I don’t actually think Romero’s been as good as he can be this season to be honest, though that’s not to say we don’t miss him because we definitely do. Kulu has been the real major loss but even with him fit, Spurs weren’t playing great this season. What’s also more frustrating is that in Gil, we have a player who is close to Kulu in a number of attributes, more so than anyone else and yet it’s Richarlison or Lucas we see play instead - Lucas we know is a pretty poor player whereas Richarlison was just as woeful when played on that side, in comparison to how impressive he was coming into games on the left. Then the RWB situation is just ridiculous in my opinion, I don’t buy any excuses for that. Initially I used to make a joke of it, it’s now far beyond a joke. The persistence with Emerson severely hampers this team and it’s not too dissimilar on the opposite flank. It’s these sorts of decisions alongside the tactics that just fill me with little to no optimism. If players are tired now, then I don’t see where the energy’s going to come from in the business end. A fair portion of our key players could be playing anything between 3 to 7/8 extra games over the next month and the way the squad’s been managed so far I’m genuinely concerned about a massive tail off upon the restart.
I don’t disagree with your points about management of the squad. On the WC, looking at the fixture dates and groups, I think there’s a good chance we get one of Sonny and Bentancur back after the groups. So that’s over 3 weeks off for whoever that is. Making some wild leaps, assuming Denmark go through second and Argentina first, Højbjerg or Romero will be coming home on December 3rd. I can’t quite work out of Croatia go through second or first but they’ll likely face Germany or Spain either way, so we could get Perisic back early. Aside from the England lads, who I just can’t predict at all but obviously are potentially the most significant squad for us to be following in terms of potential impact on Spurs’s season, again I’m cautiously optimistic. I’m sure we’ll get an injury or two but everyone is going to. The teams aside from England who are Spurs-adjacent who are likely to be a concern for us fans are Denmark, Argentina and Brazil, France not mattering as its likely just Lloris (I doubt Lenglet is getting in). Argentina going further is likely more of a worry for us, as we will have Skipp and Bissouma at home for the duration and likely Bentancur coming back after round of 16 if not before, so Denmark sending them home in my hypothetical scenario is better for us as we can cover Højbjerg but not Romero. A player going out in the quarters will have played maximum 5 games in approx 2 weeks, which is a lot especially mid-season, but will then have over 2 weeks before our first PL game. I’m mainly worried about mid-season injuries rather than players being fatigued for the Brentford game. Im not blasé about this, it could well turn out to be a ****show and I’m sure we’ll get at least one problematic injury because, well, it’s Spurs and it’s never easy. But fingers crossed we get players back in time to have a good time off and be ready for the PL resumption.
I fear for the end of the season after the World Cup unless 2 or 3 decent additions are made. I mean additions like Bentancur and Kulusevski who can come in and hit the ground running. If the club sign players that won’t feature because Conte and his staff don’t think they’re ready then it will be pointless signing them.
They've been doing that from the start. Now it's the players being too defensive and that's not because of the way he sets up. Honest.
I liked and agreed with his assessment when he came in. The club needed a kick up the arse. I’m just disappointed he seems to be happy to take a huge wage but now is making excuses and using the ENIC buzzwords like ‘project’ and we need time etc. I’m a fan of a football team, I want to see good football and hopefully some actual tangible glory on the pitch. Conte was a winner now and now it seems like he’s happy to just make up the numbers
It doesn't sound like that to me. It sounds like he's just making excuses. Wanted a bunch of signings, got a decent amount of them and a few others. Keeps picking a very limited number of players and making the same mistakes. I think he's been unlucky with injuries, but his solutions have been less than perfect. Emerson's taken a ton of stick and it sits really poorly with me. He's not ideal, don't get me wrong, but he doesn't pick himself.
I'll answer this here, as I feel it's probably the best place for it. I've got mixed feelings about it, but I wouldn't want him to leave right now. The compressed season doesn't suit him, but I think replacing him would be chaos. I wouldn't be surprised to see him return to Italy at the end of the campaign, though. Some of our players aren't good enough, but that's true of virtually every team. Emerson is our current fan scapegoat and I'd agree that he doesn't play well very often. The system contributes to that and Conte has two other right-wingbacks to pick from, though. There's very little excuse for him with the squad, in my opinion. Who to replace him with in the long-term? No idea, unfortunately. We need another Pochettino-like appointment and I've no clue who could do that job. Ten Hag could've been a good choice or Potter prior to their moves. Potter might be available soon, though!
Even if fans are starting to turn against him, I don't think his job is in any immediate danger from Levy/ENIC. You're still in the top-4 and qualified top of your CL group, which are clearly bigger priorities than the League Cup. I know performances haven't necessarily aligned with a lot of the positive results you've had, but Conte is a results first manager. So far, you've done OK in that regard, despite the (understandable) concerns about first-half displays and very recent form. As you said on the other thread though, he's not a patient man, doesn't seem to value youth and wants to spend big money continuously, whilst being at a club that doesn't have unlimited resources. He also has an aversion to squad rotation and is ostracising certain other players for reasons that are unclear. I'd agree that he should see out the season (unless things get catastrophically bad), but yeah, it may be worth weighing your options in the Summer because Conte is never going to be financially supported in the way he wants.
Anywhere. His style of play and results don't justify the Madrid or City jobs, for example. Chelsea and Juventus didn't spend enough for him, FFS.
I want conte to stay as I don't see who is better. We have trusted him to rebuild a squad an get rid of previous mistakes as well as players coming towards the end of their time with us (like Lloris). We can not get rid and start yet again imho. However I am mystified how he continues to pick Royal, Sessegnon and Sanchez. They need to be told to find other clubs and tbh Dier and Doherty aren't the level we need either. Then there are Lo Celso, Ndombele and Winks who will all return from Loans in June. We got lucky last season cos arsenal imploded and gave us top 4. I am at a loss as to why we've gone backwards result wise and entertainment wise ... last March onwards we were mostly a joy to watch (Brighton and Brentford games apart). My fear is he either walks or we sack him and we turn back to Pochettino... that'll be a very unfunny car crash moment
Is it though? A manager who operated with a far bigger cheque book and pull than we could ever muster, at a club granted not at its vintage strength but still absolutely dripping with class and a ruthless winning mentality? I see no evidence that he possesses the coaching abilities we are demanding from Conte. Motivational and organisational skills, absolutely. But coaxing consistent performances out of the likes of Sessegnon, Sanchez and Royal? Definitely not. Harry and Poch are the only managers we've had in the PL era gifted with the ability to polish proverbial turds and get them delivering miracles. Zidane has no track record in this regard and would therefore be another huge unknown. Widnae.
Some of his press conferences confuse me a bit. On the one hand, he'll say that building a competitive squad for top honours at Spurs will take time and patience is required from everyone. But he doesn't have a track record of showcasing that patience and ends up falling out with owners/chairmen because he doesn't get what he wants when he wants. Hasn't he also taken a few jibes at some of your players in interviews too? That's not the sign of a man who wants a long-term growth strategy.
No way would Zidane come to the Premier league imho. Only place I can see him managing is in France. I genuinely have no idea who we'd get if conte left.
Wouldn’t need to coax performances out of those you speak of as he almost certainly wouldn’t play them - which is exactly what Conte should be doing. No one expects him to polish the turds, we just want him to dispose of them but he doesn’t, all while failing to give others chances. Zidane also won’t set us up to sit back against teams like Forest and Bournemouth. I’ll take any attack minded manager right about now though, Zidane’s just the headline act of them all but there’s enough out there. The counter attacking/ defensive football hires haven’t worked, we’re not gonna win trophies - as evidenced by tonight - so just let us ****ing enjoy the football for a change instead being bored ****less.
I can live with no trophies tbh...but fecking hate watching us being boring. With the exception of March til May last season and Oct til Dec 2020 the last three years have been bloody hard work to watch
I come back to my point of last week as I find myself dwelling on it a lot recently: Not a single player aside from those who were in the team at the time get in to our 2016/17 starting XI. We have a bunch of players who are on their way to reaching that level but aren't there yet (Romero, Hojbjerg, Bentancur and Kulu), a few more who are at that level still (Kane and Son) and then 4 more who are nowhere near the standards set by that wonderful side (LCB, CCB, LWB, RWB). And when I say 'wonderful side', let's bear in mind that even it failed to win silverware and was ultimately and perhaps ironically pipped to the PL by a simply relentless Chelsea side managed by Conte...a Chelsea side that on paper was worse in almost every single position (only Kante and Hazard would've made it into our team that year imo). We scored more than them, conceded fewer, and even lost fewer yet they still beat us to the big tin because they turned more draws into narrow wins than we did. Simple as that. The difference between us and them that season was mentality. That's all. They were already a winning machine by then, conditioned to ruthlessness by years of success. We on the other hand were too concerned with being nice, so we slipped up. Right now our task is to search and find for more Kulusevskis, more Hojbjergs, more Romero's etc. Players who aren't intimidated by pressure and who, unlike the likes of Sanchez, Dier and Sessegnon, don't ****e themselves at the first hint of danger. Could we be doing better than we are now? Absolutely. But we've had years and years of doing better and it has led to the square root of sweet FA. Instead of doing better, we need to just do. Break through all obstacles, through all doubts and challenges. We don't yet have enough players who can do that. Son can't hack it. Nor can Hugo. Nor Dier, Sanchez, Royal, Sess, Winks, Ndombele, Lo Celso or Lucas. I repeat: out entire current starting XI fails to get into the starting XI of 16/17, which in itself wasn't good enough to win trophies. Until that has been fixed, improvements will be marginal and short term only, and we will continue going round and round in circles being the EPL Nearly Men.
