Under Pressure, Antonio Conte

Conte’s Signings

Antonio Conte’s decision to invest in veterans this pre-season has not been vindicated. The idea behind it would have to bring the experience and mentality to situations like when the going gets tough and we need to squeeze out a result. At the moment, it has not had the desired effect at all. On the flip side, players like Arturo Vidal and Aleksandar Kolarov have been guilty of making mistakes that have hurt us in matches. In terms of performances as well, neither has been impressive. The only one I have found to be impressive among the 30 somethings that we signed have been Matteo Darmian who is the youngest at 30 years old. He has been solid and disciplined in defence and been decent going forward. It isn’t the Darmian of Torino or Italy at World Cup 2014 when he attacks but it has not been too bad.

Conte’s Formation

Conte’s formation has been called into question as well. One should know by now that Conte is rather rigid with his formation. For better or for worse, the 3-5-2 or a slight tweak to 3-4-1-2 is his go-to formation. I don’t have an issue with his formation but for the way he wants the team to play, with aggression and at high intensity, he needs younger players that are dynamic. He doesn’t have the right personnel at the moment to be able to fully implement that. Or the right personnel available all the time.

My pet peeve when it comes to the formation is that he can be slow to make a change in the game. In terms of changing formation during the match, he rarely does it. When he has been prompt to make a change at the right time, of the right players or been brave to change the formation, we have reaped the benefits of it. We all can see it at 1-0 the pace is getting slower in the game, the players that have run and pressed hard are tiring but he would not make the change. I guess he is hoping we can see out the game at 1-0. Normally, he makes the change only when we concede a goal. By then it would normally be too late for anyone who comes off the bench to make a significant contribution. This has cost us points last season and is still costing us dearly this season.

The Players At His Disposal

As fans, we cannot understand how Diego Godin, who finished the season so well for us was allowed to leave. He is a stereotypical Conte player. Experienced, solid and with a strong, winning mentality. The only reason I can think of is to reduce the expenditure of the club in terms of his wages. Kolarov has been a downgrade.

I guess Conte’s eyes he sees Vidal as the one that was playing for him at Juventus. Vidal is still tenacious and a hard worker but he is a lot slower now. He can’t keep his energy levels for the full 90 minutes either. I wouldn’t say he has been a disaster as I have seen him play well in several matches but he cannot keep it up for the whole match. In the two big games we have had, against Milan and Real Madrid, Vidal has been left chasing shadows and scything players down in frustration.

It’s good to have him as an option coming off the bench or in rotation but he cannot be seen as a first-teamer. Nicolo Barella and Marcelo Brozovic has to do the running for him as well to make up the ground that he has lost. I really hope and pray we can solve the issue of Stefano Sensi and injuries. He was superb for us last season before he got injured. Before he can build a head of steam this season, he has got injured again. We need him back and fit for longer. The best we have played has been with Barella, Brozovic and Sensi in central midfield.

Radja Nainggolan looks like is not trusted too much by the manager and looks like he doesn’t want to be here either. He looks like a pale shadow of his former self too. He needs to be moved on in the winter. Another player that doesn’t have the faith of the manager is Andrea Pinamonti. I was expecting big things from him but he looks out of depth at this level when he has played. I would argue that young Sebastiano Esposito showed more energy, willingness and skill last season than Pinamonti has done this season. He too needs to be moved on.

Christian Eriksen’s performances have not justified his inclusion in the starting line-up. He too looks out of favour. It is up to him to perform well in training and if he gets the chance to play or start the game, he needs to grab the opportunity with both hands. I have not seen him do that yet. I have not seen the hunger and anger to prove the manager wrong. You see him sulking with his head down and with a soft attitude like that, it’s tough to survive Antonio Conte.

Ivan Perisic is not a wing-back or a forward despite his best attempts in both positions. For his effort and professionalism, I don’t feel the club should let him go just yet but I am sure the club will look to offload him in the summer. That is if Conte is still the manager.

The Immediate Future

Generally, I feel we are owed a bit of luck by the football gods. But we need to go out there and make our own luck as well. Yes, Conte is paid handsomely and for that, we should expect him to get us to do much better than we are doing so far. But he needs the players to step up as well. It still doesn’t look like the squad is complete. I doubt Conte will admit it but his signings have not worked. Will they be dropped in the winter itself? I highly doubt it. I feel the club should go back to its strategy of signing promising players in their 20s that can be developed. I am not opposed to signing veterans, I just feel we need to pick out the right ones to sign. I finish by saying that I feel the squad at the moment is still not ready to win the Scudetto but things can change quickly. The expectations of Conte by the fans and the club would also be very high. We expect to win the Scudetto. If we don’t win it or even come close to challenging for it and end the season empty-handed, I feel Conte will be gone in the summer.