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Antonio Conte - officially NOT the coach of THFC

I dont disagree that both pace and creativity are badly lacking in the squad. We neither have wingers nor decent wing backs

Some other criticisms over the squad are over-stated I feel though. For example, I don't think we're so bad that we should have conceded 2 in each of our last 7 games

Conte does a great job of deflecting, of somehow convincing everyone it's always the players, the club, the mentality, never him ...

- We don't have wingers because the manager doesn't want wingers, see Bergwijn, Gil is a winger that never gets played
- We don't have creative players and/or don't let people play creatively, again because of manager tactics
- Re WB's I don't know, Perisic is proven but somehow the setup with him & Son isn't working, Spence never gets played and Sess has gotten worse under Conte (or at minimum stagnated)
- Richarlison, Son, Gil, Spence is a decent amount of pace.

The squad could be improved, so can anyone's, the ongoing issue is the manager refuses to adapt to his resources.
 
I think Conte will turn this around. He needs 2-3 signings to do it, but I think Paratici will get him enough to work with.

Really? on what evidence?

- I'm sure with a better RWB (but lets be fudging clear, Nuno got Doherty to play better for Wolves), another CB and some players back from injury we will play better

But what is better? that we actually beat brick like Villa at home? that we don't concede first for 10 games in a row?

He's never going to rotate properly, never going to give developing players a chance, so unless Spurs becomes a club that can buy all finished product and pay people 150K/week to sit on the bench just in case in multiple positions, I'm trying to see how it works.
 
Conte does a great job of deflecting, of somehow convincing everyone it's always the players, the club, the mentality, never him ...

- We don't have wingers because the manager doesn't want wingers, see Bergwijn, Gil is a winger that never gets played
- We don't have creative players and/or don't let people play creatively, again because of manager tactics
- Re WB's I don't know, Perisic is proven but somehow the setup with him & Son isn't working, Spence never gets played and Sess has gotten worse under Conte (or at minimum stagnated)
- Richarlison, Son, Gil, Spence is a decent amount of pace.

The squad could be improved, so can anyone's, the ongoing issue is the manager refuses to adapt to his resources.
He never adapts
It’s his way or no way
Issue is his way takes time for some players and is instant for others
Kulu and Bentacur hit the ground running and neither had played for him before or in reality in his system
Perisic has hit the ground too
Bissouma looks a lower half player at best so far
Can’t comment on Spence as he hasn’t ever been played
Gil wasn’t brought for conte so can’t be included in this convo
Lenglet has been ok and i think is adapting to the league and language barriers
Richarlison for me is impossible to know again because he hasn’t played really and I won’t judge him out of position
 
I’d prefer to keep Conte and back him in the next 3 transfer windows and then see what we look like in 18 months time.
His body language worries me though and I think it’s more likely he’s on his way out.
So would I…. But the chairman won’t take that same approach.
 
He never adapts
It’s his way or no way
Issue is his way takes time for some players and is instant for others
Kulu and Bentacur hit the ground running and neither had played for him before or in reality in his system
Perisic has hit the ground too
Bissouma looks a lower half player at best so far
Can’t comment on Spence as he hasn’t ever been played
Gil wasn’t brought for conte so can’t be included in this convo
Lenglet has been ok and i think is adapting to the league and language barriers
Richarlison for me is impossible to know again because he hasn’t played really and I won’t judge him out of position

So translation

- Unless we buy perfect Conte players who take zero time to adapt, including off the bench -> it's not going to work
- and as a bonus we get to chuck promising young players that have been the foundation of the club's success over last 15 or so years in the bin ..
 
Good debate over the last few pages on the club.

But the immediate question needs answering…

If we really back Conte this window, do you believe he can turn it around?
Yes, but needs 3 players I think. CB, RWB and attacking midfielder/wide forward and they probably need to cost at least £100m between them.
 
What is really backing him though? Signing 30 year olds? If so then no, we shouldnt do that

Sign players who are good value, £20m - £50m range, 20-25 years old....he's a manager, its his job to then make it work

If he doesnt like it, there are plenty of managers who would love the opportunity
Spring 2021 showed us that there weren’t actually many managers who would love the opportunity (though maybe the opportunity is now better than the one being presented back then?
 
We've had what, well over a year for the players to get drilled in Conte's automation system, everything controlled down to every little detail (or so they say) - yet we still look clueless most of the time. I hope we can get some players in that can turn it around and lift us, but who would that be? I can't see it personally, but would love for us to get someone to lift the spirit and get some much needed spark and creativity into the team. We've looked flat and uninspired all season.
 
Yes, but needs 3 players I think. CB, RWB and attacking midfielder/wide forward and they probably need to cost at least £100m between them.
Or potentially cost that
De Vrij would be £8/£10m
Porro £35m
Malinovski £12m loan to buy
That’s £50m this window
And some in the summer
 
Really? on what evidence?

- I'm sure with a better RWB (but lets be fudging clear, Nuno got Doherty to play better for Wolves), another CB and some players back from injury we will play better

But what is better? that we actually beat brick like Villa at home? that we don't concede first for 10 games in a row?

He's never going to rotate properly, never going to give developing players a chance, so unless Spurs becomes a club that can buy all finished product and pay people 150K/week to sit on the bench just in case in multiple positions, I'm trying to see how it works.

I'm frequently too optimistic so take things with a grain of salt.

I think we have a very good team in a well functioning system when everyone's fit. I think we fall apart when 2-3 (or even 1) key players are missing. I think cover in key positions, perhaps even an upgrade on Doherty at RWB is possible to do in January.

Along with hopefully a bit of luck with injuries that could be enough to turn things around. The players are still working hard, they seem to still be believing in Conte. Conte is a top manager with the ability to turn this around.

I think Conte and Paratici has a very good understanding of what they key shortcomings in the squad are. We've shown quite a bit of success in the last two windows in terms of getting Conte the missing pieces. I think they can replicate that.
 
We've shown quite a bit of success in the last two windows in terms of getting Conte the missing pieces

This I agree with. Adding Bentancur, Kulu, Richalison, Perisic, Lenglet (loan), Spence, Bissouma (if he replicates his Brighton form at some point) is a good haul for two windows

We desperately need some fresh blood this Jan, and then a few more in the summer...and hopefully to have not turned off all our fans by then with the dross which we're serving up
 
This I agree with. Adding Bentancur, Kulu, Richalison, Perisic, Lenglet (loan), Spence, Bissouma (if he replicates his Brighton form at some point) is a good haul for two windows

We desperately need some fresh blood this Jan, and then a few more in the summer...and hopefully to have not turned off all our fans by then with the dross which we're serving up
We have a huge issue arising in the summer
Kane will be done to 1 head left on his contract and decisions will need to be made
The kind of decisions that flip fans again
 
The problem with Spurs playing boring football is that it is only palatable when you are winning (and we are not) or instead of watching it you are listening to the radio commentary (and most of us are either in the stadium or watching it on a screen.

For the record I was at Wembley for our last 3 cup wins dating back to 1991. But as great as those moments were, and I can assure they were brilliant, my favourite season supporting Spurs was our last season at the Lane, where even though we won nothing I enjoyed sensational football under Poch as we drew 2 and won 17 of our 19 home games. Sure we had no trophies at the end of it but I use to go to the Lane expecting to be entertained and I was rarely disappointed. I throughly enjoyed my season ticket and got value for money.

At the moment I miss looking forward to watching Tottenham play, and that is what really hurts.
 
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The problem with Spurs playing boring football is that it is only palatable when you are winning (and we are not) or instead of watching it you are listening to the radio commentary (and most of us are either in the stadium or watching it on a screen.

For the record I was at Wembley for our last 3 cup wins dating back to 1991. But as great as those moments were, and I can assure they were brilliant, my favourite season supporting Spurs was our last season at the Lane, where even though we one nothing I enjoyed sensational football under Poch as we drew 2 and won 17 of our 19 home games. Sure we had no trophies at the end of it but I use to go to the Lane expecting to be entertained and I was rarely disappointed. I throughly enjoyed my season ticket and got value for money.

At the moment I miss looking forward to watching Tottenham play, and that is what really hurts.
You left those games with pride
 
The problem with Spurs playing boring football is that it is only palatable when you are winning (and we are not) or instead of watching it you are listening to the radio commentary (and most of us are either in the stadium or watching it on a screen.

For the record I was at Wembley for our last 3 cup wins dating back to 1991. But as great as those moments were, and I can assure they were brilliant, my favourite season supporting Spurs was our last season at the Lane, where even though we won nothing I enjoyed sensational football under Poch as we drew 2 and won 17 of our 19 home games. Sure we had no trophies at the end of it but I use to go to the Lane expecting to be entertained and I was rarely disappointed. I throughly enjoyed my season ticket and got value for money.

At the moment I miss looking forward to watching Tottenham play, and that is what really hurts.

Yes, completely agree
 
At the moment I miss looking forward to watching Tottenham play, and that is what really hurts.
This! Atm I'm watching because I feel I have to, not because I want to. I know very well how every game will pan out before it's played.
Other than some short spells here and there, the football has been tinkle boring.

A month ago I spent a small fortune on plane tickets, hotel and tickets for the last 16 CL game vs Milan, and was very excited. Now I feel more like trying to sell it. Never felt so distanced to the club as now.
 
The squad could be improved, so can anyone's, the ongoing issue is the manager refuses to adapt to his resources.

Or, in short, we would appear to have done to Conte what we’ve done to Pochettino (eventually), Mourinho and then (very quickly) Nuno.

I’m wondering at what point does the blame lie somewhere other than the managers?
 
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