Would you take Conte at United?

Chip said:

A manager with an impressive, title winning pedigree doesn't fit anything at United?

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Tbf this was what people said about Jose as well. I see both sides of the Conte argument. On one hand, he's generally a more defensive minded manager who has had a tendency to throw tantrums about the structure of different clubs. His Chelsea teams were solid but never great in Europe and all of the players hated him by the time he left there.

On the other hand, he's generally been very successful and tactically astute, and the side we have now is ready to go win things as opposed to needing some sort of clean slate rebuild. Obviously there are holes that need to be improved upon but you can't convince me we can't at bare minimum be very good in cup competitions with a better manager.

Andersons Dietician said:

This really needs to die. I don’t know who started this rumour on the CAF but it’s rubbish. Did no one watch his Chelsea. They flew forward and ripped teams aparts.

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Yep. Alonso and Moses were so high up they regularly was 235 in attack. Just because he played Azpi at CB, and left out a knackered Fabregas he's somehow this park the bus merchant.

I want Erik ten Hag, but I am warming up for Conte. He did win 4 serie A and one PL and FA cup.

It'll be fascinating to see how this plays out. It seems he'll be the next manager but most fans don't want Conte. This has the potential to be incredibly toxic. I hope fans are patient with him.

One thing you can say is there would be no shortage of passion from this guy

Chip said:

Does anyone know if Conte actually wanted/sanctioned the signings of Drinkwater, Morata, and Bakayoko in 2017? Or were they (partly) forced by the board? Woeful signings.

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The board went for quantity over quality. I wouldn't put those players on Conte.

Chip said:

Does anyone know if Conte actually wanted/sanctioned the signings of Drinkwater, Morata, and Bakayoko in 2017? Or were they (partly) forced by the board? Woeful signings.

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If I remember correctly he didn't want Bakayoko and wanted Lukaku but got Morata. I have no idea about Drinkwater.

el3mel said:

Mourinho performed to the same standards of his previous appointment at Chelsea. When he won the title with Chelsea in 2015 he won it with 87 points and won 26 matches out 38. In his second season at United he finished 2nd with 81 points and won 25 matches, so he was just doing exactly the same job that he did at Chelsea when he won the league. It was just the fact that City raised the standards so much for the number of points needed to win the league by getting 100 points.

Conte already won the league with Chelsea with a stunning 93 points. He has just won the league with Inter with 91 points. He knows how to dominate a league season, and we're getting him at his prime, unlike Mourinho who was at the latter part of his career.

Conte for me is like the young version of Mourinho when he was the best manager in the world. Doesn't play breathtaking football but his teams are very organized, balanced and know how to hurt the opposition. They don't park the bus but they know how to defend well, and when they attack, they attack with a purpose and plan. He's very active on touchline and very demanding from his players and club. He's exactly like Mourinho when he was young. That's the reason why they clashed when they were managing against each other in PL.

I have no doubt in my mind, Conte will be a fantastic choice for such group of players and will demand them to take the next step.

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But then completely failed in his second season at Chelsea and the players hated him. Strangely enough once Klopp and Pep had had a season to settle in. Sorry you can’t convince me what United need is more short term thinking and a toxic manager.

Chip said:

Does anyone know if Conte actually wanted/sanctioned the signings of Drinkwater, Morata, and Bakayoko in 2017? Or were they (partly) forced by the board? Woeful signings.

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Bakayoko was his signing (though he didn’t want to sell Matic in the first place) Morata was signed because we missed out on Lukaku who was his number 1 choice. And DD was a last minute panic buy on deadline day.

Conte bought all our cast offs we wanted shot of. Safe to say I don't think the fans and him will share the same opinions on players and style of play.

Acquire Me said:

I want Erik ten Hag, but I am warming up for Conte. He did win 4 serie A and one PL and FA cup.

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Which was the major story you called many years ago? Your name rings a bell!

Pronewbie said:

He won’’t get that here. And I hope he doesn’t. It’s the time for the manager to be expendable and “used” by the club, not the other way around.

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You want the owners to sell players to balance the books and not reinvest?

Watch this while thinking of our current squad.

Chip said:

Does anyone know if Conte actually wanted/sanctioned the signings of Drinkwater, Morata, and Bakayoko in 2017? Or were they (partly) forced by the board? Woeful signings.

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The good ones he signed, the bad ones were forced on him.

Conte seems a bit like “the best person who happens to be available”. Also seems a bit of a short term fix, couple of years max, he doesn’t seem to hang around for long anywhere.

Chip said:

Does anyone know if Conte actually wanted/sanctioned the signings of Drinkwater, Morata, and Bakayoko in 2017? Or were they (partly) forced by the board? Woeful signings.

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He wanted Lukaku when he decided to sign with us. No surprise that Lukaku hit new heights under him after he finally broke the bank for him years later

Mr Pigeon said:

Inter had to sell players to balance the books. I'm not sure but didn't something similar happen at Chelsea - where he wasn't getting a say in who left? I know he wanted to keep Matic but the club sold him anyway.

A lot of the people who are saying he's another Mourinho because he causes problems are missing the point that he had to deal with a lot of shit from Inter and Chelsea. If he comes to United and gets the same ability to pick and choose his teams that we've given other managers then that problem kind of fixes himself. The issue with him demanding 100% from his players at all times might be an issue for certain individuals at the club, but unlike LVG he isn't a total lunatic.

Also, having an organised defense doesn't mean you're a defensive manager. His clubs score a fair few goals. I don't think people will care about *boring* football when Ronaldo and Fernandes are banging in a brace against Liverpool in the rematch.

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Interesting.
I’m not massive on him but he’s the best option out there that seems like he will move here.
Seems like he wins things wherever he goes and he’s not similar to mourinho in the sense that he’s past it. He still wins with the style he has.

Valencia Shin Crosses said:

Tbf this was what people said about Jose as well. I see both sides of the Conte argument. On one hand, he's generally a more defensive minded manager who has had a tendency to throw tantrums about the structure of different clubs. His Chelsea teams were solid but never great in Europe and all of the players hated him by the time he left there.

On the other hand, he's generally been very successful and tactically astute, and the side we have now is ready to go win things as opposed to needing some sort of clean slate rebuild. Obviously there are holes that need to be improved upon but you can't convince me we can't at bare minimum be very good in cup competitions with a better manager.

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While I definitely agree that he's far from being the perfect appointment, given our current state and our likely alternatives, I don't think we're in a position to not give him a chance. IMO even Mourinho (2016 version) would be an upgrade on Ole and his staff.

His 343 is class and when you look at it on paper it's an amazing formation for flexibility. I realised when watching his Chelsea side. Overloads in attack and defence with the right players. However, he has utilised many different setups.

Those that say he's got negative tactics... His Chelsea team scored more goals than 11 of the 13 teams that won the title for Fergie apparently.

He's not my number one choice but Christ he's so much better than Ole. And he'll bring that fire that our dressing room needs.

Conte seems a bit like “the best person who happens to be available”. Also seems a bit of a short term fix, couple of years max, he doesn’t seem to hang around for long anywhere.

estel_manutd said:

Man Utd always play with wingers. Conte's 3-5-2 or 5-3-2 requires fullbacks. He is not the manager for Greenwood, Rashford, and Sancho.

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Another one who hasn't got a clue what they're talking about. He played 343 at Chelsea, with Hazard & Pedro as inside forwards. That suits our forwards perfectly.

Zaphod2319 said:

The board went for quantity over quality. I wouldn't put those players on Conte.

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So as someone whose club he has managed which players do you think will really flourish under him, seeing as I have asked that will ask which players will be out the door in January (if he comes in that early of course)

Zaphod2319 said:

The board went for quantity over quality. I wouldn't put those players on Conte.

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JPRouve said:

If I remember correctly he didn't want Bakayoko and wanted Lukaku but got Morata. I have no idea about Drinkwater.

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Orc said:

Bakayoko was his signing (though he didn’t want to sell Matic in the first place) Morata was signed because we missed out on Lukaku who was his number 1 choice. And DD was a last minute panic buy on deadline day.

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Rolaholic said:

He wanted Lukaku when he decided to sign with us. No surprise that Lukaku hit new heights under him after he finally broke the bank for him years later

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Cheers guys.

Mr Anderson said:

Conte is another Jose. Plays his own way, can kick up a fuss, tends to not last too long and burns bridges. I’d be slight wary of him, would want to be a short deal to see how it goes if it is him.

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Are you sure about that?

Orc said:

Also think it should be explained again why Conte‘s stints haven’t been working out for longer than a couple of years. There’s this wide perception that he some sort of angry demon who just explodes out of nowhere for no reason, falls out with all the players, and then loses the dressing room. That wasn’t the case at all here at Chelsea and certainly not at Inter. Juve I‘m not sure about.

What happened at both Chelsea and Inter was all about his ambitions and the clubs’ not lining up. He’s asked for certain players to be bought (he specifically wanted both Van Dijk & Lukaku here) and at Inter their owner decided to blow his team up after he won them their first league title in ages. He wanted to push on and improve the side.

Our supporters still loved Conte after he was sacked and still chanted his name. Think the Inter players were devastated he left as well.

At United he’d be walking into the best starting position (in terms of personnel) that he’s ever had. Conte with this squad + a new midfielder and a more polished attacking RWB and you’re golden soon enough. Maybe just not this season.

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Suv666 said:

It'll be fascinating to see how this plays out. It seems he'll be the next manager but most fans don't want Conte. This has the potential to be incredibly toxic. I hope fans are patient with him.

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He’s not my 1st choice as Ole’s successor but if it is him that gets the job then he’ll have my full backing.

What's going to piss me off is if he comes in and immediately starts binning off/freezing out promising players. As much as everyone hates Ole currently, he clearly had an idea of what he wanted in the squad and for the most part did his best to get it. We have more than enough to be good right now even if the league title isn't happening this year, now isn't the time to bring in a manager that's going to bin off everyone and set the whole thing back again.

estel_manutd said:

Man Utd always play with wingers. Conte's 3-5-2 or 5-3-2 requires fullbacks. He is not the manager for Greenwood, Rashford, and Sancho.

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If it's 3-4-3 then they play as wingers, if it's 3-5-2 then Rashford or Greenwood play as the striker next to Ronaldo/Cavani, and Sancho is fighting for the #10 position which is fine with him too. He's fine.

Idxomer said:

I mean we did lose to him 4-0 at the bridge, pretty sure he beat Pep too 3-1.

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Didnt he also manage to make Sideshow Bob actually one of the best defenders in the world for a season as well. That in itself is kind of a miracle.

I think Ole has to go now, but I'm not sure Conte is the answer or how it would really work....
He always tended to play with a back 3, playing 5-3-2 with both Juve and Inter, and 3-4-3 with Chelsea.
He might use Lindelof-Varane-Maguire together, he might even prefer alternating shaw as a LCB or AWB (please no) as RCB for their speed, and use Dalot and Telles as attacking Wingbacks, but what will he do in midfield?
Yes, surely this will be a problem for any manager who will take over right now, but we don't have a DM in the mould Conte likes.

What will he do with all of the AMs (Bruno, Pogba, DVB, Lingard) in the squad and all the attacking players? All the wide attackers and forwards?
If he opts for a 3-4-3 he can make use of rotating between all of Ronaldo, Cavani, Rashford, Greenwood, Sancho, but who are the middle 2?
If he opts for a 5-3-2, he can utilize Bruno, Pogba and maybe even rotate DVB in the middle 3 (still has an issue with the holding midfielder like I mentioned before), but then has all of our attackers competing for only 2 spots.

Sure, he'll make us solid defensively, and we'll see a coherent and trained unit, maybe he'll even bring some success domestically (although I think we won't win it this season), but we just know he'll fail in the CL, will try to recruit older players and his football won't be too pretty.

I think the club needs to be very smart in its next steps. We have somewhat of a direction, we just need a better manager to pull us in that direction, but Conte will pull in a whole different direction.

Suv666 said:

It'll be fascinating to see how this plays out. It seems he'll be the next manager but most fans don't want Conte. This has the potential to be incredibly toxic. I hope fans are patient with him.

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From what I've read, the 'most fans who don't want him', are ones who are just believing in all of the sterotypes and are judging him whilst actually knowing next to nothing about him themselves.

Dan_F said:

But then completely failed in his second season at Chelsea and the players hated him. Strangely enough once Klopp and Pep had had a season to settle in. Sorry you can’t convince me what United need is more short term thinking and a toxic manager.

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I don't give a shit how long a manager stays at my club. I just want him to win big things while he's managing us. If he wins the league in his first season then gets sacked the next one, he would be a success in my eyes. I don't understand when will United fans move on from the long term nonsense. I know it's hard to understand that's how football work because for years we had Fergie and never thought of having another manager but get past it : that's how football works : manager wins he stays, he has a bad season and he's sacked and you hire another manager to continue the success cycle.

Too much focus on long term and how many years a manager will stay when he's hired. Nonsense. Our team is full of players at their peak. A lot of them are in their 30s or close to their 30s. It's actually time to start thinking about short term. We should start to think about fecking winning at present because regardless of who the next manager is, 3 or 4 years from now on we'll be looking forward to replace a lot of the current squad as they're approaching their 30s.

Finally Conte isn't a toxic person. He's just very demanding. He demands a lot from his club and his players. No matter how much pressure he puts on the board for transfers though, he doesn't let it affect his job on the pitch. He was moaning non stop about Inter transfer business but still dominated the league, and that's his most recent job.

::sonny:: said:

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Such bullshit. As in, they got interested and a few hours later they lost interest based on his integrity. Wohooo!

If we were interested, the only way we would lose interest so fast is if he makes it clear that he won't come, or they won't be able to agree on the contract.

Sparky Rhiwabon said:

Conte seems a bit like “the best person who happens to be available”. Also seems a bit of a short term fix, couple of years max, he doesn’t seem to hang around for long anywhere.

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Yeah I know it won't go down with the purists but quite honestly I would take him as a short term fix for a couple of years just to get this current team winning something again, listen I may end up with massive egg on my face but feel confident there will be some interesting options on the table when the time comes for him to go.

JPRouve said:

I would describe Barella and Brozovic as 8s more than DMs. And long term we shouldn't care much about Pogba as long as he isn't extended. Conte could easily play with a combination of Bruno, McTominay, Fred, Pogba or VDB in midfield. It's also worth mentioning that none of these players are ideal for a balanced 4231 or 433 which brings the fact that Conte has also used a 4312 which on paper is a better fit for these midfielders.

But you noticed that currently we don't have the team for a perfectly balanced starting XI, that's a point that can be made for all managers whether we are talking about a 433, 4231, 343 or 442.

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I agree with everything here.

Spending 120m on Sancho, Amad and Pellistri, while we have Ronnie, Rashy, Greenwood, Cavani, Lingard, etc then bringing in Conte is still ,but like you say there's not going to be inconsistencies like that with every appointment.

Conte did start playing Brozovic as the sole 6 at one point and it worked quite nicely. Getting him seems like a no brainer if we could.

::sonny:: said:

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This is the type of stuff that comes out to save face after the club has been snubbed/refused demands. Similair nonsense with Spurs and Ten Hag.

Can someone tell me what are the hallmarks of an Antonio Conte side?

From what I've read his teams are :

- Drilled very well and tactically sound.
- Organised and solid defensively.

What else?

I'm not convinced by him but it really is a massive no brainer if we're looking to move on from Ole now. Fantastic CV. Available immediately. Premier League experience.

Highfather_24 said:

Can someone tell me what are the hallmarks of an Antonio Conte side?

From what I've read his teams are :

- Drilled very well and tactically sound.
- Organised and solid defensively.

What else?

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Hard working. He will not accept slackers. Our lazy bunch will get a rude awakening.

::sonny:: said:

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Caughtoffside understands. That's probably the single worst source on the internet.

Updated article from Ducker and Burt.

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Mr Pigeon said:

You want the owners to sell players to balance the books and not reinvest?

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No, but the DOF should dictate the type of players to buy / sell. We need consistency and not chop and change every time a new manager comes in. We need our Marina Granovskaia.