The Conte Thread

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

(6) 3-5-2 is isolating Hazard. This is blatantly obvious. Initially Hazard got some joy in this 3-5-2 (away from home) where he was offered more space on the counter. Initially I wanted to only see a 3-5-2 away from home or in big games but right now I don't want to see it anymore. It just doesn't get the best out of our players and limits us too much in attack. Conte is taking it one step further and playing it as our main formation now. Our best performances have come with a 3-4-3. Especially at home. Teams are just packing the midfield now and Hazard has nowhere to go. Then he subs Hazard off like it's entirely his fault. Strange.

(7) And no one to play with since Fabregas can't dribble past players and use his pace to make runs behind and stretch a defense like a Pedro Can. Everything Fab does is infront of the opponents midfield and defense. 

(8) Conte gets paid millions of pounds to figure this things out. But he's being stubborn, doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is the definiton of insanity. I'm not saying he's insane but he needs to show more creativity in his coaching. Right now he's looking like the negative manager Mourinho branded him last season.

 

I'm back on my long post shit again lol. Had to break this one up. But that's how frustrated I am with what I'm seeing. 

[Pizy 18,368]

You can be 100% sure that Conte hands the club a list with targets he wants in the transfer windows and they sure as hell aren't the players we end up with. Even ones who have worked out well have clearly not been his top choices. The club just goes "Nope. Here's someone who plays the position of the target you wanted but is much cheaper." Yeah, much cheaper and not close to as good.

 

[Mufassir08 2,400]

3 minutes ago, Pizy said:

You can be 100% sure that Conte hands the club a list with targets he wants in the transfer windows and they sure as hell aren't the players we end up with. Even ones who have worked out well have clearly not been his top choices. The club just goes "Nope. Here's someone who plays the position of the target you wanted but is much cheaper." Yeah, much cheaper and not close to as good.

 

The problem is that the so called cheaper players we sign aren't really that cheap. To put things into perspective, Zappa cost us 23m while Barca signed Nelson Semedo for 26m! Ricardo Perreira also had a similar release clause in his contract. We signed Baka and Drinkwater for 40m and 35m respectively while the likes of Tolisso (42m), Seri (35m), Goretzka, Torreira, Ceballos (12m), Dahoud (10m) could have been had for much less than what we paid for Baka with only Tolisso costing more.

[Laylabelle 9,351]

16 minutes ago, Pizy said:

You can be 100% sure that Conte hands the club a list with targets he wants in the transfer windows and they sure as hell aren't the players we end up with. Even ones who have worked out well have clearly not been his top choices. The club just goes "Nope. Here's someone who plays the position of the target you wanted but is much cheaper." Yeah, much cheaper and not close to as good.

 

Here's who you want... Here's who your getting lol surprise!!! 

[Pizy 18,368]

5 minutes ago, Mufassir08 said:

The problem is that the so called cheaper players we sign aren't really that cheap. To put things into perspective, Zappa cost us 23m while Barca signed Nelson Semedo for 26m! Ricardo Perreira also had a similar release clause in his contract. We signed Baka and Drinkwater for 40m and 35m respectively while the likes of Tolisso (42m), Seri (35m), Goretzka, Torreira, Ceballos (12m), Dahoud (10m) could have been had for much less than what we paid for Baka with only Tolisso costing more.

Very true. No one can tell me he wanted Zappacosta as his top choice. Or Drinkwater. Or Barkley. Or Batshuayi.

Like I mentioned, even players who have been solid like Alonso and Rüdiger weren't his first choices. Alonso was a last minute panic buy after we couldn't get whoever else we were after that summer. Rüdiger was who we settled for when we couldn't get Bonucci, Koulibaly, etc. Zappacosta was a last minute panic buy who was probably our 6th choice fullback. Drinkwater the same. Barkley was the clearest club purchase yet. Our shiny new #9 wasn't even Conte's top choice, FFS!

I mean come on, at least give him the #1 choice every once in a while! Mourinho and Pep have gotten just about every single player they've asked for since they've arrived in Manchester. United would've gotten Griezmann for sure had Atleti not been given that transfer ban. Conte isn't given that luxury.

[xPetrCechx 13,563]

I can't forget the round of "victory" made by Avram Grant at Stamford Bridge after finishing the last game of the season in which he "trained" Chelsea (07/08). He of course led the team to ... nothing, but the fans, many of whom are sheeps with little understanding of football, applauded him and called his name. In contrast, Roman Abramovich had already understood that this was a fraud, that he had been stung by an opportunist, and therefore informed Grant of his dismissal immediately after the season.
Since Avram left, there have been all kinds of impostors like Scolari, AVB, Benitez, but we got rid of them before they managed to destroy every good part.

This time, however, I am concerned. Because Chelsea's "coach" today - the one that comes up against small teams with two attacking players and when its doens't work, he replaces them instead of strengthening them - is the perfect deceiver. . A person who claims to be a coach, even though he has zero connection to this profession. In contrast to Grant - a fat Israeli, without a game career behind him and achievements in the coaching world - Conte is Italian. His hair transplant succeeded beyond expectations, he celebrates the goal that Chelsea scores once a month together with the fans in a kind of happy party, he was a good player, and apparently also achieved some things in Italy as a coach, although he had no serious competitor in the league - just like a year ago in England. He's even nice and smiling at the press conferences. You can't not to love him.

Actually you can, if you simply ignores the distractions and examines him by results, the team's ability on the field and players he bought. If he had been judged only by those criterions,. every could see how bad he is. chelsea is scoring like a weak mid-table team. If the fans had judged the product in front of them, they would have seen that the players have no desire, the players that Conte bought-the dreadful Bakayoko, instead of Matic and even more dreadful Morata instead of Costa- are a shocking incomes...  

The journalists pointed out that only an injury causes conte to make a substitution before the 65th minute (regardless of the game situation) and that almost all the players are not fit and the person who is responsible for their fitness comes out clean again and again. And above all, Roman Abramovich would have realized that for 10 million pounds per year (conte's Salary),  and 70 million pounds for Morata, he deserve far more than he gets.
The question is whether he will wake up in time, understand that he is being tricked, and send home the impostor  - or he will understand it only when Chelsea will finish out off the Top 4 and will not play in the Champions League next season.

[Mufassir08 2,400]

3 minutes ago, Pizy said:

Very true. No one can tell me he wanted Zappacosta as his top choice. Or Drinkwater. Or Barkley. Or Batshuayi.

Like I mentioned, even players who have been solid like Alonso and Rüdiger weren't his first choices. Alonso was a last minute panic buy after we couldn't get whoever else we were after that summer. Rüdiger was who we settled for when we couldn't get Bonucci, Koulibaly, etc. Zappacosta was a last minute panic buy who was probably our 6th choice fullback. Drinkwater the same. Barkley was the clearest club purchase yet. Our shiny new #9 wasn't even Conte's top choice, FFS!

I mean come on, at least give him the #1 choice every once in a while! Mourinho and Pep have gotten just about every single player they've asked for since they've arrived in Manchester. United would've gotten Griezmann for sure had Atleti not been given that transfer ban. Conte isn't given that luxury.

Our transfer and scouting strategy must change drastically. The past three summers have set us back considerably. Literally the only transfer which dignifies our horrible transfer activity is of Kante. God knows how we managed to land him given our subpar transfer dealings. 

[xPetrCechx 13,563]

Morata For Costa

Baka For Matic

Loss in the pocket and loss on the field. Brilliant.

[Jase 43,479]

1 hour ago, MrExcalibur100 said:

(1) Hazard off after 60 mins. Rightly or wrongly, even Mourinho knew to never sub him off.

Can you blame him for taking off someone who was playing poorly, even if that someone is our best player? Let's not pretend as if Mourinho didn't make some mind boggling decisions with Hazard. He, once, benched Hazard against Aston Villa (ASTON FREAKING VILLA!!!) at HOME because he wanted balance in the team.

1 hour ago, MrExcalibur100 said:

(2) No more 3-4-3 despite this system bringing us so much sucess last season. Conte seems more concerned in shoehorning Bakayoko into the team!

3-4-3 and 3-5-2 produce its own dilemmas really. Play 3-4-3 and we risk getting overrun in midfield and who is best to partner Kante? Neither Drinkwater nor Bakayoko offers anything of note and dare I say Fabregas even offers nothing these days, not even offensively anymore. Play 3-5-2 and we're able to at least try and control the midfield and put Hazard in probably his best position to do damage. But we become far too predictable if the entire XI isn't on it, especially if the midfield doesn't take control and Alonso/Moses do zilch out wide.

1 hour ago, MrExcalibur100 said:

What is Conte afraid of? Play 7 defensive minded players at home to Leicester and complain about attacking play lol.. What attacking play can you produce with Rudiger, Cahill, Azpilicueta, Moses, Alonso, Kante and Bakayoko? Teams who play attacking football and open up the opposition with their movement and fluidity don't play 7 defensive minded players. Sorry.

I see where you're coming from but I don't know why people keep on saying 7 defensive players. Can we really term Alonso and Moses as defensive players when they are key part of our attacks as well? They aren't just in the XI to defend but also provide key offensive contribution.

[manpe 10,861]

1 hour ago, xPetrCechx said:

I can't forget the round of "victory" made by Avram Grant at Stamford Bridge after finishing the last game of the season in which he "trained" Chelsea (07/08). He of course led the team to ... nothing, but the fans, many of whom are sheeps with little understanding of football, applauded him and called his name. In contrast, Roman Abramovich had already understood that this was a fraud, that he had been stung by an opportunist, and therefore informed Grant of his dismissal immediately after the season.
Since Avram left, there have been all kinds of impostors like Scolari, AVB, Benitez, but we got rid of them before they managed to destroy every good part.

This time, however, I am concerned. Because Chelsea's "coach" today - the one that comes up against small teams with two attacking players and when its doens't work, he replaces them instead of strengthening them - is the perfect deceiver. . A person who claims to be a coach, even though he has zero connection to this profession. In contrast to Grant - a fat Israeli, without a game career behind him and achievements in the coaching world - Conte is Italian. His hair transplant succeeded beyond expectations, he celebrates the goal that Chelsea scores once a month together with the fans in a kind of happy party, he was a good player, and apparently also achieved some things in Italy as a coach, although he had no serious competitor in the league - just like a year ago in England. He's even nice and smiling at the press conferences. You can't not to love him.

Actually you can, if you simply ignores the distractions and examines him by results, the team's ability on the field and players he bought. If he had been judged only by those criterions,. every could see how bad he is. chelsea is scoring like a weak mid-table team. If the fans had judged the product in front of them, they would have seen that the players have no desire, the players that Conte bought-the dreadful Bakayoko, instead of Matic and even more dreadful Morata instead of Costa- are a shocking incomes...  

The journalists pointed out that only an injury causes conte to make a substitution before the 65th minute (regardless of the game situation) and that almost all the players are not fit and the person who is responsible for their fitness comes out clean again and again. And above all, Roman Abramovich would have realized that for 10 million pounds per year (conte's Salary),  and 70 million pounds for Morata, he deserve far more than he gets.
The question is whether he will wake up in time, understand that he is being tricked, and send home the impostor  - or he will understand it only when Chelsea will finish out off the Top 4 and will not play in the Champions League next season.

Wow man, you talk so much crap. The fact you had to bring up his hair transplant to make some kind of point (what was the point anyway?) renders your post crap.

[Special Juan 27,424]

I think it was a copy and paste job from Petr.

[Belgiannutt 3,201]

24 minutes ago, Jason said:

Can you blame him for taking off someone who was playing poorly, even if that someone is our best player? Let's not pretend as if Mourinho didn't make some mind boggling decisions with Hazard. He, once, benched Hazard against Aston Villa (ASTON FREAKING VILLA!!!) at HOME because he wanted balance in the team.

3-4-3 and 3-5-2 produce its own dilemmas really. Play 3-4-3 and we risk getting overrun in midfield and who is best to partner Kante? Neither Drinkwater nor Bakayoko offers anything of note and dare I say Fabregas even offers nothing these days, not even offensively anymore. Play 3-5-2 and we're able to at least try and control the midfield and put Hazard in probably his best position to do damage. But we become far too predictable if the entire XI isn't on it, especially if the midfield doesn't take control and Alonso/Moses do zilch out wide.

I see where you're coming from but I don't know why people keep on saying 7 defensive players. Can we really term Alonso and Moses as defensive players when they are key part of our attacks as well? They aren't just in the XI to defend but also provide key offensive contribution.

Hazard and Fabregas were playing poor but they really are our only 2 creative sources in the squad. Considering it was 0-0 i thought it was silly to sub both of them out. They're both capable of creating chances out of nothing. Atleast 1 if not both should have stayed on in my opinion.

Anything less then a win against Leicester at home was unacceptable.  

 

Alonso and Moses don't really offer much going forward. Besides that there's also the fact that most opponents pin our wingbacks back. So by the time they get up the pitch it's already too late.

And our midfielders either dont have the quality to be efficient in the final third (Bakayoko, Drinkwater, Kante) or lack the legs to make the proper runs (Fabregas). 

In order for the 3-5-2 to work it really needs more versatile midfielders and better wingbacks going forward.

[lucio 5,418]

he needs to be more proactive with bringing in new players too, (I know barkley has been injured, but still) , Valencia have put coquelin straight into their starting XI tonight, and they signed him 2 days ago. He spent an age introducing Morata, drinkwater, - takes too long bringing people back from injury too imo - could have played luiz today if fatigue was such a big issue - at cb or cdm

[Polo7 3,496]

Has been pretty much begging the board for signings since the summer. Hasnt got any of his targets. Yet will always get the blame.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

2 hours ago, Jason said:

Can you blame him for taking off someone who was playing poorly, even if that someone is our best player? Let's not pretend as if Mourinho didn't make some mind boggling decisions with Hazard. He, once, benched Hazard against Aston Villa (ASTON FREAKING VILLA!!!) at HOME because he wanted balance in the team.

3-4-3 and 3-5-2 produce its own dilemmas really. Play 3-4-3 and we risk getting overrun in midfield and who is best to partner Kante? Neither Drinkwater nor Bakayoko offers anything of note and dare I say Fabregas even offers nothing these days, not even offensively anymore. Play 3-5-2 and we're able to at least try and control the midfield and put Hazard in probably his best position to do damage. But we become far too predictable if the entire XI isn't on it, especially if the midfield doesn't take control and Alonso/Moses do zilch out wide.

I see where you're coming from but I don't know why people keep on saying 7 defensive players. Can we really term Alonso and Moses as defensive players when they are key part of our attacks as well? They aren't just in the XI to defend but also provide key offensive contribution.

Drinkwater and Kante has already proven to be a title winning duo now we have the added advantage of a back three while at Leicester it was a flat back 4. Overrun in midfield by who? A team like Leicester? It's not like we aren't getting dominated in the big games against a team like City for example regardless of the formation. Miss me with that talk. 

And Alonso and Moses are LWB - therefore are defensive players first and foremost. Sure part of their secondary duties is too overlap and play with some width bu When we don't have the ball they revert to position and we form a flat back 5. Don't think about football as when we only have the ball.

I'm not sure what you are disagreeing with though.

[Jase 43,479]

19 minutes ago, MrExcalibur100 said:

Drinkwater and Kante has already proven to be a title winning duo now we have the added advantage of a back three while at Leicester it was a flat back 4.

It may have worked for a lesser side like Leicester but it doesn't mean it will for us. And even if it does, is it really good enough at the highest level?

21 minutes ago, MrExcalibur100 said:

It's not like we aren't getting dominated in the big games against a team like City for example regardless of the formation. Miss me with that talk. 

True but haven't you always complained about getting dominated in midfield like after every big game?

22 minutes ago, MrExcalibur100 said:

And Alonso and Moses are LWB - therefore are defensive players first and foremost. Sure part of their secondary duties is too overlap and play with some width bu When we don't have the ball they revert to position and we form a flat back 5. Don't think about football as when we only have the ball.

Did I? When we defend, they obviously drop back to form a back 5 but when we attack, they don't just stay at home, do they? They get forward, forming a front 4 or 5 (in 3-4-3 or 3-5-2). Their role is rather a mix of the two rather than just defensive or offensive.

[Bosnian Blue 2,471]

The club did invest. They have spent almost 150M on Bakayoko, Drinkwater and Morata. Doesnt really seem like a good investment now, does it?

But that aside, Conte doesnt look like he wants to be here at all. His body language has changed completely from last season. There is no enthusiasm or passion whatsoever.

[It's too big 625]

I think the thing people are forgetting is we are rebuilding the squad. All of the old guard have gone, so we have had to bring in new players and integrate them now. We will likely go through a rough patch on occasions because of this. The players in the squad have been together for one and a half seasons, even less for some. Morata has come from Spain where they have winter break, and he's in a new team, in a new country, being the leading man under a new coach with a different philosophy. The problem is with many of the new age fans is they are impatient and expect instant success or success every season. It isn't going to happen. Most other squads in the league have been together for a few seasons or still have some of their old guard left, but our squad is still relatively new. Christensen, Morata, Alonso, Moses (only been starter since last season), Bakayoko, Drinkwater, Zappa, Rudiger, Batshuayi, Kante, all players who have been at the club a very short period..