Exactly. This is when we finally see if Levy really wants to play with the grownups at the business end of football. We struck gold with Poch while the stadium was being built and it all unravelled in the end as Poch stagnated and we didn’t invest at our peak. There can be no excuses now. The stadium is built and has been refinanced in such a way as to ensure that the debt is manageable. Covid is (hopefully) over to the extent that fans are back in stadia, which is huge for our revenue. You don’t sign Conte in this environment and not back him. As DH has echoed, there’s a malaise in this group of players that’s a hangover from the last days of Poch. Conte is a winner. If Levy and the players won’t back him then it really is the end of the line for the lot of them, as far as I’m concerned.
For what it's worth... I was bang on about Nuno. about the style of Contes footie: - Very controlled - Great at counter attacking. Like really really good - if a team sets out to defend, then i find he's overly conservative and doesn't know how to break a team down. - Son and Kane will get firing from him - Your team will work hard. He requires the fullbacks to provide the width and attacking impetus and the 2 in midfield will sit. When we were attacking, it required magic from the 3 up top and the 2 full backs. I think he'll do okay with you guys. He's a top top manager in terms and he's very similar in style to Tuchel (great and organised) but football won't be attacking like a keegan.
As much as he deserves criticism for bringing in Nuno and overseeing an underwhelming transfer window, by all accounts had Paratici not been at the club there is no way we'd have got Conte over the line. Just no way. I also think reports about a bit of money to spend in Jan are accurate. The botched pursuit of Traore plus a few others toward the end of the window was assumed to be because we were trying to move players on. I think it is equally plausible that the club had already made its mind up about Nuno after the Wolves and Watford games and had zero intention of ever really backing him.
I'm having trouble in blaming Paratici for having to choose from options like Gatusso, Fonseca and Nuno. By the time our DoF turned up, all of our first choices (Nagelsmann, Flick, Rodgers, Potter, Poch) had all turned us down and he was left to sift through the ranks of unemployed coaches with the start of pre-season training imminent. It's pretty clear that the club had no faith in the appointment. FFS, he was our 9th or 10th option and came in behind Gattuso. He was given a ridiculously unbalanced squad, a number of players who had long outlived their welcome and our best player sulking like Elizabeth Taylor in a filthy mood. Now the fans have had their say, it looks like there's finally some real money to address some of the issues and a coach that might actually arrest our decline. All we need is for Levy to keep his word to Conte and....
According to the Athletic, Conte supposedly wanted Emerson when he was still at Inter as a potential Hakimi replacement. Should bode well for the Brazilian. Think Ndombele was also on his radar at times. I can see Reguilon and Emerson really flourishing under him though if the system is 352. I’d imagine Cuti will also enjoy it and Conte has previously spoken in the past of how highly he rates Kane so hopefully he gets both him and Son back on track and utilises them similar to the Lukaku-Martinez partnership that proved very successful last season.
I'm slightly baffled as to why we didn't go three at the back at all under Nuno. With all the CB's we have in the squad. I'm glad that Levy, hopefully, has finally stopped £$%ing around and has, hopefully, pushed all of his chips forward. It is make or break time for Levy. Should have done this, if not Potter, in the summer really. Talk is that Conte wants Dusan Vlahovic, Frank Kessie, Stefan De Vrij and Manuel Lazzari this winter. Winter is coming.
SempreInter claim that Inter are still paying Conte his full severance ...and we couldn't get his wages down even then?
Can I just point out there is still time for us to screw this up. Sudden vacancy at Old Trafford and we are back to Mason.
Sorry I know this is likely bs but the image of one of the most successful managers in the modern era having to sit down and "impress" a guy who barely 3 months ago was on the brink of employing Gennaro Gattuso did make me laugh. Levy is such a crumpet.
