The Conte Thread

[LDN Blue 7,903]

11 minutes ago, Polo7 said:

What do you mean challenged? Did we finish 10th last season just by losing to the top 4? No we lost points against everyone. If you cant see the improvement from last year to this season then give up watching football mate.

No I'm saying it's too premature to assume we won't cave in again mate. Yeah confidence is up now and things seem to be going well, but when that winter slump comes and we're exposed with Cahill, Terry & Ivanovic then we'll see what 'improvements' are there. If we keep a great defensive record then I'll be happy to say I was wrong, but that initial statistic makes no shred of difference to me because it's too early lol. 

[Eidur the Spider 4,515]

Eden Hazard on Chelsea TV: "Antonio Conte has tried to give us confidence. He knows players because he used to be one." #CFC (Sky)

[Eidur the Spider 4,515]

Conte: "It is very strange that at home we conceded for 13 games. God," #CFC (Telegraph)

Conte: "I reminded this to my players so I was very pleased to get a clean sheet." #CFC (Telegraph)

Conte: It’s important to score 1 more goal than the opponent, but to keep the clean sheet is important for the confidence for the whole team

Conte: "We must go day by day and step by step and to face every game with the right intensity, concentration and focus" #CFC (Telegraph)

First priority for Conte going into transfer deadline week remains finding an experienced defender to add to his squad (Telegraph) #CFC

[Jase 43,479]

2 hours ago, LDN Blue said:

No I'm saying it's too premature to assume we won't cave in again mate. Yeah confidence is up now and things seem to be going well, but when that winter slump comes and we're exposed with Cahill, Terry & Ivanovic then we'll see what 'improvements' are there. If we keep a great defensive record then I'll be happy to say I was wrong, but that initial statistic makes no shred of difference to me because it's too early lol. 

Don't jinx it mate.  We haven't really had a winter slump for some time now.

[Hybrid Angel 2,130]

He also said: "If I have to choose one way to defend I prefer to attack. The best way to defend is to go forward. When you stay behind the ball for too long, anything can happen. We are improving also in this aspect.“ [Telegraph]

Finally we have a manager who understands the best way to defend in modern football. Too many times under Mourinho's and Hiddink's last time here we sat deep against any level of opposition and it ended up costing us points. When you're sitting deep and allowing the opposition to pass the ball around, there is always a high chance for a goal or even a jammy one to be scored. 

Against West Ham after Eden scored the penalty I could somewhat see that the players were still being slightly restricted by Mourinho's mentality of being way too defensive. We are getting better and better at defending and pressing high and holding a higher defensive line despite the lack of pace in our CBs. This is the main reason we're letting fewer shots on target against us.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

1 hour ago, Jason said:

Don't jinx it mate.  We haven't really had a winter slump for some time now.

Haven't we? In the title winning season it was more than apparent. We stumbled over the line! Last season was just a write off from the beginning anyway.

I really do worry about our lack of depth in defence and their ability to cope . Sure no European football will help but its still a long season regardless!

[xPetrCechx 13,578]

8 hours ago, Chelsea Legend 11 said:

Kante.

Emenalo 

[Gilvorak 3,734]

Don't care what anyone says Oscar has been great so far & deserves his place in the team. He and Kante have dominated the midfield in every game this season.

That Burnley performance was the most dominant game we've had since the Ancelotti era. Could've been a cricket score if Costa wasn't a disaster & Hazard was more clinical.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

5 hours ago, Gilvorak said:

That Burnley performance was the most dominant game we've had since the Ancelotti era.

Off the top of my head 6-0 vs Arsenal under Jose, 5-0 vs Bolton under AVB, and something like 8-1 vs Villa under Benitez

But yeah, I know what you mean in general. It's very rare that we completely control match like we did against Burnley. 

[Monziò 14]

I understand Barbara's point of view but what you suggest would send the wrong message to the team. Conte's philosophy is pretty plain and simple: we never start favoured, we win through maximum focus in every minute of every game.

If Conte changes starting defensive/offensive midfielders in regards to the opposing sides, it will have different impact on the players: opponents are good we must concentrate and not concede/ we are stronger we'll win because we are more technical. That's not how Conte works, he believes in win by concentration, motion and repetition therefore improvement of trained schemes. 

Of course he recognizes the tactical strenght of players who can often win their duels or the importance of good feet but that's not at all his coaching style: he wants solidity, he wants his players to be under pressure in every circumstance indifferently versus any team.

(As example, Pirlo not only was favoured by Marchisio, Vidal, Pogba, all with great defensive capabilities, but Pirlo himself was often the player with the most kilometers covered during games, so no tackles no running back but steady sense of position.) 

This is what brought Juventus league after league, one while being unbeated (23wins, 15 draws) and one setting the all-time points record (102), but it also was the main critique to Conte when Juventus dealt miserably with inferior teams in Champions league.

[Roquila 1,335]

1 hour ago, CHOULO19 said:

Off the top of my head 6-0 vs Arsenal under Jose, 5-0 vs Bolton under AVB, and something like 8-1 vs Villa under Benitez

But yeah, I know what you mean in general. It's very rare that we completely control match like we did against Burnley. 

3-1 vs Manchester United. Eto'o Hattrick. We dominated that game.

[nono 791]

On 8/8/2016 at 8:14 AM, Special Juan said:

Our main transfer window is in January a lot of the time anyway, you know trying to scramble like fuck after a shit summer transfer window.

I cannot see in 3 weeks the board bringing in the not just the amount of players needed but the correct areas too.

Let's wait until we play some of the better teams in the league. Burnley, Watford and West Ham are all poor teams imo. Matic, Ivanovic and Oscar will all struggle against United/City/Arsenal etc.

[Beigl 1,387]

Off the top of my head 6-0 vs Arsenal under Jose, 5-0 vs Bolton under AVB, and something like 8-1 vs Villa under Benitez [emoji14]

But yeah, I know what you mean in general. It's very rare that we completely control match like we did against Burnley. 

Would add that 0-5 away against Schalke to that list. Maybe our most dominant CL away game ever.

[Fernando 6,589]

3 hours ago, nono said:

Let's wait until we play some of the better teams in the league. Burnley, Watford and West Ham are all poor teams imo. Matic, Ivanovic and Oscar will all struggle against United/City/Arsenal etc.

We always beat Arsenal so that is a no brainer. 

The first big game is against Liverpool and we shall see what these guys are capable of. 

[DYC. 7,542]

44 minutes ago, Beigl said:

Would add that 0-5 away against Schalke to that list. Maybe our most dominant CL away game ever.

Never seen a better Chelsea performance than that one. From start to finish, complete dominance. Beautiful and crisp play as well.

8 minutes ago, Fernando said:

We always beat Arsenal so that is a no brainer. 

The first big game is against Liverpool and we shall see what these guys are capable of. 

Liverpool game will be interesting yeah. High energy. Unless Conte will deploy underdog tactics.

[The Chels 2,502]

Even though we didn't score many, the first 45 minutes especially of the home matches against West Brom and West Ham (amongst others) in the 14/15 season come to mind for the brutal intensity and incessant attacking.

[xPetrCechx 13,578]

David Amoyal ‏@DavidAmoyal  2h2 hours ago

Things I learned on Twitter- some Chelsea fans know Serie A players better than Conte & players can't get better unless they're in PL

 

LOL

[xPetrCechx 13,578]

Conte: "I like it if my team plays with great aggression and high intensity. I like to see that" #CFC (GWL)

Conte: "We train to prepare for that because I want my team to have an identity" #CFC (GWL)

Conte: "I want it so that if you see us, you recognise 'Oh, Chelsea are playing'. That is important for me, for the club and the owner" #CFC

Conte: "Everywhere I have been I have worked at that. I always gave an identity to my teams." #CFC (GWL)

Conte: "I am searching to transfer this to my players now, and I am pleased because I see a great attitude" #CFC (GWL)

[BlueLyon 9,359]

23 hours ago, Hybrid Angel said:

He also said: "If I have to choose one way to defend I prefer to attack. The best way to defend is to go forward. When you stay behind the ball for too long, anything can happen. We are improving also in this aspect.“ [Telegraph]

 

Fucking finaly. I been thinking about it for ages. The only way to win the game is to play football, not to defend. If you start defending, you can only hope luck is on your side.

When Juve was playing Bayern, that was clear as day. They attacked and got lead 2:0. When they parked the bus, they conceded 4 goals. Same with us against PSG for past two years, yet people were saying tactics were good.

If you play top opponent, you need to take ball away from them if you can. Why the hell would you let them pass and attack for whole game and give them 100 chances. If possible, always take the ball away from them and attack them. Teams who are great in possesion struggle when pressed and play great when in possesion. Their defences get all confused if you press because they are not used to that. And yet teams always park buses and let them play their way. No shit you concede at one point because we dont have such great defense anyway.

There is a reason why teams like Barca dominate for years while Chelsea, Inter, Portugal happens very rarely.

Im glad Conte knows that defending for 90min is lottery.

There must be happy medium. Normaly you need to defend, but for past three years our key CL games were disaster. No attacking desire whatsoever.

[Hybrid Angel 2,130]

2 hours ago, BlueLyon said:

No shit you concede at one point because we dont have such great defense anyway.

True. In our case with our backline doing that would basically be the equivalent of offering yourself to get fucked in the arse.