The Conte Thread

[Cosmin 2,484]

I wouldn't be so hard on Enrique. I think labeling managers as good or average during these days is useless. For me, there are good fits and bad fits. I think Zidane, for example, cannot even be compared with the likes of Guardiola, Mourinho or even Wenger in terms of managerial skills, but he's been a good fit for Real. He provided exactly what that bunch of players needed. He gave them confidence and freedom. He fit the squad's personality and that got them two Champions League trophies. 

I am not exactly sure what kind of manager can be a good fit for Chelsea, but it seems that the hard working ones tend to fail after a while. Maybe Enrique, even if he doesn't seem to be as qualified as Guardiola, let's say, will turn out to have the qualities that this club and squad need at this point. I am skeptical too, but it might be the case. 

[Special Juan 27,103]

A Southgate or Roy Hodgson type is about the mould that would fit us right now. A real typical English yes man that is like a nodding dog. One that would just accept the signings that are given to them say all the most beautiful thing in a press conference they want to hear.

 

[Tomo 21,681]

And where is this thing Conte has no say in signings coming from? The evidence suggests the opposite. We don't sign a Serie A player for a decade yet since Antonio's come here half our signings are from that league. We haven't really gone after a target man for years Conte arrives and we are all of a sudden trying to sign Llorente, Dzeko, Giroud and possibly Carroll, that plus the signings of Mandzukic, Llorente and Bendtner at Juve (plus his use of Pelle for Italy) strongly suggests these target man links are his idea.

Yes there's probably a few board signings in there (Batshauyi and Barkley) but others are quite evidently approved of by the Italian.

[Pizy 17,860]

Luis Enrique is the sort of manager you'd see someone like Everton or another midtable club appoint. A smaller club that thinks "this guy managed Messi and Barca, he'll do wonders here!" In reality, and much like Zidane at Real Madrid, you could've put AVB on the touchline and won with the sides they had.

Enrique has shown nothing to suggest he's ready for a job like Chelsea. Especially at a time where we'll need to compete with so many other rivals that have established, top class managers who will have been at their clubs for years. This is why we either have to keep Conte or appoint a proven manager. Enrique would be a huge gamble that I feel would fail miserably.

[Cosmin 2,484]

@Tomo - he came here with a philosophy and asked for players that could fit it. Of course he had a say in the positions that needed to be covered, but he didn't get the names that he wanted. He wanted Sandro, but got Alonso & Palmeri. He wanted Koulibaly, but got Luiz. He wanted Dzeko, but got Giroud. In most of the situations, the positions he needed cover for got covered, but not by the names that he wanted. I think that's the issue. 

[Tomo 21,681]

5 minutes ago, Cosmin said:

@Tomo - he came here with a philosophy and asked for players that could fit it. Of course he had a say in the positions that needed to be covered, but he didn't get the names that he wanted. He wanted Sandro, but got Alonso & Palmeri. He wanted Koulibaly, but got Luiz. He wanted Dzeko, but got Giroud. In most of the situations, the positions he needed cover for got covered, but not by the names that he wanted. I think that's the issue. 

That's a fair enough point but we are hardly talking amateur's here and those players were probably still reasonably high on his list. 

7 minutes ago, Pizy said:

Luis Enrique is the sort of manager you'd see someone like Everton or another midtable club appoint. A smaller club that thinks "this guy managed Messi and Barca, he'll do wonders here!" In reality, and much like Zidane at Real Madrid, you could've put AVB on the touchline and won with the sides they had.

Enrique has shown nothing to suggest he's ready for a job like Chelsea. Especially at a time where we'll need to compete with so many other rivals that have established, top class managers who will have been at their clubs for years. This is why we either have to keep Conte or appoint a proven manager. Enrique would be a huge gamble that I feel would fail miserably.

Not that Enrique is my first choice but that's an incredibly harsh assessment, he may have had MSN but to win a treble then a double shows he's clearly got something about him and solely crediting the team can only work to a point.

[sainttourist 68]

Actually think Van Gaal would be interesting one. Of course it's tricky choice, but I think Conte made all too complicated. Van Gaal personality could do good work here.

[Leif 6,006]

Not that Enrique is my first choice but that's an incredibly harsh assessment, he may have had MSN but to win a treble then a double shows he's clearly got something about him and solely crediting the team can only work to a point.

If our players can win CL semi finals + a final without a manager, I wouldn't dismiss the idea that Barcelona's players, not managers, have lead them since Guardiola left.

Barcelona's players must be something like 85% responsible for each win, with the manager contributing just marginally. Enrique may have got to choose the presentation of the cake, but he was not responsible for it's quality and consistency.

Managing Chelsea players is nothing like managing theirs. We don't even judge managers based on their time with Barcelona anymore; it's almost unanimous that they flatter to deceive.

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[kellzfresh 7,226]

57 minutes ago, sainttourist said:

Actually think Van Gaal would be interesting one. Of course it's tricky choice, but I think Conte made all too complicated. Van Gaal personality could do good work here.

Please not Van Gaal. Terrible terrible option

[whats happening 1,440]

On 2/7/2018 at 0:49 PM, Mana said:

I have to say this and I'm one of his biggest critics: We should have kept hold of Bats.

Even though he's useless most of the time, when he has his game, he'll score. And we would never had to play false 9. We wouldn't have lost the manner like we did (actually I'm not so sure v. Watford, but still)

 

Morata, Giroud, Bats. Nice options to choose from.

 

we played a false 9 with bats on the bench so im not sure whats your point here

[ChelseaFanUK 1,014]

Think we will win Monday, everything will be forgotten, beat Hull... lose to Barca, Utd and City and back to Conte out.

 

touch wood we get through this.  Cheer up though Antonio, it cant help the squad seeing Conte mope around the place daily

[Belgiannutt 3,201]

21 hours ago, quickpassnmove said:

Mainly it's the board.

Also, I know that Batshuayi and Bakayoko are NOT Conte signings. Even though Morata has struggled and is not coping well with Premier League referees and defenders, the lack of a 2nd striker in the squad is critical.

There was too much change that needed to happen with the Chelsea squad for many windows now. To me, Chelsea have been trying to play catch-up for years already --and no, they've not bought top players along the way (aside from Kante, Diego, Fab). No one has come in to help Hazard aside from Diego (Fabregas negligible most of the time due to position in RCM and lack of speed).

On top of that, pissing away two huge players like de Bruyne and Salah without buyback clauses hasn't helped.

https://talksport.com/football/antonio-conte-paying-michael-emenalos-mistakes-transfer-market-says-former-chelsea-star-ray#JQRisXaxId9cSVz4.99

It's both for me. The board haven't been buying the quality they should have but whether he gets the players he wants or not. Conte is the coach. It's his job to work with the players he has and find solutions.

Feels like he's letting the problems he has with the board effect his decisions. He's not putting in the energy that he used to. 

Especially this last game he seemed disinterested for the large majority of it. Just feels like his problems witht the board have effected his commitment to the clubs success.

[quickpassnmove 924]

1 hour ago, Belgiannutt said:

It's both for me. The board haven't been buying the quality they should have but whether he gets the players he wants or not. Conte is the coach. It's his job to work with the players he has and find solutions.

Feels like he's letting the problems he has with the board effect his decisions. He's not putting in the energy that he used to. 

Especially this last game he seemed disinterested for the large majority of it. Just feels like his problems witht the board have effected his commitment to the clubs success.

I don't think Conte has adapted to the English league despite the title last season. Our last two titles were won while other big English sides were weakened, IMO. 

Hard to say what Antonio could do under different circumstances; we will probably never see "different circumstances" for him. I don't think he will return to England.

He knows the game well, but I question how well he can adapt to making the most from an inferior squad. Also, IMO, Kenedy may prove to be a player that symbolizes how either Conte or Chelsea (pressure on the manager for success?) fail to foster young talent within their 1st team ...again.

This club has been demonstrating the same problem repeatedly since Mourinho left the first time: Chelsea don't have the leadership and vision required to strike their own successful path with their own identity. Now that some other Premier League club have spent big in recent windows, it's going to take a lot of spending (spend like Madrid/ManCity/Barca) -OR- some genuine vision and leadership to make Chelsea competitive not only England again, but especially in the Champions League.

 

[Cosmin 2,484]

Just finished listening to Monday's Football Weekly and during the discussion there, the panel came up with the point that Conte's training methods are too harsh for the players.

I understand that us, as fans, want those guys to work hard specially since they win a lot of money. But still, let's keep in mind that they are not robots. Phyisical exhaustion can lead to mental breakdowns.

This really might be a cause of what's happening this season. Last season, we didn't have to deal with such a congested schedule, therefore the results were better, the player's energy was at higher levels and we had almost no injuries to deal with!

It might be the case that Conte didn't adapt his methods to this season's reality. We can't know for sure, but it kind of looks like it.

I still think that the issue at Chelsea is the lack of good communication between the players, the board and the manager. Not everyone seems to be on the same page and all of these guys seem to have huge egos.

 

[communicate 2,703]

1 hour ago, Cosmin said:

Just finished listening to Monday's Football Weekly and during the discussion there, the panel came up with the point that Conte's training methods are too harsh for the players.

I understand that us, as fans, want those guys to work hard specially since they win a lot of money. But still, let's keep in mind that they are not robots. Phyisical exhaustion can lead to mental breakdowns.

This really might be a cause of what's happening this season. Last season, we didn't have to deal with such a congested schedule, therefore the results were better, the player's energy was at higher levels and we had almost no injuries to deal with!

It might be the case that Conte didn't adapt his methods to this season's reality. We can't know for sure, but it kind of looks like it.

I still think that the issue at Chelsea is the lack of good communication between the players, the board and the manager. Not everyone seems to be on the same page and all of these guys seem to have huge egos.

 

I'll be surprised if we do much training at all. Our players has played game every 3 day for a while now

[11Drogba 2,000]

Conte last year quoted Hannibal and said we will either find a way or we will make one. He seems to have forgotten his words as we have been doing the same things for a while now. 

One thing I dont like about him is how he reacts when things dont go well. Being honest and realistic is fine but to to turn things around when you have disadvantages you need to be a bit dreamer who does not get depressed but more motivated when he is the underdog.

[Jase 43,479]

Banged about how we're in a top 4 fight this season. Has gotten his wish now...

[Alabama 1,992]

Some few weeks ago we were comfortably in third position.... Right now fight for top 4....