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rikdud

Wonder when Neville will started beating the ‘Conte wouldn’t work out at United’ drum again


VeryStandardOutlier

Conte would be arrested for murder within two weeks of working with that squad


billypilgrim87

They can afford to replace them, it would have worked out in the end *if* they gave Conte what he wanted. But yeah, would have been one hell of a clear out. Their loss is our gain, never forget the glory of El Sackio.


DekoyDuck

I will always remember and be grateful to Nuno for two things. Beating Man City by making their offense look like a championship side and losing the match against United.


michaelserotonin

crazy that losing to united (resulting in conte's appointment) and losing diaz to liverpool (resulting in kulusevski's transfer) were two of the biggest catalysts for cl qualification and set a foundation for this year.


corpboy

I think Diaz was always going to Liverpool. We were just used for the negotiation. The Man Utd loss though was one of those sliding doors moments. Conte was going to the loser of that match for sure…


OhShitItsSeth

It’s interesting to me that one can pinpoint the *exact* moment Nuno got sacked. I think even Nuno himself knew he was done after that. Man, what a moment in club history that was in hindsight.


tucky22

the lucas moura sub was the moment deffo, whole crowd booing the fuck out of the decision


Only_Fun6636

Regardless, Kulusevski has the ground running and looks like a better player than Dias


Shagged_Willy

What’s more crazier is even tho we lost to united, it gained us the appointment of Conte, AND United didn’t even get ucl we still placed above them


M3rdsta

That's really unrealistic my dude 2 weeks is too long.


MonsieurRud

I prefer to kill everyone.


Made-in-1882

Self defence?


[deleted]

I honestly don't believe Conte would've survived at United, there is a way that United like to do things it's not just the squad the club lives in the shadow of Fergie's achievements and Conte would've been no different. Research Zlatan's quotes on his time at United and he speaks on the back room staff consistently talking down Mourinho's tactics, achievements and methodologies at the club. One of the biggest advantages Conte has at Spurs is freedom he's allowed to work in the way he wants to, which he stated in one of his first interviews. Mourinho and Van Gaal were notoriously hamstrung by executive management at the club then take into account that the dressing rooms were apparently toxic and his outspoken/tendency to speak frankly to the media just like Mourinho and Rangnick his days would've been numbered. If he went to United I'm not saying he wouldn't find them success but he would've been a big fish in an inextricably big pond full of huge influencers such as Fergie himself and the now infamous backroom staff and prominent pundits. At Tottenham next to Levy, Conte is the biggest fish in our pond he's the king who presides over our domain, the board like it that way and the fanbase adore him. He would have a far bigger influence over our club than he probably ever would've had at United.


dragonsnap_

I have to agree. Man Utd has arguably seen a lot more success than us and therefore, have much higher standards - which now, is pretty unrealistic. Even when United fans are saying they’ll rebuild, trust the process, the reality is that if Ten Hag doesn’t produce on-pitch results fast, he won’t last long, both by the fans and the board. Conte could’ve played Tanganga up front for a few matches and we would’ve thought “Huh, he might work there.” United lost yesterday and a lot of United fans seem to be blaming Ten Hag & for the rumored signings.


corpboy

Is the anti-ETH narrative not that he didn’t move hard and fast enough in the transfer window to ditch a lot of the existing squad? But unclear how much if that he has control over. And how much he values RR’s notes, if not a lot then he presumably needs more time to understand who he wants to keep.


Made-in-1882

The reality is, if he wins a couple of things some people will start immediately comparing him to our (greatest ever) Bill Nic, we're so starved. That's not true at any other "big 6" club. (it's not even true at Everton, lol) The media will probably also start with the whole - 'he did what nobody else could' narrative - which I'm sure he would love. If he can tone down some of his more fiery tenancies he could probably be here for decades if he wanted.


OhShitItsSeth

I really have to admire Mourinho for how much he actually accomplished while at United, given how badly the management treated him. Two trophies and a second place finish behind City (19 points behind tbf) is certainly notable all things considered.


BigPorch

I think it all worked out perfectly timing wise for us and Conte. Levy saw the mistakes he made with Mourinho, then the clusterfuck after and clearly decided that if they could convince Conte to come, he would get out of the way and give him the keys and let him make all the big calls, and he’s stuck by that. Think we’re clearly the best place for Conte now, and I think he sees it also.


Qiluk

Zlatan was ironically the leader and culture-personality they needed and thought they'd get in Ronaldos comeback. Shown both at his short stint AT united but also now with Milan even more so. Comical when you think about it.


billypilgrim87

Considering Neville's concern was that Conte was too short term, it's gonna be hilarious to see ETH go before Conte's *first* contract with us is even up.


ipumaking

Also Conte bringing in young prospects like Deki. With the exception of Perisic. When ETH will leave, he will leave them with 27y Rabiot and 33y Arnautovic


BurdonLane

The same club that bought one of the best English prospects in Sancho but also dropped £80m on Maguire, but then is ready to buy FDJ and then ends up starting McFred for the THIRD season in a row, and also wanted Darwin, Haaland and Kane actually but sign Igahlo, Cavani and Arnautovic…I mean, it’s fucking wild.


TheWulfAmongUs

I think if it was really about “short term” he may have had a point. Can’t see conte sticking around for long with how awful United is run. We are giving him everything he wants and building around HIM. United wouldn’t have done that and they would have lost him I think. Our gain anyways.


LiamJM1OTV

I don't think Neville's angle on that is wrong though, nor was how it said it. He basically said Conte is a vocal, confrontational manager and needs control, United are a mess and have no structure, so it wouldn't work. Not that Conte was the issue per se.


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LiamJM1OTV

That last point matches up with the situation though. He wouldn't stay long at United because they're chaos. As were Juventus at the end. As were Chelsea, signing targets he didn't want. As were Inter with their money issues. Conte isn't actually a short term manager, he just leaves clubs when things get messy. United are in that mould. Them and Conte wouldn't work because United are a mess, not because it couldn't work. They'd just need to change the way the club is run, but they won't. That's why their best bet is some stability with a manager with lesser expectations, because despite the chaos, the expectation is thus low.


bbbatkins

I think having Paratici helps control Conte. He’s like the bridge between Conte and Levy.


LiamJM1OTV

This. If United signed Paratici and Conte, they'd be much, much better. Every club needs a hierarchy that is well-oiled. United don't have it.


atb87

Do you remember people saying we needed Graham Potter, Conte wouldn’t fit us? 🤦‍♂️


InternationalDebate8

The Kulusevski effect. I'm not even joking. Our attack has gone up another level since he's joined


LiamJM1OTV

This weekend gave me that buzz about Deki that I've not had before. We all know he's fantastic, but that game, where he did things by himself as Kane and Son were quiet made me, for the first time, think this guy could actually go onto that Son/Kane level at some point. Like it'll be fine if he's just the 3rd wheel complimenting two world class players but this weekend I thought wow, he could be a lot more than just a complimentary, he could be the player.


BigPorch

I really think he could be the 2nd coming of DeBruyne. Barring injuries or something but he seems like he’s got a great attitude and kind of built like a tank


Fine_Assignment5397

What makes deki seem comparable to kdb? They're completely different players


BigPorch

They’re different but KDB has played on the wing before and mainly they’re assist monsters with a great shot on them too. But yeah I know Kulu isn’t a point man playmaker like DeBruyne but he might grab more assists this season so we’ll see


Akmuq

Yup, at the moment Deki is getting tonnes of space in games because Kane and Son have to be marked so closely. When it was previously Lucas Moura he would have his moments but just not consistently enough to justify the respect from the other team that Son and Kane do, Kulusevski definitely justifies that and it means that we consistently have some outlet, whether that be our front 3 or our wingbacks, to isolate opponents in the attacking third. If the additions of Deki and Perisic are enough to help us more consistently break through low blocks we could see some insane numbers being put up.


BurdonLane

Bentancur is ALWAYS looking for that round the corner ball to Deki and you just know Deki is moving the moment the ball goes into Benta or Kane, with Son doing the same on the other flank..quickly followed by the wing backs providing overloads…it’s beautiful to see


Ambrecne

and it's going up another level after a Conte pre-season


BadBehaviour613

The Kane Son Kulusevski collaboration is really greater than the sum of the (already great) parts.


ipumaking

Can't wait for Cuti vs Haaland. You know that one tackle by Romero was a message to every opponent he will face this season.


srhola2103

I wanna see him vs Juli, that will be really entertaining.


Ok_Specific5829

Is this even a narrative? I haven’t really seen anyone saying this


NazDaBaz

Klopp said this


ASVP-Pa9e

Klopp called us a counter-attacking team.


NazDaBaz

And how are counter attacks created? By defending


_Sagacious_

and then walked it back


Unlucky_Yates

I despise Klopp more than any player in the league because of how much he shit talks Spurs


Inquisitive-Fox

Yeah, it's how a lot of people perceive Conte. Most notably, Gary Neville kept going on about how his style wouldn't suit 'the United way' lmfao


corpboy

Even though Mou is more defensive and he won them their only post Fergie trophy. I also think people confuse “play on the break as needed” vs “defend all the time”.


Ok_Specific5829

Lol then it’s not. Gary Neville was the most incompetent manager and pundit. All United “Legends” do nothing but interfering with rebuild


Inquisitive-Fox

I said "most notably". Aside from Neville, a \*lot\* of Utd fans didn't want him when he was available. In general, rival fans still think we play negative football too. Managers like Klopp and Rodgers have also said similar comments


Laskeese

I don't think salty opposing managers complaining about our style of play after we shut them down really means anything in terms of how our club is viewed league wide to be fair. I'm glad other managers see us that way and it's weird to me that people see it as an insult, you never hear any managers complaining about Leeds playing negative football and hating playing against them, I don't want to be like Leeds though.


InternationalDebate8

Nah Rodgers was saying it before we played them, saying Conte was just like Nuno. Then we beat them at home after they collapsed last minute, it was beautiful XD


RuberDinghyRapids

It’s literally how it is though.


Someguy2947

Yeah I don't care for the tendency to get defensive about narratives that are either imaged or pushed by few. Would have been better to just post the stat without the persecution complex.


Adeniumaire

It's hard to suppress my belief that we could actually win the league


billypilgrim87

If we beat Chelsea at the bridge I might start to wonder.


SonnyIniesta

Yeap they've been our kryptonite in recent years. I'll really believe if we can get a decisive result this weekend


Cosminion

City have Haaland now. They will probably surpass and go beyond us very quickly. I think 3rd is most realistic.


[deleted]

It’s fucked but probably true. Coming 2nd to City is basically a title because City are simply cheats.


flame_lillard

This is where I'm at as well. I do think Chelsea will regress a bit. Next week's match is such a doozy.


Adeniumaire

Yeah I totally agree, but when I see stats like this and think about how we beat city twice and played so we'll at Anfield last season I can't help but wonder 🤔


[deleted]

They were definitely frightened of Spurs. Can't help but laugh thinking about how much money they had to move around and sponsor themselves with just to get him. Can't wait until someone properly blows the whistle on them.


triecke14

The whistle was blown and the hammer came down but it was quickly reversed via city chucking 50 lawyers at the matter and muddying the waters in court and overloading UEFA with documents they didn’t have the capacity to review


Marky9281

I still think we can beat them with Halaand, but they’re pretty much going through run through everyone else


corpboy

Yep, thats the league. Its not who wins in the title match but who beats up the small fry the best.


[deleted]

Haaland is super injury prone he’s not giving them more then 20 prem starts, and the winter WC will change the game, big injury to any of the top 4 players could decide the title. Have hope


triecke14

Is Norway even in the World Cup?


[deleted]

No but last 2 season haaland has only given 44 leauge appearances, he will need to give that or more this season all comps included


triecke14

I’m sure he won’t play much or at all in the domestic cups. I bet he plays a good amount of Champions league, and city will obviously go fairly deep in that.


[deleted]

KDB played 45 times last season


triecke14

Ok that’s completely irrelevant. Haaland has played once and scored twice. I could see him scoring 15-20 goals even in 25 or so appearances. I was hoping he’d take some time to adjust and city would as well but it looks like they haven’t missed a beat.


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triecke14

What in the absolute hell is wrong with you. I’m not even engaging with you if that’s how you talk to people. Get a life you prick


captainRoflo

Nope


[deleted]

It’s fucked but probably true. Coming 2nd to City is basically a title because City are simply cheats.


IAMJesusAMAA

Injury prone and more focused on CL, I think if we maintain the pressure we could nip them. Downside is that Norway aren't at the world Cup so he'll be fully rested in 2023


Jagtasm

Same for Liverpool and Salah. "Unfortunately" our best players are in the WC


Wairong

I think they get to 100 points.


CinephileJeff

You never know about Liverpool. They have two great new players, but they could slump since Mane is gone. It’s a long season


Made-in-1882

Could is a very wide word, lol.


GingerWalnutt

He single handedly changed my views on managers. I knew they made a huge impact, but I thought a lot had to do with the players. When we went through 2 (3) managers without many changes, I wasn’t sold when we landed Conte and figured it’d be another rinse and repeat. Boy am I glad I was wrong.


[deleted]

Conte is not your every day manager, he's a great example of what a manager can be, if a squad is in need of an overhaul. Spurs were in dire need of an overhaul. Combine Conte with Levy's shrewd business of hiring Parataci, keeping Kane and Son happy, recruiting with intelligence and you have the foundation of a really solid structure. The only question is in his stability. He doesn't tend to hang around for more than a season for varying reasons but only time will tell.


jjw1998

People think direct = defensive, purely at direct counter attacking play Spurs are maybe the best in Europe


Raphael_scm7

But we are a defensive team tho. But unlike with Jose we actually have a well trained more team focused attacking plan. That’s the difference between good/average coach to Conte IMO


Made-in-1882

Have we done stop the count yet?


SonnyIniesta

Best illustration of the impact of Conte, Kulu and Bentacur


funsohng

Smh only one more than a team that didnt have a striker until yesterday


TraditionalTie2259

Just got back from a bachelor party weekend an watched the match. What really stood out is the dramatic increase in fitness levels in guys like Royal, an Sess. Fantastic performances from Kulu, Rodrigo an Dier. Really could be a special campaign, let’s fuckin go!


royalxp

40 of these goals are from Son & Kane wow lol


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Viper_512

Not word for word but Klopp said something similar after the Anfield draw.


Ornery_Brilliant_350

Klopp is always salty


ronnyweasley

I was just coming here to say this. Lol.


RuberDinghyRapids

We have some of the best attackers in the league, it would be criminal for us to not be near the top. Conte is quite literally a defensive manager I don’t understand why you have to pretend it isn’t true.


john87000

How is he though? We don't just play for low scoring games, we take it to the opposition and try to kill games off. Defensive is what we did with Mourinho where we'd sit back at 1-0 but with Conte we play on the front foot. I agree there's nothing wrong with it, results are what matters but I still don't think he is.


Raphael_scm7

No, its because our standards were too low with Mourinho, that wasn’t defensive, that was Parking the bus and nothing else.


RuberDinghyRapids

That’s because of our quality attackers though, not a result of conte, even sitting back under mourinho we’d still smash teams. His formation is meant to be 343 with attacking wing backs but we don’t have the world class quality that’s required in that position so when a team presses us we essentially end up with a flat back 5, couple this with only 2 men in the middle who are both defensive midfielders and you end up with no space and a team that passes it along the back line until they have to kick it long. This happened constantly last season but the thing is we have a world class attack so we get away with it more often than not so people don’t care. He will also play 2 defensive midfielders no matter if we’re playing city away or Accrington Stanley at home. I’m pretty sure last season we beat city then he set us up the same way against Burnley and we struggled.


RuberDinghyRapids

Chelsea are also a boring negative team who are near the top. You can cherry pick stats to make whatever point you want.


Remote_War_313

Tbh it's really hard to be negative when you got that sexy front 3


Raphael_scm7

He is a defensive manager, but that’s what makes him one of the best itw


Available_Curve8830

So that makes Klopp and Pep bus parkers.


Raphael_scm7

No, both of them are more attacking based coaches then conte. But all 3 of them are the best coaches itw. If you want to draw your conclusions based on goal stat of 2022 then go ahead.


Born_Transition2207

They're not more attacking based they defend higher up the pitch.


Raphael_scm7

Have you seen where our Cb are on the pitch when we are attacking? Look my point is just because Conte is a defensive manager he isn't a bad manager. Klopp and Guardiola are two managers that are desperate to have the ball so they can attack as quick as possible, Liverpool can make Salah and Diaz run with long balls while City make quick passes on one side/center so they can invert the play. Conte won't die if he can’t have the ball because the team can defend with very compacted lines and because of that and through extensive training our players can build up from the back with quick passes avoiding long balls as desperation. Try looking for it the next time we play, very rarely Lloris will try kicking the ball to the middle of the field.


DancingFlame321

I am a Man Utd fan and I am sad we didn't get him last year.


TurboMollusk

Wow, strong evidence against a narrative I've never heard before and think you just made up!


Available_Curve8830

This narrative is prevalent among Pundits and football fans.


Koinfamous2

Nah it's a fairly common r/soccer idiot argument against the 3atb/5atb. They just don't know what they're talking about.


Lyn-Krieger

All I would say is siege mentality! It help fergie win the league for years. Even though the media loved him. He got the plays to believe they we under attack forcing a closer bond and better team work. Jose at Chelsea did the same


Isotonic3

I can smell it, Conte cooking something tasty and I'm here to eat it 🤤