I'm not. He's a bit Inzaghi/Defoe with them, but I think that's partially down to his form. The calls he's had have been routinely awful, though. Some very, very dubious ones.
There's probably a hint of players who got ****ed off with Conte having the bit between the teeth, too: Bissouma, Sarr and Lo Celso certainly have their grievances with him, and they've all been standouts in the games we've had
The squad is too big for the available games this season (a big eff-up by not qualifying for UEFA land) . 3 League Cup games max before the Christmas melee + FA cup January, is not going to be enough to stretch the legs of the current squad (unless the manager plans serious PL squad rotation) .
There were early concerns after HT that Bissouma may have been injured as he was down on the ground with medics around him. Thankfully, Ange has just said he was basically ****ed due to work over the last few days
Highlights: More dreadful defending from Porro and the keeper doesn't cover himself in glory, either.
The ideal is to have two players for every position - but the issue is that if a system changes drastically that creates a glut in one area and a dearth in another Case in point, as we played 3ATB for the last two seasons we can say we have two players for both roles in Conte's back three (not necessarily good players, but stick with it...) but as Ange plays a back four we suddenly have two more CBs than we actually need even if we count Davies as a LB in Ange's system, meaning it is not unreasonable to suggest selling Sanchez, Rodon and Tanganga while buying two of Tapsoba/van de Ven/Adarabioyo would leave us comfortable for CB options Similar can be said for midfield where Conte's indecision between a midfield four and a midfield five last season has left us well-stocked in terms of numbers but not so well stocked in terms of personnel, as he amassed a lot of box-to-box midfielders but Bentancur as our only credible creative outlet while there's a lack of an out-and-out DM, which again leaves us in a position where we could sell three and buy two and be comfortable yet we're only partway done there, as we've only sold Winks of the potential 3 while also only signing Maddison of the potential 2
One thing mentioned by Ange in the latest press conference: the players were doing double sessions for the last few days to try and replicate the cancelled match against Leicester - which is why Bissouma looked knackered at half time
Alasdair Gold has mentioned seeing Scott Munn behind the scenes during our tour, definitely seeing him in Perth and believing he saw him in Bangkok and Singapore Just a reminder, the Mansour Empire still haven't allowed him to start working for us...
Says a lot about the hacks that, when told no Harry Kane questions at the presser, nobody wanted to come
Media accounts are saying lack of demand. A couple of insider-type accounts are saying Ange is giving the finger because he’s sick of speculation, though that’s probably whishful thinking. Very much doubt the club would outright say no HK questions before a presser, that’s usually the press officer’s job during the event. Saying it before comes off as way too sensitive. Odd one, for sure. Will wait for Ali Gold’s take on it tbh.
