Antonio Conte (155 Viewers)

[VuvuzelaBzz]

But we're finding it hard when we have to deal with teams that press very high on the pitch. Like Spurs did yesterday for the first 30-40 minutes. And Middlesbrough did the other week, in the 2nd half. Kante and Matic provide great protection for the back line, but they are not technically gifted and in order to deal with this kind of teams that harass you by aggresively pressing high up the pitch, you need your midfielders to be good on the ball. Fortunately for us this teams can't keep the same intensity for the full 90 minutes - Spurs ran out of gas in the 2nd half and we managed to control the game with ease. And Spurs, City and to some extent Liverpool are the only teams in England to press that way.

This was a fairly common occurrence even during his time with Juve when facing opponents that were aiming for 3 points, but most teams can't keep up that pace for more than 60 minutes at best, at which point the tide turns. I doubt there's much to be done about it, because as good as your team is, other good sides will inevitably give you trouble if they play at 100% intensity when you're at <75%. The most I would hope for in your position is improved defensive work to limit the opponent's chances while they're emptying their gastank.

 

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[Hængebøffer]

This guy just keeps shattering all previously existing wordcount/post records left and right

He's a world class troll.

 

[Fr3sh]

and if he does (not very unlikely now)?

You choose my avatar. If he doesn't i choose yours. Goes for a monrh

 

[ALC]

That tasty egg on his face is looking mighty @Fr3sh, imma scoop that up with some cannoli, hope it has the secret ingredients.













Your tears.

*insert gif of Cam'ron spitting on little crying girls face*

Skickat från min SM-G930F via Tapatalk

Jesus Christ, eggs with cannoli??? Wtf is wrong with you?!

 

[Hist]

You choose my avatar. If he doesn't i choose yours. Goes for a monrh

alright lets do it

 

[GordoDeCentral]

alright lets do it

If you win you should own his avatar for 6 months to your one

 

[Hist]

Hi there lads, great game yesterday. Still buzzing after beating the scum Spuds

Seven on the trot now. Exactly two months ago after losing against Arsenal, I was looking at the table seeing that 8 point gap separating us from City. They were 6 in 6 at that point and I said to myself that there is no stopping them this season, they are going to walk the league. Now we're one point ahead, topping the table, having the most wins in the league. And we've inflincted Spurs the first loss this season to shut their mouth and end their unbeaten run.

Conte's achievement with this set of players is amazing. He's brought back the faith and winning mentality at the club. He's constantly talking in his interviews on how they should continue to work hard and improve every week. And players follow him with the same speach, saying this is the right way to do things, by listening to the gaffer and work as hard as they can on the training pitch.

But we're still far away from being the finished article and the last two games have showed this to us. Chelsea with Antonio Conte is rock solid at the back and very fluid in the attacking areas. Since switching to the three at the back formation, we've limited all the teams to shooting only from outside the box as there is little to no chance of them penetrating the defensive unit and create chances from around the penalty area, except for the set pieces.

But we're finding it hard when we have to deal with teams that press very high on the pitch. Like Spurs did yesterday for the first 30-40 minutes. And Middlesbrough did the other week, in the 2nd half. Kante and Matic provide great protection for the back line, but they are not technically gifted and in order to deal with this kind of teams that harass you by aggresively pressing high up the pitch, you need your midfielders to be good on the ball. Fortunately for us this teams can't keep the same intensity for the full 90 minutes - Spurs ran out of gas in the 2nd half and we managed to control the game with ease. And Spurs, City and to some extent Liverpool are the only teams in England to press that way.

Still, there is nothing Conte can do about it. He's done a brilliant job so far, the one thing he can't do is transform Matic and Kante into the likes of Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez. I'm so proud that despite the fact that Spurs we're occupying advanced positions everytime Courtois had the ball, Antonio Conte did not instruct the defence to play the long ball, but play it calmly from the back. Shows how far we've come under him - from a team and a set of defenders that never had the nerve to play with the ball at their feet, to one that is now starting the build up play from the three defenders.

City next and then we're heading into a supposedly easy run of five games against West Brom, Sunderland, Palace, Bournemouth and Stoke, three of which are at home. Fortunately the table is so congested that the game at the Etihad next week does not have the aura of a massive, massive game. So any result will do. Of course we all want Chelsea to win it, but it's going to be hard. I'd take a draw right away if offered as City is going to put us in all kind of problems. Mostly because what I've written already about our way of dealing with high intensity teams that press high up the pitch.

Enjoy your Sunday

It seems like Conte's Chelsea is the real deal but I will wait for one more test to make up my mind completely about them.

I have 5 observations about the team and I need just one more observation to really say Conte has fixed Chelsea and made them into a top team again.


1) They found a formation that is tailored to the players in the squad. Hazard, Costa and Pedro are playing the best football of their lives. The defenders look very secure despite them being individually poor players. Moses is having the time of his life...while Matic and Kante are in good form.

2) A long winning streak. Seven wins on the trot for a club is good evidence that this is a club that has great momentum with ever growing confidence with every win.

3) The winning streak is based on a solid defense not just a good attack. This indicates that their winning run is sustainable unlike that of teams who need to score 3-4 goals to win every game because of their leaky defense. Liverpool strikes me as that type of team and I think are therefore more prone to dropping points. Chelsea can attack and defend well.

4) Chelsea beat two tough teams which is good for confidence and a good indicator of their strength. The thrashing of United and the win yesterday show that Chelsea are actually in good form and werent just playing crappy opposition to be top of the table. A win against City would cement that confidence and reflect their strength even further.

5) Chelsea are not mentally vulnerable. We are all familiar with teams getting into a great run of form after a poor period before collapsing back again when they are outplayed (Roma in every CL game). Chelsea coming back from behind against a good team, despite being utterly dominated for half the match is a sign of mental strength. They had a very good reaction to hardship on the pitch. Roma (and not United seems to have the same problem), get utterly frustrated and panic whenever things don't go their way during a game. The Chelsea of last season was like that too but no more.

6) This is the one observation I am missing. Chelsea has not suffered a bad result ever since they started winning. All top teams will occasionally get a bad result. But they pick themselves up and react the very next game and start a new winning run as if nothing had happened. I dont know yet if Chelsea can do that. If they do lose against City for example (especially if City have a better game), and Chelsea start a new winning run as if nothing had happened, then I would say Conte has truly rebuilt Chelsea mentally and they are likely to be very successful over the next 3-4 years. Until that happens, there is still a chance that Chelsea don't have that mental strength and maturity yet. I am looking forward to seeing them lose to make up my mind.

- - - Updated - - -

If you win you should own his avatar for 6 months to your one

I dont really care about Avatars. I know I am taking a bigger risk. For him, if Conte finishes the season in second place by goal difference then he still didn't win the league and fresh wins. He doesn't need Conte to be a failure. He needs him to not do an exceptionally great job. I need Conte to do an exceptional job to win.

 

[Conte in London]

One genuine question for you lads. After having watched Antonio Conte for three full seasons, week-in, week-out, what is his approach when playing a big game/derby match? I mean, does he stick to his ideas, plays his ideal formation, goes to an away ground trying to impose his philosophy no matter how good the other team/manager is, or does he use a more defensive approach, trying to cancel out the other manager's tactics?

I say this because for example with Mourinho it was like that - Chelsea v Liverpool was coming up in two days. Liverpool's five previous matches were either draws or hard fought results against mid table clubs, games in which all their opponents had scored goals and missed tons of chances. You'd have taught that's perfect, they are out of form, we're playing home, going to smash them. If Swansea can put 2 past them and miss tons of other glorious chances, there is no way we're not going to run riot against them. But not with Mourinho, no. Match day was here, Mourinho was still playing defensive football and Liverpool was looking like the 2nd coming of Guardiola's Barcelona. All this after just one week since they could not string two passes together against half bottom clubs.

Mourinho has this talent of making others look like world beaters by forcing his team to play dull football.

Edit - How did Conte play against Guardiola in that Champions League quarter final in which you've lost 2-0 and 0-2? Was it an entertaining clash, did Juventus give Bayern a hard time, or was it pain to your eyes to watch that leg?

 

[il brutto]

One genuine question for you lads. After having watched Antonio Conte for three full seasons, week-in, week-out, what is his approach when playing a big game/derby match? I mean, does he stick to his ideas, plays his ideal formation, goes to an away ground trying to impose his philosophy no matter how good the other team/manager is, or does he use a more defensive approach, trying to cancel out the other manager's tactics?

I say this because for example with Mourinho it was like that - Chelsea v Liverpool was coming up in two days. Liverpool's five previous matches were either draws or hard fought results against mid table clubs, games in which all their opponents had scored goals and missed tons of chances. You'd have taught that's perfect, they are out of form, we're playing home, going to smash them. If Swansea can put 2 past them and miss tons of other glorious chances, there is no way we're not going to run riot against them. But not with Mourinho, no. Match day was here, Mourinho was still playing defensive football and Liverpool was looking like the 2nd coming of Guardiola's Barcelona. All this after just one week since they could not string two passes together against half bottom clubs.

Mourinho has this talent of making others look like world beaters by forcing his team to play dull football.

Edit - How did Conte play against Guardiola in that Champions League quarter final in which you've lost 2-0 and 0-2? Was it an entertaining clash, did Juventus give Bayern a hard time, or was it pain to your eyes to watch that leg?

Not sure Conte has ever met Guardiola as a coach. When we played against Bayern under Conte they were managed by Jupp Heynckes. When it comes to Conte and big matches I think he doesn't like adapt too much to the opposition and rather tries to stick to his own trusted tactics.

 

[Ocelot]

He does adapt, but in a more subtle manner - expect roughly the same lineup and formation, but a different playstyle (in terms of pressing/sitting back/playing on the counter etc).

Can't make a definite statement though, he's done both when faced with top teams at his time here. If you take the Real Madrid games for example, he fielded a 4-3-3 (we never really played anything but a 3-5-2 after his first season here) to counter the wings of Real.

 

[zizinho]

also this game that was basically a title decider (even if it was played still early into the season) vs an in form Garcias Roma. we did great at letting them have the ball more but still controlling the game and closing down all the space at the back so their wingers did shit all game. Conte made Rudi his little bitch that night

 

[il brutto]

He does adapt, but in a more subtle manner - expect roughly the same lineup and formation, but a different playstyle (in terms of pressing/sitting back/playing on the counter etc).

Can't make a definite statement though, he's done both when faced with top teams at his time here. If you take the Real Madrid games for example, he fielded a 4-3-3 (we never really played anything but a 3-5-2 after his first season here) to counter the wings of Real.

Of course he's tactically astute but he prefers to play his own style rather than adjust too much to the opposition.

 

[Fr3sh]

alright lets do it

Deal.

If you win you should own his avatar for 6 months to your one

I'm cool with that, if I get yours and his for a month

 

[Ocelot]

also this game that was basically a title decider (even if it was played still early into the season) vs an in form Garcias Roma. we did great at letting them have the ball more but still controlling the game and closing down all the space at the back so their wingers did shit all game. Conte made Rudi his little bitch that night

That is exactly the game I had in mind for the first part of the post. On paper we played our usual team, on field, not so much. That Roma team was based on fast counters and utilizing the space in front of their wingers, so Juve stayed very deep (very unusual for us back then), gave them the ball and they didn't really know what to do with it.

 

[Hist]

One genuine question for you lads. After having watched Antonio Conte for three full seasons, week-in, week-out, what is his approach when playing a big game/derby match? I mean, does he stick to his ideas, plays his ideal formation, goes to an away ground trying to impose his philosophy no matter how good the other team/manager is, or does he use a more defensive approach, trying to cancel out the other manager's tactics?

I say this because for example with Mourinho it was like that - Chelsea v Liverpool was coming up in two days. Liverpool's five previous matches were either draws or hard fought results against mid table clubs, games in which all their opponents had scored goals and missed tons of chances. You'd have taught that's perfect, they are out of form, we're playing home, going to smash them. If Swansea can put 2 past them and miss tons of other glorious chances, there is no way we're not going to run riot against them. But not with Mourinho, no. Match day was here, Mourinho was still playing defensive football and Liverpool was looking like the 2nd coming of Guardiola's Barcelona. All this after just one week since they could not string two passes together against half bottom clubs.

Mourinho has this talent of making others look like world beaters by forcing his team to play dull football.

Edit - How did Conte play against Guardiola in that Champions League quarter final in which you've lost 2-0 and 0-2? Was it an entertaining clash, did Juventus give Bayern a hard time, or was it pain to your eyes to watch that leg?

We have seen him do both. In big Serie A games he always imposed our style on opposition and he tried doing the same in the CL until Bayern (Heynckes's not Pep's) completely dominated us in 2012/13. Against Madrid a year later he changed the formation to neutralize their wingers and it almost worked.

His biggest problem with us in the CL is that he saw Madrid, Brcaetc... way too highly. He should have had more of the anything can happen in 90 min approach.

 

[Pirlo's Beard]

Yes the top clubs in Europe genuinely scared him, I see shit BuLi teams at least create chances against the likes of Bayern but we literally created nothing. He was too frightened to sacrifice our defensive organisation. Conte was very stubborn at times but if he thinks his squad can compete with the opposition then you'll see his 'style' imposed in the game.

 

[zizinho]

That is exactly the game I had in mind for the first part of the post. On paper we played our usual team, on field, not so much. That Roma team was based on fast counters and utilizing the space in front of their wingers, so Juve stayed very deep (very unusual for us back then), gave them the ball and they didn't really know what to do with it.

perfect example of how to handle an uprising team thats following you step by step and is been on a run of good results for a while, in a home game. give them a false feeling of being in control and dissmantle them slowly

 

[JCK]

also this game that was basically a title decider (even if it was played still early into the season) vs an in form Garcias Roma. we did great at letting them have the ball more but still controlling the game and closing down all the space at the back so their wingers did shit all game. Conte made Rudi his little bitch that night

Damn what a team that was!

 

[Conte in London]

Thanks a lot lads, very much appreciated. Yes, my bad, it was Heynckes' Bayern, I thought it was Guardiola's first season there.

One thing I know for sure is that it is going to be a hell of a tactical battle on Saturday. City haven't looked that great since that unbeaten run, but I have no doubts that Guardiola will make them look at their best come next week-end.

As written in Guardiola's book, Antonio Conte is one of the two managers that Guardiola appreciates the most. Along with Dortmund's Tuchel. He writes there that he sees a lot of himself in Conte, starting from his passion for the game and the intensity his teams play with, to his philosophy of football.

Although pundits gave Chelsea no chance to silverware before the start of the season, the writer of the book states there that when he asked Pep Guardiola who is going to be his biggest rival to the league title, he responded Chelsea, because of Conte and the fact that Chelsea have no European competition to play in, hence more time to prepare the matches and get used to Antonio Conte's philosophy.

 

[Badass J Elkann]

guardiola is the biggest fraud in football. I still maintain my pre-season prediction that Conte will win the league this season. Unlike guardiola and mourinho neither have really come up against real competition in their managerial careers so far. Conte took a much unfancied Juve and toppled a very decent milan side that included ibrahimovic and in some style too