Greatest Of All Legends

***6th November 2021***

"Everyone sit down, and pay attention," Antonio called his players to attention.

After a day of recovery to reduce exhaustion, the players were back at the club for their next major training session, but before the training began, they had been called into the meeting room where tactics were usually discussed.

Antonio was going to be explaining the new system that the club would be adapting and it was time for the players to pay rapt attention.

"You guys got a taste of the formation day before yesterday, yes? Who can tell me what they think about the er- the formation?" Conte asked.

"Yes, Harry,"

"Ok, Uhm, I think it’s very dynamic and it gives a great advantage when we’re attacking. With all the extra support from our wingbacks on the flanks, it allows the wingers to operate more centrally and that gives me a lot of support and more options for a pass,"

"But I’ll say it is a little difficult on us to transition as quickly to attack and back to defense, especially since it requires running up and down the pitch to take up spaces on the attack or to lock the space on the defence,"

"It will take some getting used to, but overall I think it works very well," Kane explained, giving his opinion on the new formation.

"Okay, thank you," Conte nodded at the answer then gave a glance at his assistant to ensure that the man was taking notes.

"Who else?" he asked, looking around for other hands.

"Ben, yes?"

"The three center backs allows us have to outnumber the other team’s attacks and it makes defending easier. Working with the wingbacks to make a total of five defenders makes it even harder for then opponent to penetrate our line,"

"The con is the stress it puts on then wingbacks who have more attacking duties as well since they have to run back to cover all the time," Davies said.

"Okay, anyone else?" Conte nodded in approval and let other players say what they thought and had noticed about the formation.

"Okay, good. I happy that no one dislike the formation too much and is willing to try something new if it can help us win. Now, I’ll introduce how we will play to you," Conte finally began his tactics masterclass with the players.

"After watching the last match, this is how we will arrange ourselves," he said, pointing to the magnetic board behind him.

On the board were 22 pieces with the 11 white pieces representing the Tottenham side.

Like they had expected, the white pieces were arranged in a 3-4-3 formation but taking a closer look, the three up-front weren’t directly across each other.

Instead, the two wide forwards were slightly behind the middle white piece, making the formation look more like a 3-4-2-1 than a conventional 3-4-3 formation.

"When we are not in possession, this is what we will mostly look like, though the wingbacks might drop back a bit more, depending on the situation,"

"Defensively, we should stay compact, block spaces and close passing lanes. The aim is to force our opponents wide and stop them from crossing the ball into the middle,"

"Now, these two guys in the center," Conte said, pointing to then two center midfielders in the formation.

"One of them has to play as a box to box midfielder, going up and down the pitch to help with attack and defense when needed. The second midfielder will sit deep most times and help the three center backs when the wing backs move forward,"

"This will help us stay strong at the back even though we are using fewer er-,fewer players, ahem," Conte took a sip of water.

"Now, when we are attacking. I’m sure you noticed these two players are a little at the back, yes? Since we will have one of our midfielders sitting back a lot to help, these two guys will drop back to play like attacking midfielders when the situation calls for it,"

"This way we are not lacking in numbers in the midfield and there is always passing option for the midfielders," Conte didn’t dive too deep into how the players should play.

For players of this caliber, simpler instructions were better as they all had their own style of play. Things could only be adjusted over a longer period of time.

If a player played a particular way and saw that it wasn’t getting results on the pitch. Conte might not even have to point it out before the player changed it himself.

Of course there were some headstrong players who wouldn’t change their playing style no matter what, but all that remained at that point would be to take them off the lineup, after all, he wasn’t here to babysit full-grown men, but to manage a top-tier team.

Even now, some players who didn’t fit into his idea of a team already no longer had a place on the team. He just hadn’t brazenly stated it yet.

"Now that you’ve seen the formation and know what we are working with, let’s move on to my... our style of play,"

"When I was a player, I didn’t have the technical skill to go through two or three players. I even had problems with one. I could run and defend well, but if I was pressured, I was always scared that I would lose the ball,"

"My style of play came about because of that. I want my players to not have to experience that situation. That’s why my formation is compact and why players are positioned near one another. It’s so that they can support each other,"

"Vertical tiki-taka,"

"Move the ball fast up the pitch as soon as soon as we get it. That is what I want from you,"

"I don’t need hold up play, or to control possession. I want attacks, I want goals, as quickly as they can come,"

"The moment we get the ball, the clock begins ticking and won’t have plenty time to hit our opponents on the counter, so the ball must move and the players must move,"

"The three forwards move towards the penalty box while the wingbacks will stay wide to support the width,"

"This is not the time for you to waste time dribbling around or slowing down the play,"

"The goal is here!" Conte pointed at the opponents goal.

"Not here!" he pointed to the flanks and glanced at a particular person who stared back blankly.

"There’s nothing my forwards are looking for at the side of the pitch when we are on the attack. Leave the crossing to the wingbacks and stay in the penalty box to support the striker. You can help him relieve some pressure or even score by yourself,"

"I need you all to understand that this is something we can only achieve by playing as a team and making sure we all do our jobs," Conte said boisterously and the players nodded.

The meeting continued for a while longer before the club finally began it’s team training, putting into practice all they had just learned from the meeting.