can I say? His sale has improved United’s midfield a huge bit and severely weakened ours as his replacement so to speak is not a like for like replacement. He has promise Bakayoko but not as a holding midfielder, as a box to box midfielder who has a more dependable partner defensively than Cesc. Sure Kante is a huge miss to any team too but I think people are maybe now realising exactly how important Matic was last season as well, especially after seeing Cesc and Bakayoko struggle a lot this season. I agree with a comment Phil Neville made: whoever made the final decision to sell him should be sacked which as far as I’m aware Conte said he didn’t want to sell him so somebody upstairs has got some explaining to do. Aging or not, you could still depend on him more than Cesc next to Bakayoko in a MF two and that they’d play a lot better than what we seen tonight defensively in MF. I get we need creativity in MF too but so many games last season we went with Kante-Matic in the bigger games and it worked almost every time. It was tried and tested, Matic looked rejuvenated to the high standards he’d set before and Kante was fantastic.

 

4) Recruitment. Well where to start? We pursued Alex Sandro all summer to no rewards, never signed an alternative (heck Juve even wanted Matic and we didn’t try swap him + € for Sandro) and it’s likely Marcus Alonso will play almost every game for the second season in a row because again there’s no way Kenedy is ready or at the standard to beat him to that role like season. Alonso will need to rest or come out of the team at some point be it potentially due to an injury or poor form. Zappacosta signed for 20M to back up and compete with Moses, who has looked a good option in that wing back role, fair enough job done considering Chamberlain, who could of been a good RWB here I Real went elsewhere but another RWB.. the jury is still out on him, although Azpi could have always played there, which is why I was confused how we signed a RWB and not a LWB at all. Id have thought if it came down to it and Conte could of only signed either a right or left wing back this summer I guarentee it would of been left sided wing back but hey here we are. Drinkwater signed for depth, homegrown, looked alright in limited minutes so far, time out injured was disappointing as he could of given us another option earlier in season. Bakayoko has potential but has struggled a lot if paired with Cesc and not Kante and I don’t think that’s a coincidence, he’s not a Matic replacement and never will be better suited to that role. Morata good signing, played high level at club and international level, won trophies, good level of ability and will continue to grow too and also same with Rudiger regarding ability, experience at club and international level. Now regarding another striker, maybe Llorente wasn’t best person out there but as a number 2 with that profile he would of been a good option, can hold it and link up with players, is a threat in the air and around the box. Michy is more a poacher who fair enough he’s got a decent goal scoring record here more than anything else, his holdup leaves a lot to be desired and personally I don’t think he’ll make it past next summer even if Conte is still here or not. I think this along with LWB is for me the most important issues to look at come January, we need someone to either come in then or get it wrapped up for the summer because we are fucked if Morata and Alonso pick up injuries. Batshuayi and Kenedy are a few levels below. These guys are not good enough for a top team like Chelsea unfortunately. Pedro and Willian are aging but for me tonight in the first half Pedro was one of our top performers with Eden. He would be good to keep for outwide but Willian is another player who come the summer could be a casualty. Although I think he can be kept until then. Ross Barkley must be avoided at all costs as well.

Also how many of these new signings got a full pre-season? Must do better next summer. Still firmly believe Conte is the right guy, he’s got a system which brought success and if we had better and faster summer recruitment I feel the season would of begun better. For instance Alex Sandro is a lot bette than Alonso who is a good player. Look at City with two new FBs. Sometimes you only need to change one two or three players in the first 11 but it makes all the difference in a positive way, we seen that with Courtous and Costa coming into our first 11 when we won the title under Jose a few years ago.

I thought the board would of learned from a few summers ago what failing to have a suitable plan B regarding targets can do. John Stones for instance never signed, no plan B instead plan Z, Papy Djilibijojdushdh not even gonna attempt spelling his surname arrives o recommendation from the technical director. Also signing second rate players like Baba Rahmann (another one from Emenalo. Would he of been signed by any other title winners by club? Even as a plan B,C?) - and then eventually resorting to using Kenedy at LB midseason😂 - when we needed a more developed first team left back (oh wait we didn’t have Filipe Luis because we stupidly sold him back to Atletico). The board has taken a lot of flak and taken a lot of praise but honestly more often than not, apart from turning a profit and complying with FFP, they let the club and manager down time and time again

 

[Bosnian Blue 2,471]

No excuse for playing Dave again at WB and insisting on the wheelchair midfielder Fabregas. Also not helping the facts Alonso is an absolute donkey and having another midfielder who cant play a 20 yard pass. Combine all that with three circus clowns in defence  and this is what you get...

I am more concerned about the effort especially when they went 3-0 down, getting humiliated, ole ole chants from the stands, Roma playing 20 or 25 passes without anyone making a tackle, anyone fauling their players at least, showing the anger and passion. Even when you play with your mates in the backyard you never want to feel defeated and humiliated like that. They just jogged around for the last 20 minutes so why even be bothered when they are not bothered themselves.

Conte is not faultless here but we are just running out of managers and I really do think he is a good coach, but continue like this and the alarm bells will be ringing. The media are already on it.

[Leif 6,006]

To think we could've just gone for a midfield duo of Kante-Fabinho & poured money into an elite winger for the right side. We'd still be lacking, but at least we'd play good football. In fact with that duo, we'd be solid enough to revert to our signature 4-3-3. It was a stale formation, and i was so glad to see us adopt something new - but it could even be time to bring it back now, if not another brand new formation (we can only get more attacking from this point on...right?)

 

[Leif 6,006]

Milan not getting CL next season 100% means that they must sell almost every player of theirs that's Serie A material.

That in mind, there's 1 player who'd elevate our game tremendously, and that's Conti. I thought he'd be moulded into a CB, but what a waste. He might be one of the best wing backs possible. If Conte's here next season, I want that Italian link strengthened. 

[Jase 43,479]

3 hours ago, OneMoSalah said:

This season has been hit and miss but before the season even began there were 4 major fuck ups on the board and Conte’s behalf 1) releasing John Terry and NOT offering/begging him to take a coaching role 2) alienating and selling Diego Costa 3) selling Nemanja Matic. Without even mentioning to Man Utd by the way and 4) Poor recruitment.

1. Think if given the chance, Conte would have wanted Terry to stay but he clearly still wants to play and is not going to get that here. Had to leave.

2. Conte may be at fault - to an extent - on his handling of Costa but it's been said many times, let's not pretend Costa hadn't downed tools since January and given his erratic contribution/behavior ever since, you can't blame Conte for saying 'enough is enough' with him.

4. Selling Costa and Matic would have been fine had we bought well but the poor recruitment only really compounded those outgoings.