Antonio Conte - officially NOT the coach of THFC

[NaijaSpurs]

Well before nuno i said i wanted eithe gasperini, galtier or howe. Galtier and howe we have no chance of getting now. Gasperini is getting on and not sure if his english is good enough.

I meant to say funny, I remember it differently

 

[Finney Is Back]

Okay, time to be positive, and give Conte some due respect. We're fifth in spite of playing with ten men all season, and our keeper throwing a few in for good measure.

By 'playing with 10 men' are you referring to Son or Dier?.... Either way I think you need to re-adjust down to 9.

 

[Finney Is Back]

I can’t remember Son contributing anything tonight. Hugo has to go but he did make a couple of good stops tonight. Dier made one great block.

Sonny…absolutely nothing.

One great block from the central player in the back 3 and that's it. It ignores the jumping under the ball, the pass straight out of play deep in our own half, the fact that he is generally always standing around a long way from the ball or a player when the opposition score. He is in the most 'luxurious' position in the team and doesn't contribute anything to making us better either in defence or in our attacking play. If he is anything other than a reserve next season then it's clear that we'll go nowhere.

 

[Gazza Dazzla]

By 'playing with 10 men' are you referring to Son or Dier?.... Either way I think you need to re-adjust down to 9.

I thought Hugo?

9 men sounds right though, Hugo and Son might as well not get kitted up.

 

[Finney Is Back]

One quality LCB might create more calm in our defense. If not, Dier needs an upgrade too. But he's decent if not outstanding. So go big on a LCB. Hincipe or whatever his name is if Gvadiol can not be lured.

Davies was FAR better than Dier last night. Dier literally does nothing for us.

 

[Finney Is Back]

Arteta had less experience when he took over arsenal.

Did he? I thought he'd been coaching under Pep at Emirates Marketing Project for several years? He'd be a dream for Levy though. Imagine Mason demanding a player.... 'Now, now Ryan... Remember that nobody else in the PL would give you a manager's job, remember which side your bread is buttered and use this fantastic training ground that I built with my bare hands to coach Eric Dier into a good player'.

 

[Finney Is Back]

People saying performance was good to an extent. Whilst I agree ,City put out what would be deemed a weaker side than normal.

KDB , Silva , Foden etc all on the bench. Thought City were not great so what does that say for us ?

Not good enough at all. Bentancur back is a bonus. Soon as he went off you see the difference in the side.

We are in limbo at the minute.

Silva and Foden are behind Grealish and Mahrez because the latter two have been playing better than them.

 

[DeanoAustin]

One great block from the central player in the back 3 and that's it. It ignores the jumping under the ball, the pass straight out of play deep in our own half, the fact that he is generally always standing around a long way from the ball or a player when the opposition score. He is in the most 'luxurious' position in the team and doesn't contribute anything to making us better either in defence or in our attacking play. If he is anything other than a reserve next season then it's clear that we'll go nowhere.

Yeah I'm not defending Dier. The last few months have proven to me that he's a decent player but not good enough to carry to where we want to go. My only point was that he actually did something decent in the game. Son did absolutely nothing. Again. I'm struggling to think of anything beyond some safe passes. He got a little sight of goal a couple of times and was afraid to take it on. They weren't easy but peak Sonny is at least having a go. He just turned back and played safe.

It's so sad to see because I love the guy. He's a club legend and I'd give him a bit of loyalty and keep him a while longer. But to me, if there was an argument against him being world class, it was the fact he was so dependent on being quick and he now seems to have lost that quickness. It's more than confidence in my opinion.

 

[Mr Gogolak]

You do wonder what goes on behind the scenes, we seem to have a few Teflon players that never get dropped. Is there a clique from Poch's time that has too much sway or a contract situation that prevents them from being dropped.

I'm not talking about knee jerk rotation on a game by game basis but Lloris has always escaped manager scrutiny (I would have taken the captaincy off him for drink driving too) Dier and Son have missed one game based on form and were immediately restored, in the case of the latter with a 60m sub on the bench.

Explosive characters like Mourinho and Conte both persist with players and delay subs, is this because the modern day player isn't allowed to be unsettled because of their huge wages or their status among the senior members of the squad?

For once, it's pretty simple: play Lloris, Dier and Son and, if they get back to their best, you have a quality player in your team. If they don't, you can always put the blame on them for a sub-par performance.

Now, put them on the bench and if you lose, everybody will start to ask embarrassing questions. It's a no-brainer, really. They did the same thing on match commentary when City were 2-0 down: 'why is De Bruyne on the bench for such an important game' and 'even if you're Guardiola, your team selections will be questioned'.

Plus, I don't see what happens on the training ground. It's easy to take a gamble when it's not your job on the line. I would too. But it's different for people like Conte or Mourinho because their whole lives revolve around being a football manager. If you start to bench world-class players (or players perceived as such) on a whim, you potentially put off future employers who see these players as financial assets first and foremost.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

I thought Hugo?

9 men sounds right though, Hugo and Son might as well not get kitted up.

It’s so bad with these too
we’re playing down one side of the pitch and getting murdered down the other

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Conte isn't blameless, that's for sure. Too stubborn with his formation and continued selection of struggling players.
But let's be honest, how many of our squad are currently good enough for a team who wants to challenge consistently?

Romero, Bentancur, Kulu, Kane. 4, that's it.

Lloris is done here. Can Sonny get back on it? Not seen enough of Richy yet.

PEH, Dier, Perisic, Doherty, Royal should be squad players only.

Sarr, Skipp, Udogie, Spence could play a part if given chances, we just don't know.

I think we need 4 or 5 top players just to get our first 11 to a competitive level. Then we need squad upgrades for the likes of Sanchez, Davies, Moura, Tanganga, Lo Celso, Tanguy.

An awful lot to be done and won't happen quickly but if Conte is prepared to sign a contract and oversee it then I'd keep him. If not, jog on.

Fully agree
But you can’t do that quickly and get the right players IMO
It does take time
Issue of course is conte has no time
Kane has no time
So we’re fudged

 

[Finney Is Back]

Kane never played for Juve

PEH also played well last night, as did Royal. as did Romero, as did Davies.

A really good January window is 2 signings similar to last Jan, and we might get there again with Porro and possible Zaniolo.

If those were to arrive then you have Porro, Romeo, Udogie, Sarr, Bentancur, Kulu, Zaniolo, Richie who are new and young enough to form the basis of a new team (formation and manager TBC).

Add to them 3-4 arrivals in the summer, mainly at CB and GK, plus the likes of Skipp, Spence (possibly the Brighton-Bisouma) and the twylight years of Kane and Son if we decide to keep them, and the squad starts to look quite refreshed

We have a lot to shift out though: NDombelo, Reguilon, GLC, Sanchez, Dier, Sessegnon, Tanganga, PEH, Moura, Royal, Doherty etc etc

At present Sessegnon is the best left wing back or left full back at the club.
PEH is also one of our best players this season and a very good central midfield player. He is in the team ahead of Skipp and Bissouma on merit.

 

[Finney Is Back]

You do wonder what goes on behind the scenes, we seem to have a few Teflon players that never get dropped. Is there a clique from Poch's time that has too much sway or a contract situation that prevents them from being dropped.

I'm not talking about knee jerk rotation on a game by game basis but Lloris has always escaped manager scrutiny (I would have taken the captaincy off him for drink driving too) Dier and Son have missed one game based on form and were immediately restored, in the case of the latter with a 60m sub on the bench.

Explosive characters like Mourinho and Conte both persist with players and delay subs, is this because the modern day player isn't allowed to be unsettled because of their huge wages or their status among the senior members of the squad?

Lloris is playing because the alternative is Forster.
Dier is playing because the alternative is Sanchez
Son is a difficult one to answer, I suppose he is playing because (unlike with the other two) the manager believes he is a really good player who will play his way back into form.

 

[Finney Is Back]

He's also learned from poch. That was the type of football we played when mourinho was sacked.

Mason wasn't part of the coaching staff at Spurs when Pochettino was here. If we're talking about giving players with little managerial experience the manager's job at Spurs because of who they happened to play under in their career there would be hundreds of players with better credentials than Mason.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

A really good January window is 2 signings similar to last Jan, and we might get there again with Porro and possible Zaniolo.

If those were to arrive then you have Porro, Romeo, Udogie, Sarr, Bentancur, Kulu, Zaniolo, Richie who are new and young enough to form the basis of a new team (formation and manager TBC).

Add to them 3-4 arrivals in the summer, mainly at CB and GK, plus the likes of Skipp, Spence (possibly the Brighton-Bisouma) and the twylight years of Kane and Son if we decide to keep them, and the squad starts to look quite refreshed

We have a lot to shift out though: NDombelo, Reguilon, GLC, Sanchez, Dier, Sessegnon, Tanganga, PEH, Moura, Royal, Doherty etc etc

Great post

 

[djp82]

Silva and Foden are behind Grealish and Mahrez because the latter two have been playing better than them.

Grealish has been a bit part player. Not sure I agree with the above. KDB was on the bench. Their best Midfielder.

Not a full strength City at all . Plus they have not been at it this season.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Lloris is playing because the alternative is Forster.
Dier is playing because the alternative is Sanchez
Son is a difficult one to answer, I suppose he is playing because (unlike with the other two) the manager believes he is a really good player who will play his way back into form.

Forster would be better than Hugo right now
I’d be ok with giving Sanchez a game or two

 

[Bedfordspurs]

These stats don’t include his own goal either or his weakness at stopping hard hot crosses or his penchant for diving out to miss the ball

 

[Finney Is Back]

Grealish has been a bit part player. Not sure I agree with the above. KDB was on the bench. Their best Midfielder.

Not a full strength City at all . Plus they have not been at it this season.

Yes KDB was on the bench, I didn't mention KDB though. The big teams will rest players as they expect to play lots of games in a season. Mahrez and Grealish have got into the team on merit.

 

[Finney Is Back]

Forster would be better than Hugo right now
I’d be ok with giving Sanchez a game or two

You're probably right about Forster.... I'm torn over whether Sanchez coming in for Dier would be OK or even worse. I think he'd probably contribute more defensively than Dier does but he is even worse on the ball than Dier and I'd be even more worried about our lack of press resistence. Maybe as the central one in the 3 we could get away with that? Especially if Lloris (another player hopeless on the ball) isn't playing. What's Forster like with his feet?