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Antonio Conte - officially NOT the coach of THFC

We have had our run of winnable games which made me anxious with NES in charge. Its great that we have been able to win these games but we really need more focus and time, a better team than Norwich yesterday would have punished us. At the very least the feel good factor is getting back into the team.
 
SouthStand322 said:
I don’t think we have moved to top gear. We’ve had a nice run of fixtures to build up some points.
He’s obviously worked hard on a new shape and demanded that the players work extremely hard also.
There’s a lot we can improve on and some much tougher games coming up.
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Yeah I'd agree with this. Love Conte, great appointment and although he plays to gallery sometimes, I love him for it.

But we're a long way off it still. Results have been very good but they are ahead of performances right now and I fear that if we played Liverpool tomorrow, they'd hammer us. The next 3 games (Brighton, Leicester, Liverpool) will be a really good test. 4-6 points would be decent, anything more and we're in a great position. I've great faith in Conte to improve us but, right now, we're not much better off than we were at the same stage under Jose.
 
metalgear said:
we have played one less game and if win it we're 4th. such a strange year and Conte has been great so far.

i wonder what he did to get the players moving through to top gear. you don't build up fitness in a matter of weeks. they obviously downed tools for the 2nd half of last season with JM and throughout Nuno's stay. And the improvements to some of the players - young and senior - have been amazing to witness.
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It may be an entrenched lack of instruction (Nuno?) and fear of doing something wrong (Mourinho). If a player doesn't know where to run, at first he may FRAAB, but as time goes on he'll amble around without confidence. Like a donkey stuck between two bales of hay. In the PL, if you aren't ready to react and move instantly, the game will pass you by. The "new manager bounce" is IMHO a reset to the FRAAB phase, from which things can go either way depending on the manager (and coaches).

I'm not saying that the players are blameless, and this may just be a FRAAB phase with conveniently low-grade opposition, but it looks to me as though the players know what they've got to do again.
 
DeanoAustin said:
Yeah I'd agree with this. Love Conte, great appointment and although he plays to gallery sometimes, I love him for it.

But we're a long way off it still. Results have been very good but they are ahead of performances right now and I fear that if we played Liverpool tomorrow, they'd hammer us. The next 3 games (Brighton, Leicester, Liverpool) will be a really good test. 4-6 points would be decent, anything more and we're in a great position. I've great faith in Conte to improve us but, right now, we're not much better off than we were at the same stage under Jose.
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Definitely a long way off it still. Understandably, expected. But clear signs of moving in the right direction and not just results going our way because we take our chances better than the other team.

Next games a test both for Conte and the players. Would add West Ham to that list of tougher games.

Can't expect too much too soon from Conte and it's just as much a test for the players as it is for Conte.
 
SouthStand322 said:
I don’t think we have moved to top gear. We’ve had a nice run of fixtures to build up some points.
He’s obviously worked hard on a new shape and demanded that the players work extremely hard also.
There’s a lot we can improve on and some much tougher games coming up.
Click to expand...

This for me as well, there is still a lot of work to do but the players are not hiding as they looked like some of them were doing under Nuno. Conte is still looking to see what players he can trust and trying to instill the winning mentality ( which as a team we have lacked for a long spell). The signs are that he seems to be getting the effort out of the team but as you say there will be tougher times to come, lets hope the fans stick with him and accept that its a " work in progress".
 
LemonadeMoney said:
Regardless of points, possession, form, xG or whatever, I think it's obvious that we are playing with more of an obvious game plan than we did under Nuno, Jose or late Poch.
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Counter attacking football with the wingbacks providing width ...
 
LemonadeMoney said:
Regardless of points, possession, form, xG or whatever, I think it's obvious that we are playing with more of an obvious game plan than we did under Nuno, Jose or late Poch.
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Jose always had a plan. He is/was a very tactical coach. It was just towards the end of his tenure the plan was pretty crap.
 
Gazza said:
Counter attacking football with the wingbacks providing width ...
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That's part of it, but not all of it.

Better and more varied pressing.

Full team higher up the pitch more of the time both when attacking and defending.

Different (imo) better build up play from the back. Different approach with more risk and at times patient, but combined with some more direct early passes. More attempts at playing through lines of pressure.
 
braineclipse said:
That's part of it, but not all of it.

Better and more varied pressing.

Full team higher up the pitch more of the time both when attacking and defending.

Different (imo) better build up play from the back. Different approach with more risk and at times patient, but combined with some more direct early passes. More attempts at playing through lines of pressure.
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As others have said, I am really interested to see how we progress against the better team. Really hoping we can slam West Ham in the Carabao. I am actually looking forward to that game now.
 
JerusalemMan said:
Today we saw evidence to back our hope.
Something tangible to make us believe.
When Conte has had a few months coaching and training, being able to play the players he wants, supplementing the squad with his chosen additions...we could be an immense force
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Indeed, but it is critical that Levy backs Conte fully
 
NaijaSpurs said:
Indeed, but it is critical that Levy backs Conte fully
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Conte will not want a lot
He is proud of how he develops players and I believe he will want to work with anyone that shows willing and growth
Dele today showed some of that and so did winks. He will buy into that as a coach 100% in pretty much the same way Poch did
 
Lilbaz said:
All the talk of omicron and lockdowns may curtail our spending in January. Hope not.
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We don't need massive outlays to massively improve this team - because tons of relatively young players will have six months on their contracts come January, thanks to a general trend for players to let their contracts run down that started in 2020-ish and has only intensified since. I posted a list in another thread a while back.

And clubs will prefer to get money for them to losing them for nothing, precisely *because* of Omicron and lockdowns - they'll need all the income they can get.

This is exactly the time to go out and strengthen. Romagnoli (Milan, CB), Kessie (Milan, CDM), Zakaria (Gladbach, CDM), Ginter (Gladbach, CB), Boubacar Kamara (Marseille, CDM), Brozovic (Inter, CDM), Azmoun (Zenit ST), Mazraoui (Ajax RB), and more besides.

Get three of those in in Jan, and with the rest we're getting now and time for Conte to prep the team, we'll be absolutely flying come the second half of the season. This is, in effect, a pre-season for us - an invaluable opportunity that plays into our hands, a second summer.

Get January right, and top four is very much in our hands.
 
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