They say sometimes a change is as good as a rest. I doubt there was anything structurally different about how we prepared, but a different voice and maybe a different pace to things just gave us a bit of extra zip on the day.It was great to see us hit the ground running from the start of the match and look like we were well up for the fight!
I wonder if anything was different with the pre-match preparations in the changing room!
Is that 4 games 4 wins for Stellini now when filling in for Conte?
The performances have also been consistently decent.
Could be due to the opposition or mini new manager bounce each time he takes over but it does seem like the players are playing with a lighter energy and not like they’re under a dictatorship.
Conte through no fault of his own will have been putting out negative energy and emotion for most of this season due to his personal circumstances but either way our players seem to really respond to Stellini & Mason ? happy days
I mean yea ideally we keep it going like it is if it’s working out better but unless contes recovery takes a big set back he’ll be back at some point ?, hopefully refreshed and ready to get us over the line to an fa cup win and top4.What happens if we start going on a winning streak without Conte? I mean, if things are working with this Conte WFH setup and Stellini & Mason finding ways to get Conte's ideas across, maybe we keep going like this? Weird one for us but I do remember us losing a ECL game to a team whose manager was jailed at the time so maybe not the weirdest.
Sherwood officially shitting his pants. That stellini win rate is second to none.Stellini > Conte. Not biased at all. COYS
That win percentage has to make Sherwood nervous though.
Yeah I also get the same impression.Based on absolutely no evidence, I always get the impression that Conte is very strict with his instructions and it impacts the players negatively sometimes....in some cases restricting their freedom and creativity, in other cases imparting doubt and causing nervouness and lack of confidence because he does not really trust some of them.
I would imagine Stellini has been somewhat looser with instructions and also more senior players feel more empowered in Conte's abscence to make their own decisions.
West Ham are awful though so hard to read too much into todays result but will be interesting to see how it plays out.
? spot onYeah I also get the same impression.
When you're a manager like Conte with a very rigid style and a general distaste for rotation, it's fine when things are going well (as they have most of the time at most of his clubs) but I do wonder how the players must be feeling this season when his famed style clearly hasn't worked and yet he's persisted week after week with the same players in the same system. Must be quite frustrating, especially when the manager himself won't sign a deal to commit to the club yet is incredibly exacting and demanding behind the scenes.
While I don't think the players ever downed tools under Conte, on a psychological level it's no surprise that we've played a bit better in recent matches when Conte hasn't been there. They still have the structure and foundation of his system but don't feel constantly pressured to play his exact automations all game long as he can't "kill them" if they don't follow his instructions.
Who would’ve been responsible for picking the team today? Is that still Conte?
As last week’s selection for Leicester was appalling. Japhet and Porro on the right was absurd.
But if Conte selected the team today he deserves props. As it was clear Sonny needed some rest and that Davies had the ability to play as a LWB and therefore give Perisic a rest.
It worked out well.
I know many are saying West Ham were poor, but don’t brush aside our defense tonight. We barely gave them a chance.