Home » I say Conte is crying out loud for a ‘Declan Rice’ and there’s an absolute tonne of money to buy one…

I say Conte is crying out loud for a ‘Declan Rice’ and there’s an absolute tonne of money to buy one…

I made the case on my Substack channel this morning which is going incredibly well, thanks very much for asking, now with over 3,500 subscribers tucking into the great ad-free content, that Conte ball is Mourinho ball, but without your prejudices.

Whilst that may be emphatically true, it’s not an exhaustive summary of what Antonio Conte actually wants from his Tottenham side. We’ve covered the argument (such that it isn’t) that Conte doesn’t need creative midfielders, because he uses wing-backs. That’s a definite falsehood. Emerson Royal bless him isn’t a very good wing-back and Sergio Reguilon has been loaned out to another side in another country.

Previously, I’ve made the case for James Maddison, and for the purposes of this exercise, I’ll presume none of you are children and therefore do not require everything to be repeated to you over and over… Let’s look at last night’s game for a fresher example of what’s missing.

Glenn Hoddle was asked by Ian Darke on BT Sport last night to name his MOTM and I suspect fatigue had kicked in after watching Spurs muddle along for an hour and a half. The former Spur named Antonio. The actual star of the show by a country mile was Declan Rice.

Let me preface these facts by acknowledging that Rice is down as a DMF, but boy, when one buys class, one doesn’t need to buy twice.

Rice had plenty of the ball and was pretty imperious with it. A 93% passing accuracy and his 15 from 16 attempted attacking third passes not only hit 94% accuracy but made him the most active in the discipline for either side.

Only our man Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg came the next closest, but the Viking only managed to make 12 passes in the same space. For perspective, Bissouma who had a largely indifferent game after taking a psychological shock from his stupid yellow carding, produced the same. Spurs are wanting in the middle of the park.

It’s also worth appreciating that Rice recovered the ball 8 times and on 3 occasions in the Spurs half. The closest a Tottenham player got to matching that was Ben Davies (NB. a defender) who made 6 recoveries.

But we are told by the toxically positive fans that we’ve had a seminal window. That new blood has been brought in and deadwood removed. The new blood consists of too many players Conte is being desperately economical with, and the deadwood in the main is overwhelmingly likely to return when the loan periods have expired. Jam tomorrow meet sort it out tomorrow.

Where would the money come from? For those self-elected bean counters, look away now, as the Mail Online worked out recently that should the right players be required, then ENIC could tap into a FFP-friendly reserve of some £400million. Which dismisses the tedious and grossly inaccurate in equal measure mantra that Spurs cannot compete.

Spurs are accumulating points quite nicely, but the football is in the main quite shocking – opposed to just boring – but I guess if the division is packed with as bad sides and worse ones, then we will do okay, in the final analysis.

As far as the Champions League is concerned, to coin a phrase, you’re having a laugh, and it takes wilfully blind optimism to suggest this squad is ready to progress at such a level.

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East Stand.
East Stand.
2 years ago
Reply to  Joe

And therefore type of baller Levy won’t go near with a barge pole, as the one minor trophy in 23 years shows…

Last edited 2 years ago by Easty
Dino
Dino
2 years ago
Reply to  Brick Top

Winks & Tanguy in the middle was his downfall… Lamela going round in circles & Sissoko altho improved was very uncomfortable with the ball at his feet

Steve.chapman19@yahoo.com
Steve.chapman19@yahoo.com
2 years ago
Reply to  CowSpurs

me personally I think his way over rated , I wouldn’t want him at spurs, bad tackles bad passing , terrible accuracy with shots , no consistency, no thanks not for me

HarrowSpur
HarrowSpur
2 years ago
Reply to  Bert

not sure, Kessie is a rather defensive player in a defensive Serie A who is less mobile than a Prem adjusted Bissouma. Bissouma was the better option 100% and we shouldn’t judge him too quickly on his first game after struggling with Covid. I have faith he’ll come good as 1 of 2 good signings alongside Perisic.

Urbane Sturgeon
Urbane Sturgeon
2 years ago

I’d not seen that Daily Mail article (hardly surprising), here are some quotes I thought might be of interest. Hope that’s ok Mr Hotspur:

An analysis of top flight clubs undertaken by Kieran Maguire, a lecturer in football finance at the University of Liverpool, estimates what each club could spend and still stay within the FFP limit.

He has calculated that Spurs have by far the most FFP ‘wiggle room’ after a decade of bumper profits and limited transfer spending.

In fact, the north London club could spend up to £400m and stay within the FFP limit, twice the sum available to Arsenal and comfortably more than Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City.

‘Spurs net transfer spend since 2010 is between a quarter and a half of the other Big Six clubs and it is the most successful club in terms of keeping its wages low as a proportion of income the club generates,’ Maguire said; adding, ‘Spurs have had a business model rather than a trophy winning model.’

The former Italy manager has previously indicated how much importance he places on the opportunity to invest in a squad. The Italian has left his last three clubs – Inter Milan, Chelsea and Juventus – over issues of money or control. However, there is no culture of profligate spending at Spurs, far from it. 

Maguire has calculated that between 2010 and 2020, Spurs made profits before tax of £401m, compared to huge losses at Manchester City and Chelsea and pre-tax profits of £128m at Manchester United.

Dexter
Dexter
2 years ago

He buys so much crud that he leaves himself (or rather, us) in a position where we need to replace do many players and address so many positions that it requires a net spend of waaaaay above close to zero. Daniel doesn’t like net spends of more than zero, and so we replace average and below average with average and below average.
Sometimes he hits a nugget or two, but one of them cant take corners for love or money, and the other one is away to Beşiktş with his career in tatters.

dembeleshapedhole
dembeleshapedhole
2 years ago
Reply to  Dexter

Aye

Dexter
Dexter
2 years ago
Reply to  Marbella Spur

The lad can’t get game time at Leeds. Fulham welcome to him. I dont believe we had any serious intentions there. Jack Clarke mark II.

CowSpurs
CowSpurs
2 years ago
Reply to  at large

The ‘Life of Brian’ quote is apt here, “You lucky, lucky……”

CowSpurs
CowSpurs
2 years ago

Players like Rice will be wanted by the biggest of clubs. It would be nice if we were one of them, but let’s not kid ourselves.

My biggest issue is not who we bought but who we got rid of. We needed to get rid of the donkeys at the back, the ones who look cringeworthy whenever any possession based football is required, but we didn’t. Conte is making do with what he has, after all Sanchez went 500 minutes without conceding, ergo he must be brilliant! Until Sanchez, Royal, Dier and Davies have left our club we will continue to play football like last night. It is a good job this bunch do not play expansive football, it would be horrible, far worse than the tripe witnessed since the start of the season.

It feels as though Spurs are in a perpetual state of transition. The last time our First XI was any good was when Walker was our right back. Since then we made sure our prize assets were flogged to death, generating breadcrumbs for Toby, Dembele and Eriksen, whilst receiving zero pennies for Rose, Dele and Verts. When things were good this lot were collectively worth between £300-400m. Levy has to take the blame here, but he has got away with it by ploughing well over £350m net in to the squad in 5 seasons. Now City might have bought 5-6 players for that, we got 23 (excluding all loans like Kulu)!

We have bought far too many sub standard players since 2017 and we will seemingly pay the price for years to come because we can’t get rid of any to reinvest in the squad.

Transfer windows get everyone excited and we fall for it every year, that this year will be different. Well, it isn’t, but you know what I can’t wait until January (shoot me now!)

at large
at large
2 years ago

Thankfully I missed the game but seeing that Conte only made 1 sub tells us that our depth is severely lacking in the squad as he only trusts a handful of players beyond the top 11.

JimmyGrievance
JimmyGrievance
2 years ago

“Let’s look at last night’s game” ….. I’d rather not. There’s only so much I can take.

We’ve been crying out for a creative MF since before Eriksen ditched us for Italy. Stevie Wonder could see that but it seems those tasked with managing the team can’t. An abundance of defensive MF some shocking defenders who cant play out from the back gets you performance after performance like last night.

I can hear the rose tinted mob now. Best start since Jesus was born, Sanchez has turned a corner ( a blind one in my view) We’re grinding out results , we’re not soft anymore… The list is endless.

Truth be known we’re treading water. The manager, despite a number of new signings seems to reluctant to play any of them. He seems reluctant to drop out of form players. Tactics are stale and don’t change. We’re easy to play against. He can jump and down scream and shout all he likes. It doesn’t change the fact we’re still not firing on any cylinders let alone 11.

mike
mike
2 years ago
Reply to  Wilfie

RWB in particular. The wingbacks are crucial to the Conte system. We’ve got something good going on with Perisic… but on the RWB we need someone who can deliver a top cross. Doherty was good ‘on the attack’ before his injury. I don’t understand why Conte isn’t taking a punt on Doherty… at least as a 60min sub? Perhaps he wants to retain Emerson for his defensive qualities, for now, until Romero returns to strengthen defence on the right?

mike
mike
2 years ago
Reply to  coys1882

And yet… of those that have outspent us… only Arsenal are sailing… the rest probably have fans as disgruntled as Spurs.

Finn
Finn
2 years ago
Reply to  The Boy

Jekyll and Hotspur?

eddie
eddie
2 years ago

Watching our trio of Lloris,Royal and Sanchez passing the ball between themselves constantly last night without advancing out of our half was the most excruciating part of observing the game last night.None of them is comfortable with the ball at their feet and their first thought is”Fcuk I have to get rid of this”.

Our need to strengthen the heart of our defense is so obvious to even a blind man.I find it strange that proven PL players like Coady ,Tarkowski and now it seems Bednarek,have not been considered.All are solid,vastly superior to our CBs[barring Romero] and have leadership quality,which in our captain Lloris is severely lacking.

Loans would have been ideal in this situation as a quick fix if it is true our real targets were not available or just didn’t fancy us.When is Lenglet likely to get an outing by the way?

eddie
eddie
2 years ago
Reply to  Joe

Could he be the spammers Harry Kane?Staying at his boyhood club and winning Fcuk all.Both really need to move on to realise their talent and win silverware.

Dexter
Dexter
2 years ago

In Paratici we may well trust. He could be the best chief of recruitment the world has ever seen since the beginning of time itself. But at this particular club, his strings are pulled tight by the puppet master above him, and this particular puppet master isn’t in the least bit interested in winning stuff. Champions League money is all that matters. He’s just a front-man for a property investor. Nothing has changed.

Marbella Spur
Marbella Spur
2 years ago

It appears that Dan James is signing for Fulham on loan and it’s reported that we are interested in the Monaco winger Martins.

NoDareJoeDans
NoDareJoeDans
2 years ago

If you look at our signings, with the exception of deciding not to hamstring ourselves again by not dealing last minute it’s much of the same shit. The ‘big boys’ again and again show their ambition, they want a player they pay for it over and over, until they have bought their next trophy… With the exception of Richarlison which we make one marquee signing every now and then to keep the ENIC fanboys on board the rest of the signings are exactly how we’ve always done things ie Who’s available for free? Who’s young that we can make a profit on in the future? Or who’s running down their contract so we can get a good deal… It’s usually opportune signings with us all about the price, 20 years of square pegs for round holes which is why we never win anything. No ambition to identify the exact player we need and pay what is needed, and under ENIC it never will be. As you mentioned on the swiss ramble we had 400m to spend if we want to, we got the 150m, we have the same PL money all the little teams like West Ham get that seem to able to use this on big signings, we have the stadium income more than anyone with a 30m payment PA we have the CL money, we have accumulated wealth through 20+ years of being frugle while the little boys out spent us, we are loaded! We always hope next window will be different, we’re always told by the ITK next window is the one, Levy getting his propaganda out to keep the heat off, but we never quite get there, that carrot always dangling… In reality we’re doing exactly what ENIC want so why would they change, they have maximum income for minimum risk… Super for business, shit if you’re a fan that actually wants to see your team win something…

Spurs47
Spurs47
2 years ago
Reply to  The Boy

Probably a bit late to reply H but yes I read your piece already but perhaps you misunderstood mine. Nothing contrary to say about your piece btw except surprised you describe the football as “quite shocking”-really were you expecting something very different? I maintain that it was defo boring and I’m not surprised or shocked.

Joe
Joe
2 years ago

Great player Declan Rice , seems like very nice geezer as well, now that’s the type of baller that wins you trophies Coys

Lilywhite without the II
Lilywhite without the II
2 years ago

is this the 3rd choice Leeds player you talk of 😳…didn’t we just sell one of those 🤔

Hallenbeck
Hallenbeck
2 years ago

I listened on the radio because I was driving. Almost every other word from the commentators was “Rice”. He led the press, he drove forward, dropped back. A one-man army. A mid field Harry Kane. He’s well deserving of his place in the England squad.
Regarding our transfer window, my view is that Conte is merely laying foundations. This window has been disappointing in the same way a building site full of dirt and bricks is disappointing. The big players will come in future windows, or so we are led to believe. We can paint the front door once the rest of the house is done.
We must have some modicum of faith in this vision because, if it is not what was promised, then why would Conte be here at all? Conte has already stated that he will not tolerate liars. So, in theory, Levy must be bound to this “project” or Conte is gone. But, as always, Levy is the problem here.
Here is a thought: working with Levy must be an extended, excruciating negotiation game. More of a punishment than a job. But Conte is a smart man. He and Paratici know that in any negotiation you do not show your hand. You hold something back and keep the guy on the other side of the table destabilised – ideally without them realising it. This team, after this window, feels like an initial offer. A taster, but not the whole dish. A soupçon designed to whet the profit tastebuds of Levy and Co. We’ve seen what Conte can do. But in order to fully realise the vision, he will need more. If we came flying out the gate as the finished article, then what incentive would Levy have to back Conte in future windows? Poch fell into the trap of doing too well on a shoestring and we all know how that ended. Did Conte make the same mistake with Chelsea and Inter? Did he do too well too soon? Perhaps this is why we all share this feeling that we’re not quite getting out of second gear. Keep something held back. Cook it slowly. Keep your paymaster satisfied with the aroma and hungry for more. All part of a grand strategy from a guy we known to play mind games.
He says he doesn’t like to lose, but he ultimately lost this game at Juve, Chelsea, and Inter. Some people subscribe to the notion that he flits in and out of clubs, but I don’t buy it. He gets ejected. He loses the game. As they say, once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern. I don’t know about anyone else but succeeding at this game at Levy’s Tottenham seems like faint hope.
To think Conte has Levy in hand is most likely a case of cloud-cuckoo-land, of course. I wish I could read Italian because then I’d read Metodo Conte to get a better sense of how close this conjecture is to reality. I wonder if Levy has read it.

Hallenbeck
Hallenbeck
2 years ago

I listened on the radio because I was driving. Almost every other word from the commentators was “Rice”. He led the press, he drove forward, dropped back. A one-man army. A mid field Harry Kane. He’s well deserving of his place in the England squad.

Regarding our transfer window, my view is that Conte is merely laying foundations. This window has been disappointing in the same way a building site full of dirt and bricks is disappointing. The big players will come in future windows, or so we are led to believe. We can paint the front door once the rest of the house is done.

We must have some modicum of faith in this vision because, if it is not what was promised, then why would Conte be here at all? Conte has already stated that he will not tolerate liars. So, in theory, Levy must be bound to this “project” or Conte is gone. But, as always, Levy is the problem here.

Here is a thought: working with Levy must be an extended, excruciating negotiation game. More of a punishment than a job. But Conte is a smart man. He and Paratici know that in any negotiation you do not show your hand. You hold something back and keep the guy on the other side of the table destabilised – ideally without them realising it. This team, after this window, feels like an initial offer. A taster, but not the whole dish. A soupçon designed to whet the profit tastebuds of Levy and Co. We’ve seen what Conte can do. But in order to fully realise the vision, he will need more. If we came flying out the gate as the finished article, then what incentive would Levy have to back Conte in future windows? Poch fell into the trap of doing too well on a shoestring and we all know how that ended. Did Conte make the same mistake with Chelsea and Inter? Did he do too well too soon? Perhaps this is why we all share this feeling that we’re not quite getting out of second gear. Keep something held back. Cook it slowly. Keep your paymaster satisfied with the aroma and hungry for more. All part of a grand strategy from a guy we known to play mind games.

He says he doesn’t like to lose, but he ultimately lost this game at Juve, Chelsea, and Inter. Some people subscribe to the notion that he flits in and out of clubs, but I don’t buy it. He gets ejected. He loses the game. As they say, once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern. I don’t know about anyone else but succeeding at this game at Levy’s Tottenham seems like faint hope.

To think Conte has Levy in hand is most likely a case of cloud-cuckoo-land, of course. I wish I could read Italian because then I’d read Metodo Conte to get a better sense of how close this conjecture is to reality. I wonder if Levy has read it.

Archibald&Crooks (SC)
Archibald&Crooks (SC)
2 years ago

Apart from that very noisy minority who think the sun shines out of Levy’s backside (and frequently go there to check it out) we knew we had to spend big (Richarlison sized spends) on:-
Striker
CB
RWB
AM (we have 3 similar mf players already none of them game changers)

So thats 1/4
I reckon we could have done it in the £150m budget with sales.

(Apparently the end of window solution is a speedy winger with little end product).

Archibald&Crooks (SC)
Archibald&Crooks (SC)
2 years ago

According to Dean Jones Spurs are looking for a right sided Perisic.
If you read this blog you would have read numerous times thats what we needed.

In Paratici we trust.

Sonificent
Sonificent
2 years ago
Reply to  Wilfie

The budget for blocks of flats and golf courses is limitless. Great to see that it hasn’t effected our footballing operations. In fairness to the bald tool bag, he hasn’t really lied as he’s never spent anything on the team since he took over!

Lilywhite without the II
Lilywhite without the II
2 years ago
Reply to  MattyB

HH is a recycling click bait whore by day and a pragmatic, articulate, realised conversationalist by night…

Lilywhite without the II
Lilywhite without the II
2 years ago
Reply to  Marbella Spur

Its clear as day, Levy buys more for less rather than less for more…why we haven’t gone out and picked up the required CB baffles me. They would’ve been better off keeping Stevey and spending 50m on Bostoni for example. Its always Spurs that “the player doesnt want to leave”, or “its complicated”…our transition from Hugo to the front line is either shaky at best or long hoof ball…

Wilfie
Wilfie
2 years ago
Reply to  coys1882

They’re both world class managers being mugged off by Levy.

Andrew
Andrew
2 years ago
Reply to  Brick Top

We supposedly gained an advantage getting our business done early but Chelsea, Man Utd, Liverpool and Man City are all signing players today and all are quality.

VincentianMagic
VincentianMagic
2 years ago
Reply to  Brick Top

Completely agree. Squad has improved, but starting 11 is basically the same. Conte speaks of a few more transfer windows, but will Kane still be with us by then?

The likes of both him and Son – not to mention Lloris and Perisic, will all be in their 30s by then (or older in the case of the latter two), so money will need to be raised replacing them also.

Missed opportunity this window IMHO. Like every other fan, a quality CB and AM should be the priority. Paqueta/Maddison would have been welcome additions; Skrinier/Milenkovic too in the event that Bastoni was unwilling to leave.

Question is: did we really try to purchase said quality reinforcements? And why are we scrambling around for the likes of James?

Marbella Spur
Marbella Spur
2 years ago

Catenaccio (Italian pronunciation: [kateˈnattʃo]) or The Chain is a tactical system in football with a strong emphasis on defence. In Italian, catenaccio means “door-bolt”, which implies a highly organised and effective backline defence focused on nullifying opponents’ attacks and preventing goal-scoring opportunities. 
So this is one explanation for Conte’s tactics which I had thought had been out of date a long time ago. Funnily enough, it’s based on a highly effective defence which we could not be accused of having. Watching Sanchez passing the ball back to Lloris’s right foot was heart attack inducing.
I would liken our tactics as more like walking football which is played by people over the age of 50. I lost count of the times we passed the ball sideways or backwards. I doubt that Conte’s tactics will bear fruit but the real problem as always is our recruitment. As I have posted on many occasions recently, the weaknesses in the team have not been solved. I always ask the same question, which if any of the players we have signed would get into the City, Liverpool or Chelsea teams?
Most of the posters today have correctly identified the problems. Our window has not been good enough despite some somewhat mindless optimism.
In short, until we sign players of the ilk of Rice, we will never be a serious challenger.

Wilfie
Wilfie
2 years ago

We still haven’t addressed the lack of quality/cover in the positions of right back, the middle centre half, creative midfielder and striker. This has been an ongoing problem for ages. I’m particularly concerned that neither Conte or Kane have signed a new contract, they’re probably waiting who signs first before either commit, or they’ll both be off! Still mustn’t grumble there’ll be some nice bistro’s and bars around Tottenham Hale soon enough! Can’t get a Quinoa salad for love nor money on the High Road!

HotspurGeezer
HotspurGeezer
2 years ago

Think they’re going to the extreme of financial possibilities whilst staying within the rules but any club doing such, season after season, would probably end up in breach (&/or bankrupt) anyway?
There’s currently too many loopholes to circumvent in ‘ffp’ & so it’s all changing to ‘fsr’ (supposedly for the better?) from June & over the following 3 seasons.

Brick Top
Brick Top
2 years ago
Reply to  coys1882

If Mourinho had Romero and Bentancur back then, he’d do much better. Sanchez and Winks in particular caused his downfall.

Spursnutd
Spursnutd
2 years ago

Spurs are light at the back in quality, light in the middle of the park in quality and light up front in the form of pace. To play the system conte does you need top quality holding midfielders, top quality wing backs and fast attackers. We are lacking all to challenge for top four. We will be very lucky to achieve 6th this year as Liverpool, man City and United, arsenal and if they get it right Chelsea should all finish above us due to quality bought.

Archibald&Crooks (SC)
Archibald&Crooks (SC)
2 years ago

TBF Rice is a class player so Man U would pay upwards of £80m for him.
I still think Bis. will come good he is one of the few non Spurs players I was aware of (as in would like him at Spurs) as with Golf Boy.
The Spam goal was very good just the sort of effort I wish we were doing.
Not mentioned much but wasnt Hojbjerg injured for the second half?

Just bring in the Ukranian boy today so we can create something in m/f (unless we can get better of course).

coys1882
coys1882
2 years ago
Reply to  Brick Top

To be fair the squad is stronger now than under Mourinho, yes.

Elevenstonedidiots
Elevenstonedidiots
2 years ago

I don’t know what Hoddle was smoking opting for Anonio as MOM. Rice bossed it in the 2nd half. He snuffed out Kane dropping deep and that was the end of any coherent attacking play by Spurs. Its a mystery nobody has been in for Rice this window.

MattyB
MattyB
2 years ago

Two questions.

Your correspondents Saikat and Mehdi Gokal repeatedly post pieces saying what a great window we’ve had, how impressive the squad is, etc, yet you never call them out the way you do people who comment on here or Twitter. Why is that? They’re more happy-clappy than anything I read below the line here.

If, as you have said elsewhere, Conteball is much the same as Mourinhoball, why are Mourinho fanboys so antagonistic towards him? Surely, if they think Mourinho’s tactics are so great, they should be happy?

Brick Top
Brick Top
2 years ago
Reply to  coys1882

No, Conte just has much better players at his disposal

coys1882
coys1882
2 years ago
Reply to  Brick Top

No they weren’t and no he isn’t. Clearly Son, in particular, had his best ever season under Conte. Now I am in no way disparaging Jose’s considerable accomplishments, but undeniably the team is significantly fitter now under Conte, than it was under Mourinho. Yes, there are strong tactical similarities between both managers, as H has alluded to, however from the tactical aspect, attention to detail (especially at set pieces), ability to improve existing players and from a motivational standpoint, Conte shades it in my book.

Brick Top
Brick Top
2 years ago

Lack of real quality among the signings. Perisic is class, Lenglet makes sense on loan. Richarlison is a good player, but not an upgrade on what we already have. Joao Pedro who is similar was available for half that fee. Dybala was a free agent.

Defense is far from good enough. It should be Lenglet, Skriniar, Romero. And what’s the deal with scouting? Bella Kotchap to Soton for 10m and he’s clearly much better than Sanchez.

Bissouma is a good player, but a pointless signing. That money should have been used towards an AM, like Milinkovic-Savic. If we can’t successfully sign a player from Lazio we’re a joke of a club.

RWB hasn’t been addressed unless Spence gets a chance and actually perform. Should have signed Lazzari instead for a similar fee or gotten Carrasco in a few days ago.

To be ruthlessly honest, our business this summer has been mediocre at best

Last edited 2 years ago by Brick Top
East Stand.
East Stand.
2 years ago
Reply to  Bueller

😂 That’s the one!!

East Stand.
East Stand.
2 years ago
Reply to  The Boy

Apart from Perisic we haven’t improved one single position in the team, after making eight signings. Sure, you could argue that Bissouma is due a start but the reality is that the first 11 is basically unimproved from last season.

Which tells us all we need to know about the direction of travel, the same direction we’ve been headed over 23 years of ENIC. This was supposed the ‘war-chest’ summer, the ‘Levy backs Conte’ Summer.

Like Jose before him, Conte is manager that can bring success with the right profile of top level players, in a system he trusts. So to ‘back’ him is quite an undertaking, and one Levy never had any intention of embarking upon. Despite all the juvenile hot air around this window, we’ve done very little. This, despite the presence of ‘Don’ Paratici no less! I suspect there is as much uncertainty and confusion between Levy and the management as there has ever been. A culture of undermining and blame towards those unable to make silk purses out of sow’s ears.

With Levy it’s the same old, same old. It was ludicrous for anyone to suggest that things would ‘change’ under Conte. We are run by a narrow eyed accountant fronting up an investment capital group. Until they’re gone, take your top 4 and be grateful…

Brick Top
Brick Top
2 years ago

Kane & Son were much better under Mourinho. Simply put, he’s a better manager than Conte. His long list of trophies speaks for itself. There I said it. Levy fecked that one up big time. From watching the documentary I just knew in my heart he really is the special one

Bueller
Bueller
2 years ago
Reply to  The Boy

Its too hard to improve this team Harry, because they are so good…. 🙄

coys1882
coys1882
2 years ago

My assessment of the transfer window is as follows H. We have undoubtedly increased the depth of the squad, by the addition of several players, but arguably the quality of our best starting XI by only one player, namely Ivan Perisic. Richy and Bissouma (albeit looking a little rusty last night) add quality and depth to the bench, as I suspect will Lenglet once the CL starts next week. The jury is out on Spence and one could posit that Ndogie might ultimately be the more significant acquisition.

So far so good, but here are the caveats. None of our immediate ‘rivals’ have stood still either. In fact Chelsea, West Ham, Utd, Arsenal and Newcastle, have all outspent us. Time will tell the impact made by the players purchased by those respective clubs, but the point I am making is that no-one has rested on their laurels and the 150 million quid ‘war chest’, nominally at our disposal, has been comprehensively eclipsed by the likes of Chelsea, Utd and even West Ham.

Therefore, whereas one can fully acknowledge that progress has been made, I would be very far from complacent. There are still glaring needs to be filled. A top class AM has not been brought in and neither has a top class CB, in fact two would have been preferable. A late move for Dan James is beyond belief frankly. Conte makes the case for another couple of transfer windows and I agree, but it will necessitate another 150 mill to have the desired effect. So over to you Daniel Levy!

Steve 'Killer Cushion' Williams
Steve 'Killer Cushion' Williams
2 years ago

In January we could spend 400 million.. Liverpool could spend 275 million..
Is all this true from the Daily Mail? Do they know clubs finances or is this guesswork?
Sounds grossly exaggerated… And how on earth has City repeatedly broken these FFP rules, ended up in court and judged guilty, to then appeal successfully..
Financial Fair Play doesn’t exist.

Bueller
Bueller
2 years ago

I agree that the football is similar to what we were like with mourinho.

I do think there is a slightly better morale in the camp under Conte. And we dragged ourselves into 4th place somehow which I can only really attribute to the manager, plus Kane and Son (who granted has been rotten so far this term)

Results have been decent but the performances don’t really inspire confidence we can keep that up over the course of the season.

The fact that the manager is so adverse to starting most of the new signings tells me enough about the supposed success of the transfer windows.

Sandro
Sandro
2 years ago
Reply to  ro do

Never said that – what I would like to see is a better ‘reserve’ front three than we have been used to. Richie is a step in the right direction but he is fast becoming our only hope / option if the main 3 are not firing on all cylinders. Love Moura for all his effort, enthusiasm and that hat-trick, but at present I don’t see a team that is that much better in an attacking sense than it was a few months ago, and that is not all about the front three.

Steve 'Killer Cushion' Williams
Steve 'Killer Cushion' Williams
2 years ago
Reply to  Tony Blur

Top scorers? City and Liverpool have scored more than us… We’ve scored 10 in 5 games, same as Brentford..
We have a fantastic front 3, but Sonny hasn’t turned up yet this season he’s doing his previous routine form drop. Which is why he will never be world class.

Watching our second half against Spam was closer to Hell than Heaven..
We have terrifying play at times. Watching Sanchez, Dier, and Hugo pass between themselves is terrifying..

What H is saying is spot on.. If we pushed the boat out and signed Rice then we would have purchased a key part of the jigsaw..

Tony Blur
Tony Blur
2 years ago
Reply to  ro do

i Know haha. But I’ll give him his due. It’s entertaining click bait!

Tony Blur
Tony Blur
2 years ago
Reply to  The Boy

Lol I did. Am I toxically positive because I love our unbeaten start and new found resilience?

Billy Tonsils
Billy Tonsils
2 years ago

Actually I am going to amend the above written as JC my mistake, Does Conte actually want a decent playmaker ?

Last edited 2 years ago by Billy Tonsils
Mr wag
Mr wag
2 years ago

I was hopeful at the start of the season but we’re still too reliant on bang average players in Dier, Sanchez and Davies. We need another defender, creative midfielder and attacking cover. Dan James is a depressing link along with Traore. But we won’t get it because Levy is still on bargain hunt. Have we already spent the supposed 150m investment? And we’ve loaned 4 players who could have raised another 100m. Time to bring Doherty back in for Emerson and give Richalson more game time!

ro do
ro do
2 years ago
Reply to  Sandro

yeah it’s so easy bettering a front 3 of Kane Son and Kulu. Another realistic take on how we’ve improved on what we already have in attack. You are spot on. We should of signed Lewa, Mbappe and Haaland

Paddio
Paddio
2 years ago

I do worry we are waiting for Skippy to be our Rice, but he’s a few years off, even if some fans think he is now.
There are some key flaws in our side, which some smart purchases could have resolved.
By 11 we will know the numbers for the window, judgements can be made,
Conte will always get points on the board, points on the board ‘is’ the metric for the league, the rest is just nice to know.

Sandro
Sandro
2 years ago

 Conte ball is Mourinho ball, but without your prejudices.” Spot on.

We have swapped;
Bergwijn for Richarlison – time will tell if this is an upgrade (promising signs)
Reguilon for Perisic – I consider this an upgrade
Winks for Bissouma – he needs game time to settle – hope he gets enough of it
Rodon for Lenglet – should prove an upgrade
Spence – although not a Conte pick he could end up being one of those that grabs his opportunity to shine and becomes a regular (based upon hope rather than evidence)

Just not sure that any one of them (except maybe Perisic) really take us to a whole new level in an attacking sense – perhaps collectively they will?

Last night when we needed a winning goal our only play was Richie – bench still seems to be lacking attacking options to me.

ro do
ro do
2 years ago
Reply to  Tony Blur

he picks a chooses replies. heavily doctored on this page. Ignore most of this hot air that he posts. a few hundred youtube followers says it all

Tony Blur
Tony Blur
2 years ago

i think when you get to heaven you’d complain about the decor.
we’ve bettered every result from last season so far. We’re top scorers in the league this calendar year. We have a terrifying front 3 (moyes words).

admittedly we haven’t signed mbappe and don’t play like Brazil 70 but truly wtf do you want?

Spurs47
Spurs47
2 years ago

Conte knows it will take another two transfer windows to even begin to compete with the best teams-City and Liverpool. Meanwhile, many teams have invested heavily in their squads and it’s too early imo to say whether and to what extent that investment has been worthwhile. Competition for the also rans will be fierce this season which incidentally will be weird anyway due to the disjointed fixtures as a result of the World Cup. Rotation of players will have to kick in soon as the games start to come thick and fast only then will we see the benefit or otherwise of our investments. On the flip side getting shot of the deadwood, if only temporarily, has to be a good thing. Imagine the negative effect on the squad of Winks, Ndombele, Reguilon and LoCelso sulking with the reserves for the rest of the season. The football last night was boring and lacking energy. Both teams were awful and a draw away from home is hardly catastrophic at this point in time. We’ve had worse starts.

Billy Tonsils
Billy Tonsils
2 years ago

Oops

Jacques Cousteau
Jacques Cousteau
2 years ago

Disturbingly accurate ..maybe Levy’s game is to hire alienate and fire the best football coaches he can get hold of..awful football.

ro do
ro do
2 years ago
Reply to  Bert

I thought that was what Bissouma wa for. Carrying and driving was what everyone was saying on this page when we signed him. Jesus H.

Bert
Bert
2 years ago

Agree 100% (for once)
That’s why they tried to sign Franck Kessie, a hard driving midfielder who can defend and also drive upfield when the situation presents itself.

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