Thought he played a part but it is not the performance of one of the top players in world football. I have high expectations of him because of who he is and I can not say I have seen that player tonight. But then again, I am a stubborn git with a complete inability to forgive people who piss me off so that might be clouding my judgement
Went 3 up in that one too! In his second game we went 2 down and won 4-2 and in his 3rd we went 3 up v Bournemouth and won 3-2... Then we all went to sleep
Just off of his first game, I think Conte really needs both de Vrij and Kessie for how he’s gonna play. A top CB and a midfield dynamo could’ve/ would’ve made a huuuge difference tonight. He’s got the full backs, he’s got the attackers and he’s got the keeper. Few little tweaks in January and he can probably build a semi decent team. I’m excited… and it’s been a while since I’ve said that.
That was fun. Lots of work to do, especially on stamina and fitness. I thought our fans were very subdued but maybe they were the "tourists" fans given the competition.
I will praise Winks when he plays well… I just generally have to wait a year in between each good performance!
One other thing I’ll add, if we’re going 343 and not 352, we can’t play Hojbjerg AND Skipp. It needs to be one or the other as we need some creativity in the middle. Until January where we can hopefully add whoever Conte wants, I’d have Ndombele replacing one of them and on current form, I’m dropping Hojbjerg.
First few minutes, arguably even first 30, it was working fine. They were snapping into the opposition and playing some really positive forward passes. Then as the heads dropped, they retreated back into sub-Nunoball. Next few games will tell more...
I think that was initially from the buzz of the new manager. We really did shoot out of the blocks but as the game went on I feel like some limitations showed. I like both players, despite the fact I think Hojbjerg’s been really below par the last few games but I feel like I’m asking myself if I can see them being an effective duo in a 343 and I’m not sure I can. In a 4231 or a 352 I think they’re great for the base pairing with a more creative midfielder in front or beside them but I just don’t think against better opposition than Vitesse that they’d be the right fit as a sole duo. Agree though, in the next coming games we’ll find out more, especially once they’ve had more time learning and training under Conte.
It’s not ideal as none of our supposed creative mids are actually creative but I think he’s the best bet and biggest hope of creating stuff through the middle, the two WBs looked really good tonight but I don’t think we can solely rely on them to be the only creators in the XI. Interesting times though, looking forward to seeing what Conte does. Nice to have some optimism back.
TBF you won't see a Conte team for quite a few games. The squad has had three different managers over the last few years (two with similar styles and one very different), now Conte has to try and impress his style on them but also determine who is most capable of playing it as a team.
Typical, I have a night out (that got grossly extended due to Southern thinking it would be fun if they didn't mention rail replacement buses were the only way I'd get home) and come home to find we'd won 3-2 in a game that was only missing full frontal nudity, Owen Paterson fell on his letter opener because the Tory bastards realised there'sonly so much piss you can take, WWE have had another mass roster cull while proudly announcing record profits and also two weeks after their latest slug of Saudi blood money, and that maybe that third French Mule wasn't such a good idea...
1 and a half training sessions where he was just “observing” () and he’s getting us doing this… Antoniooooooo!
Conte obviously needs to spend serious time on the training pitch with this lot but yet again it's another bloody international break......
How many more before the end of the season? It destroys the momentum of the League, I'd rather they get all internationals over in one go, this constant dripping tap of games is very frustrating.
