The Conte Thread

[KevinAshburner 1,270]

Conte should take the Arsenal Job and leave Chelsea at the end of the season.

[DYC. 7,542]

He should try Alonso alongside Kante in midfield when he gets back. Drinkwater isn't good enough, Bakayoko is garbage right now and Fabregas will leave Kante too exposed vs Pogba, Herrera and Matic.

Giroud needs to start in the final. I can already see the long balls flying against Utd. And Morata is more valuable to the team off the bench right now. Fabregas and Pedro could have an impact off the bench as well.

And I know dropping Caballero would hurt him but I'd start Courtois in the final. Chels need to be at their absolute best to win.

Courtois

Azpiliceuta - Cahill - Rudiger

Moses - Kante - Alonso - Emerson

Willian - Giroud - Hazard

Caballero; Christensen, Zappacosta; Bakayoko, Fabregas; Pedro, Morata

Whatever the case though, NO 3-5-2. That set-up is a violation.

[OneMoSalah 8,776]

Cant wait for the next manager to come in, do good in the first season then have a poor second season... rinse and repeat again with all the "its the managers fault". To be honest, 1 PL title when nobody fancied us and if we win the FA cup this season, it looks a hell of a lot better for Conte in trying to get his next job than it does for us all things considering the disjointed way the club is run regarding transfers and the whole short term mindset that is quite clearly the only way the guys upstairs are thinking. The club needs to take a look in the summer and go for someone who they are going to back to have that sort of trust to be able to say about only the players he wants and the philosophy he wants to instil. Our youth system have been thriving for years, not one has been integrated into our team and I think that is purely through the short term pressures of win the league or get sacked/revolving door we've had for years although it has been successful but its not sustainable forever. Need to be more ambitious in the transfer market as well. 

I think Giroud has been a breath of fresh air for us, if he was a player that Conte asked for or not specifically I don't know... Hazard played brilliantly today (could of done with that sort of performances in the bigger games just after the turn of the year). Strange to think we were second or third last year and in a matter of months the whole season has gone pear shaped regardless of getting to the FA cup final.

Still think Conte will go in the summer, which is a shame because I think hes a top coach. Hopefully we can sign off his reign with a strong finish and beat United to win the FA cup.

 

On 18/04/2018 at 11:01 AM, Adnane said:

Do you guys even realize how bad we were in 2016 ? 

Our highest position was 10th, the one where we finished the season. 

We had a goal difference of +6.

We didn't show the slightest of fights against PSG. 

We went out against Stoke early in the COC. 

We went out against Everton in the FA Cup. 

The best we had done in the league was 3 wins in a row. 

Our top 4 chance was basically gone by October. 

This year we were 2nd at some point in January, win tomorrow and we are 5 points short of Tottenham and 7 Liverpool, with a game at home against the latter coming up ( which we might or might not win obviously ). Even if we miss out on Champions League football which is highly likely it will be by a considerably smaller margin than 2016. 

In 2016 we finished 16 points off top 4, and 13 off the first relegated team, we basically were closer to relegation zone than top 4. 

We are on course to finish the season with 75 points if we somehow manage to win all remaining Premier League games, in the last 15 PL seasons, this would have enabled us to play CL football the following year in 80% of the cases.

It's not a guess, it's an actual statistic. 

 

I'm all for giving the players, manager and board stick for this deceiving season guys, but stop rewriting history, nothing we've experienced this year will ever get as low as 2016, that was a total nightmare, terrible. 

 Brilliant post mate. 100% agree.

 

 

[Jase 43,479]

Where has the Conte in the last 2 games come from? Looked miserable for most of 2018 but was definitely back in the game in the last 3-4 days. Surprised everyone by going 2 strikers up top at Burnley and it worked and his mid-game changes against Southampton today was quick, decisive and spot on. 

[Laylabelle 9,351]

He was really animated again today. Beard looked shit but that aside. 

[the wes 7,212]

Antonio Conte set for shocking move to Barcelona

https://www.101greatgoals.com/news/antonio-conte-set-shocking-move-barcelona/

[OneMoSalah 8,776]

37 minutes ago, the wes said:

Antonio Conte set for shocking move to Barcelona

https://www.101greatgoals.com/news/antonio-conte-set-shocking-move-barcelona/

To be fair Barca are going to win La Liga unbeaten by the looks of it as well as having won a Copa Del Rey. Replacing your coach, losing Neymar and  the new guy goes and does that? Would be an extremely odd move, plus Conte isn't suited to them I don't think, hes a top manager yes but his philosophy and style isn't exactly what you'd associate Barca with although he'd do a good job there anyway. I think quarrels with Messi and Pique won't hinder Valverde in the long run, the same happened to Enrique and he went and won a treble about 5 months afterwards then a whole lot of other trophies including La Liga again the next season as well as FIFA World Cup, Supercup and all that other things. 

[Unionjack 7,531]

Just read this in Calciomercato which basically confirms what we have all said and thought.

http://www.calciomercato.com/en/news/revealed-what-abramovich-told-conte-about-chelsea-summer-transfe-49049

It is widely known that Chelsea’s board and Conte collided when it came to program the last summer transfer campaign.

According to the Italian paper Abramovich didn’t accept Conte’s request to spend big to strengthen the team with the Russian owner who reportedly told his manager that he didn’t see why he couldn’t continue to win the same team that had just won the Champions League.

[OneMoSalah 8,776]

52 minutes ago, Unionjack said:

Just read this in Calciomercato which basically confirms what we have all said and thought.

http://www.calciomercato.com/en/news/revealed-what-abramovich-told-conte-about-chelsea-summer-transfe-49049

It is widely known that Chelsea’s board and Conte collided when it came to program the last summer transfer campaign.

According to the Italian paper Abramovich didn’t accept Conte’s request to spend big to strengthen the team with the Russian owner who reportedly told his manager that he didn’t see why he couldn’t continue to win the same team that had just won the Champions League.

If thats the case Roman is a lot more stupider than I thought he would be considering he always seems to pull the trigger on coaches at the right time and salvage things. But again we've seen it in the past with Mourinho too regarding transfers.  Think Italian media could possibly be over exaggerating it but there is a possibility and I for one wouldn't be surprised if Conte thought that the players we got weren't enough to strengthen the squad/first 11 considering what City were signing and also United.

[Henrique 9,133]

2 hours ago, Unionjack said:

Just read this in Calciomercato which basically confirms what we have all said and thought.

http://www.calciomercato.com/en/news/revealed-what-abramovich-told-conte-about-chelsea-summer-transfe-49049

It is widely known that Chelsea’s board and Conte collided when it came to program the last summer transfer campaign.

According to the Italian paper Abramovich didn’t accept Conte’s request to spend big to strengthen the team with the Russian owner who reportedly told his manager that he didn’t see why he couldn’t continue to win the same team that had just won the Champions League.

Italian media, who in terms of football is as shitty as spanish media, writing shit to defend an italian manager. Im not surprised at all.

[zekinjo 449]

16 hours ago, Henrique said:

Italian media, who in terms of football is as shitty as spanish media, writing shit to defend an italian manager. 

Even if true, tells a lot. One nation behind their coach in foreign country. Huge respect. Some folks can learn from. Antonio Conte, still my coach! 

[Superblue 6,370]

I'm starting to get a feeling that Conte may keep hold of his job. There aren't any top candidates on the market at present, at least not available without a fight with their current clubs, and I don't see anyone standing out any more than a manager with the pedigree of Conte and what he has achieved.

So many little links floating around without anything concrete. If Chelsea were going to do something you would think there is something in place already because with a shortened transfer window and the World Cup this is the worst possible summer to make drastic changes. Does the club instead look at keeping Conte for his last year next season, and summer 2019 they make more significant changes when they have more time without a major international tournament?

I also find it a little odd that Conte in the last handful of games seems to have got his mojo back and is making bolder and more aggressive tactical decisions both before and during games. You wouldn't usually expect that from a manager who know's hes off at the end of the season and therefore would just go through the motions. You just wonder whether there has been a little thawing of the relations between manager and board. If the Conte of last season is still burning inside of him, I would take that over anyone we have currently been linked with.

[Iggy Doonican 4,186]

4 minutes ago, Superblue_1986 said:

I also find it a little odd that Conte in the last handful of games seems to have got his mojo back and is making bolder and more aggressive tactical decisions both before and during games.

Not sure bringing on Baka for Willian  was bolder it was borderline stupid and if you were at the game or watching on the telly the cry of '' What the fuck is he doing'' was everyone's response.

[Superblue 6,370]

44 minutes ago, Iggy Doonican said:

Not sure bringing on Baka for Willian  was bolder it was borderline stupid and if you were at the game or watching on the telly the cry of '' What the fuck is he doing'' was everyone's response.

I too was nervous of bringing on Baka, but my point is more along the lines of being flexible to change things. Against Southampton we reverted to 4-2-3-1 to get back into the game, against Burnley we started with 2 up front which was extremely surprising and in the cup semi the introduction of an extra midfielder at that stage of the game stunted Southampton's momentum when they were getting on top a little and had just brought on an extra striker. Once this was achieved 10 minutes later he changed Fabregas for Pedro and reverted back to go for the second goal.

Whether these decisions are universally agreed amongst us, they have certainly helped us win the last three games and after a period early 2018 where we were crying out for Conte to make changes and be more flexible in his tactical approach (he just looked disinterested). Now suddenly he seems reinvigorated and is making changes and alterations that are making a difference which was a big part of our success last season.

[Iggy Doonican 4,186]

3 hours ago, Superblue_1986 said:

I too was nervous of bringing on Baka, but my point is more along the lines of being flexible to change things. Against Southampton we reverted to 4-2-3-1 to get back into the game, against Burnley we started with 2 up front which was extremely surprising and in the cup semi the introduction of an extra midfielder at that stage of the game stunted Southampton's momentum when they were getting on top a little and had just brought on an extra striker. Once this was achieved 10 minutes later he changed Fabregas for Pedro and reverted back to go for the second goal.

Whether these decisions are universally agreed amongst us, they have certainly helped us win the last three games and after a period early 2018 where we were crying out for Conte to make changes and be more flexible in his tactical approach (he just looked disinterested). Now suddenly he seems reinvigorated and is making changes and alterations that are making a difference which was a big part of our success last season.

I know where your coming from but isn't that a worry that he can go months on end looking like he doesn't care and then in the last few weeks appear to be back to his normal self. 

[Superblue 6,370]

21 minutes ago, Iggy Doonican said:

I know where your coming from but isn't that a worry that he can go months on end looking like he doesn't care and then in the last few weeks appear to be back to his normal self. 

Completely agree it is a worry, and I'll be one of the first to be critical of his attitude this season. I understand he has a right to be angry with the board's transfer business in the summer just like the majority of us are, but he still should have shown more professionalism. It just appears strange that things have suddenly clicked again. Conte even seems a little more bullish about trying to make top 4 in his press conferences than he was when we were in the top 4 a month ago. He seems happier and more relaxed too. You can't help but wonder if this is a sign that maybe the internal situation at the club has improved?

Also there are no manager's we're currently being linked with which fill me with real excitement and all carry some huge question marks in my opinion. Do we have a better manager already at the club? With two miserable seasons immediately after title winning seasons, it can't just be the failings of Conte and Mourinho. There has to be question marks over the attitude and desire of the players and the board too. 

[whats happening 1,525]

anyone else noticed yesterday that zidane made a change at half time even tho they had a good result (1-1), and it really payed off

yet conte sometimes doesnt even make a sub even if the score is not in our favor...or makes it way too late ~80 minutes...

[pHaRaOn 2,131]

1 minute ago, whats happening said:

anyone else noticed yesterday that zidane made a change at half time even tho they had a good result (1-1), and it really payed off

yet conte sometimes doesnt even make a sub even if the score is not in our favor...or makes it way too late ~80 minutes...

Zidane made a substitution because Isco was injured.