Even with all the revisionism by Juve fans, it's clear to see that he remains one of the best managers in the world.

Crazy to see him do so well without Verratti and with the Giaccherinis and Pelle's up front.

Appreciate away.

He's no genius by any stretch but he's a master motivator who gets the best out of his players. It's all in those eyes man

FFS the world can now see why we will forever love him.

Conte revived Juve and now Italy

My laughs when I read he was a poor man's Allegri (:

Sometimes, you don't need a tactical genius, you only need a world class motivator. Tactically strong teams are tough to break, but motivated teams are even tougher.

Calling a genu=ius now, just to mock him as soon as he loses ...

Hold your horses.

Spain had played three 5 at back teams in last two years and got absolutely battered every single time.

Chile
Netherlands
Italy

If anything, Del Bosque still have no clue how to set up him new team against 5 at back.

Italy will struggle to score if they concede first. Which is why it's better for them to play against ball dominant teams and not inferior teams.

Adit wrote:Hold your horses.

Spain had played three 5 at back teams in last two years and got absolutely battered every single time.

Chile
Netherlands
Italy

If anything, Del Bosque still have no clue how to set up him new team against 5 at back.

Italy will struggle to score if they concede first. Which is why it's better for them to play against ball dominant teams and not inferior teams.

But today we had more possession than Spain in the first half and absolutely did not defend. I guess we did struggle to score but that was just because of De Gea

rincon wrote:

Adit wrote:Hold your horses.

Spain had played three 5 at back teams in last two years and got absolutely battered every single time.

Chile
Netherlands
Italy

If anything, Del Bosque still have no clue how to set up him new team against 5 at back.

Italy will struggle to score if they concede first. Which is why it's better for them to play against ball dominant teams and not inferior teams.

But today we had more possession than Spain in the first half and absolutely did not defend. I guess we did struggle to score but that was just because of De Gea

Because of De Gea and the lack of quality up front, I love the team and how they are playing. Giacch, Pelle and Eder are all playing excellent, but you have to finish some of the chances they had in that game. Particularly the Eder breakaway and Pelle's header in the first, I don't hold anything against Giaccherini for missing a bicycle kick.

Conte is really getting the most of this team, everyone's been included too which is great. The commentator in the game today said Spain has started the same starting 11 for all 4 games, whereas with Italy, everyone has played but the third goalkeeper

Conte

Hes got such passion. I'd probably even kidnap De Gea's gf if Conte told me to do it.

Luca wrote:

rincon wrote:

Adit wrote:Hold your horses.

Spain had played three 5 at back teams in last two years and got absolutely battered every single time.

Chile
Netherlands
Italy

If anything, Del Bosque still have no clue how to set up him new team against 5 at back.

Italy will struggle to score if they concede first. Which is why it's better for them to play against ball dominant teams and not inferior teams.

But today we had more possession than Spain in the first half and absolutely did not defend. I guess we did struggle to score but that was just because of De Gea

Because of De Gea and the lack of quality up front, I love the team and how they are playing. Giacch, Pelle and Eder are all playing excellent, but you have to finish some of the chances they had in that game. Particularly the Eder breakaway and Pelle's header in the first, I don't hold anything against Giaccherini for missing a bicycle kick.

Conte is really getting the most of this team, everyone's been included too which is great. The commentator in the game today said Spain has started the same starting 11 for all 4 games, whereas with Italy, everyone has played but the third goalkeeper

Conte

I'm with you, I was just enjoying the win and the first half performance

rincon wrote:

Luca wrote:

rincon wrote:

But today we had more possession than Spain in the first half and absolutely did not defend. I guess we did struggle to score but that was just because of De Gea

Because of De Gea and the lack of quality up front, I love the team and how they are playing. Giacch, Pelle and Eder are all playing excellent, but you have to finish some of the chances they had in that game. Particularly the Eder breakaway and Pelle's header in the first, I don't hold anything against Giaccherini for missing a bicycle kick.

Conte is really getting the most of this team, everyone's been included too which is great. The commentator in the game today said Spain has started the same starting 11 for all 4 games, whereas with Italy, everyone has played but the third goalkeeper

Conte

I'm with you, I was just enjoying the win and the first half performance

Me too brother, it's amazing to see this Italian team play. Yes, less talented than past teams (except for defensively), but just the energy and spirit that they bring all due to Conte is incredible. Their compete level, their attitude, this is what you expect of your national team. This is what brings you pride, praise and respect.

Almost brings tears to my eyes

He is not a tactical genius, he is a motivational guru

ES wrote:He is not a tactical genius, he is a motivational guru

this.

Though he isnt doing bad atm, doing quite well to survive this long.

lets see how long his luck will last.

Luck?

How on earth has luck anything to do with how Italy played in this tournament ?

S wrote:Luck?

How on earth has luck anything to do with how Italy played in this tournament ?

To be fair, he's right
Italy was lucky not to score 4 or 5 tonight. Lucky not to add at least one more against Belgium. Hopefully this luck does end soon.

Luca wrote:

S wrote:Luck?  

How on earth has luck anything to do with how Italy played in this tournament ?

To be fair, he's right
Italy was lucky not to score 4 or 5 tonight. Lucky not to add at least one more against Belgium. Hopefully this luck does end soon.

Against those scrub teams Italy are unfortunate indeed. Should have made a mockery of Spain. I don't like Conte the slightest but hes doing a good job atm and from observing the nt, the only nitpicking to be had are the abysmal italian forwards.

Having said that though, I'm more interested to see how they handle France and Germany or the new darkhorse that is Iceland

Turok_TTZ wrote:

Luca wrote:

S wrote:Luck?  

How on earth has luck anything to do with how Italy played in this tournament ?

To be fair, he's right
Italy was lucky not to score 4 or 5 tonight. Lucky not to add at least one more against Belgium. Hopefully this luck does end soon.

Against those scrub teams Italy are unfortunate indeed. Should have made a mockery of Spain. I don't like Conte the slightest but hes doing a good job atm and from observing the nt, the only nitpicking to be had are the abysmal italian forwards.

Having said that though, I'm more interested to see how they handle France and Germany or the new darkhorse that is Iceland

It's not like there is any shame in going out to any of those teams. No one expected Italy to beat Belgium or top their group. From there, not many predicted an Italy win over Spain.

Seems like at every turn there's doubters, it's only natural. Eventually someone's prediction will come true and they'll come out and proclaim they knew it all along.

I haven't watched the game yet but from what I've seen of Conte his entire career he's an idiot tactically. A master motivator yes but absolutely clueless tactically and makes the same mistakes over and over again. The fact that VDB is even worse makes no difference.

He is no tactical genius. The tactics were fairly straightforward and standard. He asked the 2 forwards to press the CB's. Also asked one of the midfielders to press Busquets. This stopped Spain playing out from the back. Also asked his wingbacks to push forward pinning Spain's FB's back.
Perfect execution of the strategy(for which he must deserve credit) , but hardly groundbreaking.

VDB proved that he is past his sell by date and has no business managing a top side. Guy is clueless. He could have easily countered Italy with his own 3 at the back formation. Go 3-4-3 with Busquets dropping back, a diamond 4 and Italy would have been easily countered. Instead he did nothing.

Locks Belgium stars out of the game with his tactics
Locks Spains Iniesta, Silva and Busquets out of the game.

Italy being perhaps the most tactically organized NT out there with their players knowing exactly what to do in every scenario possible.

Conte is clueless tactically and he's just a motivator.

Football geniuses

Andrew_p wrote:Locks Belgium stars out of the game with his tactics
Locks Spains Iniesta, Silva and Busquets out of the game.

Italy being perhaps the most tactically organized NT out there with their players knowing exactly what to do in every scenario possible.

Conte is clueless tactically and he's just a motivator.

Football geniuses

Exactly, however it is not surprising considering that these same people consider Pep a tactical genius.

He's about as much of a tactical genius as Mourinho was when people tried to claim he was one.

I still get confused why people claim a defensive masterclass ( although Italy were more than that here tbh) is down to genius tactics but on the flip side offensive tactics are not.

It takes just as good as coaching in it's own way and it doesn't just magically happen but for some reason defensive tactics are more highly praised.

I feel the same, i dont think it was as much of a tactical masterstrokes as Italy simply outrunning Spain for 90 minutes. He has gotten an overall commitment out of his squad that Spain never came close to matching. They had been playing like that all tourney, it's not a surprise frankly.

Let's see how they look against a team like Germany that will run a bit more and actually has elite forwards