How to solve Conte’s problem? Franchise his football

Business proposal of Vadim Lukomsky.

The classic cycle of Antonio Conte was repeated at Tottenham: building a corporate identity as quickly as possible against the background of a clear improvement in results, an important success at the end of the season, tangible financial support from management, endless complaints about lack of ambition at all levels (including financial support), the club’s immersion into a toxic atmosphere that in the final days influences from within even more than any tactical problems. 

We have seen this many times already – and always the result was a double reaction. Complete confidence in Conte’s top coaching skills and total (simply maximum) confidence that he and the club have no future together. He gives unique things, and then crosses them out with self-destruction. The first delights, the second infuriates. 

I have an idea how to keep the good while removing the bad. Football Conte should become a franchise. Antonio is the owner of the franchise, who sells it, implements it in clubs and monitors the implementation of the principles from afar.Yes, I am aware of the main problem with this proposal – this is the wildest thinking out of the box. I’m sure even Conte himself would rate the idea as insane. Right now it’s nothing more than a fantasy. No one will undertake to implement it. 

It was important to say this, but if you’re still wondering, let me explain why Conte’s football is the best fit for a franchise and how all parties could benefit from this move. 

***

In my opinion, there is no more suitable style in the world for creating a franchise. Here are the key ingredients:

• Conte’s football is a set of specific practices, not experiential action or allowing players the freedom to create organized chaos. In general, many coaches who play positional football (Juego de Posición) can be attributed to this path, but Antonio went the farthest.

Where the conditional Guardiola has a set of principles that players gradually learn, Conte has automatisms that are learned by heart. Here are some player testimonials to help you understand the difference.

“Of all my coaches, he works the most on tactics – more than Mourinho and Guardiola. Until every little detail is worked out, his training does not end.” – Cesc Fabregas

“We memorize certain combinations that stick the team together. We understand that by repeating the same things every training session, we make life easier for ourselves in matches.” – Victor Moses.

“With Conte, we work more on tactics in training. We know exactly where we need to be in each episode, how my position should change relative to the position of the defender. We know every detail. Mourinho was different: he explained the system to us, but we did not practice it so deeply. We understood what to do, since we have been playing football for a long time, but there was no such level of automatism, ”- Eden Hazard.

There are many coaches with a recognizable style, but no one goes into specifics at the level of Conte. This may be a negative (total deprivation of players’ freedom), but for the possibility of copying it is a huge plus, and copying is a key element of any franchise. 

• Football Conte gives the most powerful quick effect. This is partly due to automatisms: other system trainers place more emphasis on learning, and Antonio on memorization. At first, it is always extremely effective. 

The effect of the instantaneous transformation was most striking in Juve (lifted it from 7th place to 1st) and Chelsea (from 10th to 1st). In his first year at Inter, Conte posted +13 points from last campaign but finished second. The championship came in the second year. 

In the course of last season, Antonio picked up Tottenham at the most critical point. The Italian said that getting into the Champions League from such a position would be a “miracle”. The team were in 9th place with a negative goal difference (they were in the top 3 worst teams by difference) and played so badly that the FiveThirtyEight model rated Brighton as less likely to qualify for the Champions League. Instant transformation from such a position fits perfectly into the effect described above.