Unfortunately, that's quite likely. Messi's not happy out of Barcelona and it was always going to be someone else's fault when it didn't work for him. Poch was never a good fit for that club or those players. Adding Messi to the mix has made things worse for him, not better. The Utd. job couldn't be any worse, but I've got doubts as to how much better it might be.
Given the very high correlation between ciub revenues and PL placing, then by definition the owners and supporters should expect that position at the MINIMUM from the on-pitch personnel. Not doing so is therefore extreme failure (Jose last season) . Finishing in your expected position range, but finishing below clubs whose expected position is below yours, is failure (the degree determined by how many such clubs finish above you) . Finishing above your expected position is achievement (the degree determined by how much closer you are to 1st than to Nth - and the points/GD gap) .
Poch hasn’t stamped his authority on that PSG and he’s been there for nearly a year. I truly believe he peaked at Spurs and is on the slide. Crying at reaching the CL final was a massive mistake, to me it showed he wasn’t a winner or have that elite mentality and he hasn’t looked the same since.
He is a very emotional bloke and that will cost him in some situations. He never should have selected Kane for that game. He went with his heart and it was a bad, bad choice...and it wasn't the only one. Managing Spurs, at Wembley, with no money, the cost of the stadium going nuts and increasing expectations from every direction, got to him. I can understand that, but you're spot on, his reaction to making the final, looked like he'd completely lost it. PSG wasn't the right environment to recover in. Nor should he come back to Spurs. He's a project manager...and a bloody good one, but he's not an elite coach.
No beef with Poch crying at the semi final, the man loved (loves) the club and always came across quite an emotional guy in general, plus reaching the final in the way we done it was nuts, despite it not being in a final it’s one of the most dramatic moments in CL history, similar with Pool’s comeback against Barca or Barca’s against PSG.
Unfortunately crying was his starter for 10. There were the press interviews where he stated that he might leave the club, win or lose. The lack of competitive preparation for the game, refusing to travel back with the players and officials after the game and then staying in Spain for an extended period suggest that something was very wrong. The start of the next season just confirmed what had been apparent for some time.
Anyone notice the stat at the beginning of the match today? Our average distances covered per game under Nuno and Conte in the Prem has been chalk and cheese (yes, fully aware today wasn’t a league match, lol). Average during Nuno’s reign: 100km, ranked 20th in the Prem. Average so far under Conte: 115km, ranked 1st. Style of football has been so much more enjoyable too, it’s actually nice to feel excited to watch Spurs again. Mad to think he’s had just two months in the job, none of his own signings, a team that was decimated by covid and is still in recovery from it and yet he’s got us playing like a decent side again.
Also makes you realise how much of a bad fit Nuno was for us. Whether that’s his playing style, the way he trained the players, or the lack of respect he commanded. (Or perhaps his general ability as a coach?) This is literally the same group, and the difference is astronomical. Conte really does know what he’s doing, doesn’t he? For months and months the attitude amongst fans has been “sell the lot of them”. We can’t say that now. It’s got to the point where we’re second guessing. I sincerely hope Daniel puts a lengthy contract on the table for him. The sooner, the better. That 18months is gonna fly by.
I also hope Daniel can learn from this that going for the cheaper option is a false economy. He got lucky that no other team snapped up Don Antonio else we'd be completely up **** street right now.
I think it just shows that like with players, there’s a clear level between average/ good and great/ world class managers. Nuno just wasn’t a good enough manager for a club looking to get back into the CL. Personally I wouldn’t say I’m starting to second guess many players, least not yet anyway. Similar to what I said after the Pool game, Conte can clearly get an extra 5-10% out of them but I want that extra % being squeezed out of more top players as that’ll give us the greater chance of finishing where we want too as well as giving us better hopes of silverware. I’m really happy that in separate games now different squad players have stepped up; Winks, Dele and Ndombele all done well against Pool whereas Bergwijn and Doherty done well last night but my current level of thinking is “that adds more £s to their value come January” more so than “oh maybe they have futures”. Some might change my mind between now and the window opening but I think we’ll see between 1-3 of those players depart in January depending on interest shown, as well as Lo Celso and Rodon. Absolutely agree on his contract, we’ve got the option to trigger an extension and I wouldn’t be surprised if that gets triggered before the end of this season, let alone next.
Ultimately with Conte it depends on if he’ll want to stay, IMO. If he’s not backed then he’ll walk, extension or no.
The obvious difference for me is that our play isn't so rigid under Conte, so one game we could be attacking down the flanks and another we could be playing through the middle, one game Lucas is the more conservative winger the next he's playing in a freer role, and so on That's what stood out with both Nuno and especially the ubermensch, their passmaps were identical for every single game because their systems were impossibly rigid, as their systems were entirely based on width while the centre was there to recycle the ball out to the FBs - which also meant cannier coaches could predict where individual players would be making passes or runs and nullify them quite easily, but because our play changes in different matches it's much harder for opposition coaches to cause the entire team to grind to a halt by simply pressing Reguillon
Club can’t afford not to back him so I’m not even trying to think down that route. I’m sure Paratici will be fighting Conte’s corner too for whatever player(s) he may want.
Yeah we’re looking like a team again, something we’ve not seen since before the end of Poch’s reign. Jose got Kane and Son to carry everyone, Nuno just… no comment actually. Conte’s now getting everyone to chip in, goals are coming from various outlets, midfielders are grafting as well as playing good passes and defenders (minus Dier’s **** up last night) are actually looking like they can defend and get moves started. Long may it continue and here’s hoping he gets some of his own players to further raise the level.
I think he’s actually coaching the team, which is the big difference (and an astonishing thing to have to say). The players have a clear idea of what they should be doing at any given time. It helps that many have played in a 3atb system before. If players are drilled and not worrying about positioning or who they should be picking up, or when to press and when to sit, then they’re less likely to make silly mistakes.
That's a mad stat, but it shows how little can mean so much. 1k per player per 90 minutes and you go from bottom to top. That extra bit of effort and fitness is massive.
It's been discussed about the two formations, 523 or 532 and it was great to see last night how the manager can switch formation in the middle of a game when he sees us losing the midfield battle. An active manager not passive. Not leaving it till it's too late and the damage has been done. Integrating Bergwijn the way he has, the path is now clear to rest Kane and play with the front 3 of BSM. I won't be surprised if that happens this weekend as we have also seen how he is rotating players.
This is one thing that sticks out: in the past both Poch and Southgate praised Winks for being one of the most coachable players they had available, something which Conte appears to agree with given he's found a role for him pretty quickly So what the hell was going on for the eighteen months of Norberts's frowning Portuguese cousin? I know citing Winks is borderline pushing it, but think about the whole squad in that time and ask a question: were they being coached, or were they expected to rote learn a very rigid set of tactics and nothing else?
Kane’s been voted 15th, Son 39th and Hojbjerg 100th in the Guardian’s best 100 footballers in the world for 2021. Full year under Conte and Kane and Son break the top 10, whilst Hojbjerg is joined by Skipp, Hugo and one or two others in that 100.
