Antonio Conte

[Pimpin]

Barella and Sensi play at their career best because they play for Inter these days and not Cagliari and Sassuolo.

De Vrij was as good at Lazio. There was a reason I wanted him like crazy and called him a top CB in Serie A before we signed him when people who hadn't seen him were skeptical.

Hakimi is not improved, if anything he seems constrained. Whenever he acts freely he performs his best. If you reject this notion then perhaps you do not remember Conte criticizing him during games in the early days for trying to do exactly what you're praising him for.
Lautaro, just like most strikers, needed to play with a second striker and not as lone striker. No mystery there. The talent was obvious.

The Lukaku stubbornness I don't need to highlight once more. Sure, inflates the dude in all possible directions but the bigger picture is that this comes at the expense of the club.

Bastoni is literally the only case where you can have an argument. Thing is, he blocked his loan to Sampdoria when he first arrived because he was a left footed CB and he wanted him in for depth since we didn't want to sign the players he requested right away. Perhaps if we closed the Lukaku deal earlier and managed to get him the CB he asked for there, Bastoni would have been loaned somewhere else now or used in a deal with Lazio somehow.
He gets credit for developing and using him of course, but let's not pretend that it was anything like love at first sight. If he was right footed he'd not have the same chances under Conte. His first game was in October, he didn't play in Europe at all and he became a first team player in December, mostly as a message to the management to kick Godin out and get him someone else. It was a typical risky and stupid Conte move, but fortunately for us it paid off with Bastoni, unlike the Gagliardini stupidity.

He was playing in a free attacking side in dortmund, and yet didn't have nearly as mcuh goals.


How many players that we got from cagliari and sassuolo didn't become better? That's a very lazy argument, very lazy.

Whether you like Lukaku or not, you can do all the mental gymnastics you know Lukaku has had the best two years of his career, largely thanks to Conte. If you cannot see his impact on the game I do not know what to say.

These are the facts

Hakimi is one of the best RBs in the world
Barella is one of the best CMs in the league with potential to be one of the best in world
Lukaku is a top 5 striker in the world
Bastoni is perhaps the most promising CB italy has had since the trio of Barzagli/Chielini/Bonucci.


None of the above would be the case if conte was not a coach, especially the last 3.

Also, you are right on DeVrij, fucking guy was another level for some years. Lautaro's talent was obvious too, and tbh he has bene disappointing for me.

[Il Drago]

I have seen Hakimi at Dortmund, and not just in a few random CL games. Many times live at Signal Iduna Park too, as I travel to Dortmund often and have access to season tickets. If you haven't been, its one of the best stadium experiences in the world as a neutral, the yellow wall are a thing of beauty.

Hakimi was poor defensively at Dortmund, largely a one trick pony who suited the way Dortmund played. Nothing wrong with that, considering his age, but I always felt he will go the Gareth Bale route and become an attacker. And towards his second season, Dortmund started pushing him more into the midfield. So I had my doubts about him as a fullback. I suspect its one of the reasons Real Madrid let him go. At Inter, Hakimi's initial success followed by some poor games did not surprise me, but he has since developed a defensive side to his game. And he has improved upon his end product, the 6 goals in Serie A this season is already his highest league tally.

Overall, he is a much better player than he was even 6 months ago. He is developing fast. IMO this is the best he has ever been.

I agree with you overall he is better as he has improved his defence a lot but in the attacking third he can be even better. It helped Dortmund were playing with wingers and he had Sancho in front of him. The sky is the limit for the guy.

- - - Updated - - -

He was playing in a free attacking side in dortmund, and yet didn't have nearly as mcuh goals.


How many players that we got from cagliari and sassuolo didn't become better? That's a very lazy argument, very lazy.

Whether you like Lukaku or not, you can do all the mental gymnastics you know Lukaku has had the best two years of his career, largely thanks to Conte. If you cannot see his impact on the game I do not know what to say.

These are the facts

Hakimi is one of the best RBs in the world
Barella is one of the best CMs in the league with potential to be one of the best in world
Lukaku is a top 5 striker in the world
Bastoni is perhaps the most promising CB italy has had since the trio of Barzagli/Chielini/Bonucci.


None of the above would be the case if conte was not a coach, especially the last 3.

Also, you are right on DeVrij, fucking guy was another level for some years. Lautaro's talent was obvious too, and tbh he has bene disappointing for me.

I don't know where Wiki are getting their numbers but Hakimi had 9 goals and 10 assists only in his second season. Anyway, stats don't show the full picture. Our system and Dortmund are different. They were playing with 3-4-3 so Hakimi's role was to support Sancho in attack while our wingbacks are our main attacking threats in the wings. That's why wingbacks in Conte's teams score a lot. Even Candreva and Biraghi had good numbers.

[brakbrak]

Lets conveniently forget that Hakimi scored 4 goals out of 8 appearances in CL for dortmund vs 0 goal out of 5 for us. The only one who's really benefited from Conte is Bastoni and Lukaku. Lets not make it seem like Barella and Hakimi were scrubs like Lukaku before Conte.

[Kova10]

I see we're back to black and white perspectives in this thread

1. Conte put in a master piece yesterday. You play such games 3-4 times a season typically against big teams in the Serie A, because the majority of the small ones defend for their lives.

2. It is not a surprise that our best games under his stint were against Real, Barcelona, and now Juventus. Those teams want to create the game, and that's where we are at our best; disrupting the opponent, sitting tight, and counter attacks. You will not see this in every game of the season, simply because there are many many teams who give a shit about creating the game, and just leave you the ball and sit tight at the back.

3. Finally this ridiculous pre judgement that he bends over for Juventus has been put to bed. Everyone would bend over to them with Arezzo and Atalanta in 2009. Last season we were simply worse than them, so it is normal to lose when you are worse.

4. Our record this season against the current top 7 Serie A sides is 2-3-1 by the way, so we don't really suck that bad at big games. Furthermore watching the games (particularly against Lazio, Roma, Atalanta) we all know that this record is a bit too harsh for the performances put in.

5. Certainly many players benefit playing under a good coach. Which is more important: a good coach attracts some of the best players to play for the club, which should explain you all why we have had the best squads since 10 years.

6. Players like Achraf Hakimi will always look better in the Bundesliga compared to the Serie A. There is much more space to run into in the Bundesliga, as almost every game is wide open. In the Serie A every team knows the quality of Hakimi and will prepare every tactic possible to prevent him from running into space. The teams which don't manage to evolve tactics around him will be punished.

7. I see many posters wirting something among the lines of: "Aren't we allowed to celebrate if we aren't Cunte fanboys hehe?"... Certainly you are allowed to celebrate, but you should also be there for the team when the going gets tough and results don't come as they should. You should particularly be there for the team, when they perform as they should and results don't come. So, what certainly leaves a sour taste is having Conte critcized against Roma, Atalanta and Lazio for "pussying" out regardless of the chances our players missed, regardless of the fatigue, and regardless of referee decisions which certainly effected us in some games.

[Demenza Senile]

^ To add to those big games I also i think in 5 of the 6 games in the UCL we were the Better team or atleast on par with the opponents.The Real home game we were most definitely owned and rightfully.But we can say we have been very unlucky under Conte.We should have beaten Shakhtar both games and probably Borussia vfl 1900 Moenchengladbach too.The Real away game should have been a draw.

[brehme1989]

I lost you when you said that our best games were vs Real Madrid and Barcelona.
We sucked hard in those two home games. In the away games we had some good moments but we weren't actually great. The common denominator in those games was the absence of Lukaku, mind you, the player you assume that is the catalyst and lleader of the group. He also was one of the less important players in the Juventus game, probably only Young was more irrelevant than him. I stand by my point and you have accidentally reinforced it. He is not helping the team, he is merely inflating his stats while the rest of the team works its ass off for him. The irony is that our previous #9 got criticised for that despite not being guilty of it but now people pretend that Lukaku doesn't just stand around when he needs to press or doesn't scream at teammates for no reason, mostly because he is too selfish to demand the ball all the time whilst too slow in his reactions to be able to position himself where he could actually receive it. Conte has not improved him, he inflated him by giving him full power. The fitness coach did more work on Lukaku than Conte. Judging by Lukaku claiming what he got from all the coaches and now off his understanding of what he is doing vs what he is saying is, it doesn't feel like Lukaku got that much from Conte apart from free rein to have the ball played through hm. We were getting good results in the first Conte days despite not playing this way and the one time we tried it vs Slavia at home it was a disaster.
You can give him that Conte supported Lukaku mentally which helped him, but this is not an improved player guys. He's just a slimmer one.


On Hakimi others said it better. And I stand by my statement that he feels somewhat restrained.
Barella was sought after by Liverpool, Man City, Napoli, Roma, Juventus and PSG. He rejected them all to play for Inter. You think he wouldn't be great for any of those other teams? He needed coaching? Come on.
Sensi was one of the "next Pirlo" players and was not hyped later on because he wasn't able to gain muscle or stay fit long enough. There's a reason why Barcelona wanted him not long before we got him.

[rfU]

6. Players like Achraf Hakimi will always look better in the Bundesliga compared to the Serie A. There is much more space to run into in the Bundesliga, as almost every game is wide open.

You made several great points then this

90% of the time Dortmund's opponents defend very deep and compact to restrict the space for Dortmund's attacking players. To combat this Dortmund use quick passing, triangles and width, which was why Hakimi was so important because he excelled in all these areas. He could cut inside into space and attack the defenders or make overlapping runs either to stretch the defense or latch on to a line-breaking pass from one of the attacking midfielders. So your point is completely wrong. Hakimi looked better becuase he played with better attacking, more creative players like Sancho, Brandt and Witsel and a forward-thinking coach known for his attacking style. Not because of space, there was no space.

[forzainter257]

I read posts of Borussia Dortmund fans where they said he sucked at defending, hence why they signed Meunier instead who was considered more defensive. So, I think he improved in this area while playing for us, in other words under Conte's management.

[rfU]

I read posts of Borussia Dortmund fans where they said he sucked at defending, hence why they signed Meunier instead who was considered more defensive.

It was a business decision, basically Meurnier as a free signing plus up and coming youngster Morey > Hakimi for 45M. But ask any Dortmund fan they'd take Hakimi back in a heart beat. That said Meurnier is definitely better defensively especially in a back 4. But he's useless going forward.

I do think Hakimi has improved defensively under Conte, also his crossing is slowly improving.

[Universe]

2. It is not a surprise that our best games under his stint were against Real, Barcelona, and now Juventus

Man what the fuck are you talking about. Under Conte we've played 2 games against Real Madrid, 2 games against Barcelona and now 3 against juve. 7 games in total.

Of those 7 games we've lost SIX with a goal difference of -6. We scored just 7 goals in those 7 games while conceding 13.

Exactly how the fuck are these meant to be any of our best games?

Obviously this most recent derby, yes. One of his best. The first 45 minutes at Camp Nou? Also some of the best I've seen from this team in years. But despite the orgasmic first half, we obviously ended up losing that match and suffering the ignominy of a comeback defeat.

Literally every other one of those games was abject trash. We lost at home against Real Madrid for the first time in our history, without so much as a shot on target. Also for the first time in our history, we lost at home to Barca, that too against their U15 team. In both games vs juve last season we played so pathetically that the matches looked like low-intensity training sessions for them.

[Nero Indigo]

Man what the fuck are you talking about. Under Conte we've played 2 games against Real Madrid, 2 games against Barcelona and now 3 against juve. 7 games in total.

Of those 7 games we've lost SIX with a goal difference of -6. We scored just 7 goals in those 7 games while conceding 13.

Exactly how the fuck are these meant to be any of our best games?

Obviously this most recent derby, yes. One of his best. The first 45 minutes at Camp Nou, some of the best I've seen from this team in years. But literally every other one of those games? Abject trash. We lost at home against Real Madrid for the first time in our history, without so much as a shot on target. Also for the first time in our history, we lost at home to Barca, that too against their U15 team. In both games vs juve last season we played so pathetically that the matches looked like low-intensity training sessions for them.

Lol I seriously thought his post about those being our best games was a joke. The team absolutely capitulated in those games, it’s the most infuriating thing because it kept happening again and again and AGAIN! Like man didn’t want to learn anything from those games and adjust his tactics accordingly. Conte got shit flat out wrong in a lot big games, FACTS! and this toupee of a coach, if we had the money, would NEVER have given Bastoni the chances to prove himself and would have bought some asshat to replace Skriniar instead and shipped the boy out! It’s almost like the financial conditions forced him to use what he had at his disposal not that he became tactically aware of what to do.

The Juve victory is a start for me, but this should be the standard of closing out games, something he finds extremely hard to do without giving someone a heart attack. Either he’s not subbing in on time or he subs in rubbish, or he can’t change a gameplan to fit the situation, he’s very consistent with his tactical inflexibility and it has cost us games. I am definitely looking forward to the next game, just to see if we have truly turned the corner in regards to closing games. I’m getting tired of calling him a fraud myself.

[forzainter257]

and this toupee of a coach, if we had the money, would NEVER have given Bastoni the chances to prove himself and would have bought some asshat to replace Skriniar instead and shipped the boy out! It’s almost like the financial conditions forced him to use what he had at his disposal not that he became tactically aware of what to do.

brehme pulls his speculations out of his ass and the herd picks it up. What makes you think he would do that? Didn't he bench Godin to play Bastoni? Yeah, I know what you gonna reply, use another template response prepared by brehme - because he allegedly did it to spite Marotta lol. Yeah, then why did he play Godin later instead of Skriniar? Because Skriniar sucked big time last season. This is called rotation. If tomorrow Bastoni starts worsening, he will eat the bench too. This simple! Had we had Giroud as a backup, Lautaro would be benched too for wasting chances like he 's been doing recently

Lol, what you posted more related to Spalletti and his decisions proved that.

[brehme1989]

My ass has access to more valid information than your brain, feeling bad about it?

Here's a tip. How about stop mentioning me everytime someone makes an argument you don't like?

[ADRossi]

Everyone calm the fuck down. We just beat Juventus for the first time in four years. Try and enjoy it you miserable masochists.

[kurt0411]

Everyone calm the fuck down. We just beat Juventus for the first time in four years. Try and enjoy it you miserable masochists.

It’s impossible when there’s people here that are rooting against the team

[Pimpin]

Conte is the new Branca, everything that went wrong is ascribed to him and everything that is right is despite him

[Batman]

Everyone calm the fuck down. We just beat Juventus for the first time in four years. Try and enjoy it you miserable masochists.

Tell the Conte fans to celebrate instead of the usual “where are the haters now?” “Conte is a God now and have always been good against top teams” shitty talks.

[Nero Indigo]

brehme pulls his speculations out of his ass and the herd picks it up. What makes you think he would do that? Didn't he bench Godin to play Bastoni? Yeah, I know what you gonna reply, use another template response prepared by brehme - because he allegedly did it to spite Marotta lol. Yeah, then why did he play Godin later instead of Skriniar? Because Skriniar sucked big time last season. This is called rotation. If tomorrow Bastoni starts worsening, he will eat the bench too. This simple! Had we had Giroud as a backup, Lautaro would be benched too for wasting chances like he 's been doing recently

Lol, what you posted more related to Spalletti and his decisions proved that.

bruh! You’re not talking to brehme, you’re talking to me, keep your hands straight and come correct next time. What is this herd you speak of? Just dismissing the fact that I said with money to spend Conte would have preferred to bring in people to play his formation rather than make do with the significant talent available. You think if that was the case Bastoni would be playing regularly? Well I sincerely doubt it. And it doesn’t change the FACT that he fucking struggles to close games, there are statistics backing this shit up, what’re you talking about my gee!? The Brehme Template!? Marotta!? Dude log off and rest your eyes

[forzainter257]

Just dismissing the fact that I said with money to spend Conte would have preferred to bring in people to play his formation rather than make do with the significant talent available. You think if that was the case Bastoni would be playing regularly? Well I sincerely doubt it.

Conte started the season with pretty much same team that had been playing under Spalletti. Every coach in his sane wouldn't start a young player all of a sudden. There is always a reason for playing them, some coaches like Spalletti prefer playing older players even if they suck consistently, while others prefer making cardinal changes when necessary. Mihajlovic for example didn't hesitate and played Donarruma because his experienced goalkeepers were crappy. Barella wasn't a starter from the beginning of the previous season, he was coming on in the second half replacing Vecino. Thanks God Conte was quick enough to discover which options is best and Barella became a starter from the 3rd week. Same goes for Bastoni. Conte realized that Godin wasn't performing as expected and had to look for options and tried playing Bastoni. Had he had Ramos on the bench, hey of course Bastoni wouldn't see a chance, this is obvious. What's the point of mentioning it? Conte deserves credit for not being afraid of playing younger players. All the youngsters including Esposito, Agoume, Dimarco, Pirola had chances under him. Can you tell the same about Spalletti?

[Pimpin]