Is Antonio Conte the way to go?
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is under intensive pressure following the gruesome defeat to Liverpool on Sunday and is currently on borrowed time. Former Inter Milan coach Antonio Conte has been rumoured to take charge of the Red Devils as it's claimed that Manchester United have met with the Italians representatives.
Denzel Kimani 11 
The word 'coach' has to encompass everything. You can't only be good at tactics, as you just can't only be good at motivation, just as you can't only be good from a psychological point of view, just as you can't only be good in how you manage the club and the media. You have got to be good at everything. You have got to try and excel at everything. To do this you have got to study and since I became a coach, for me, it has been continuous study."
~ Conte on his coaching philosophy
Antonio Conte has recently been linked with the United job for a day now since the Red Devils humbling at the OT by 2018/19 Champions Liverpool on Sunday.
Ole and his men are under backlash for the atrocious performances showcased in the past 2 months. No PL team has made fewer tackles or more errors leading to shots while only two teams have registered fewer clean sheets. Abysmal don't you think?
Now let's head back to Conte. Whenever Antonio Conte is mentioned 2 things often come to one's mind :
Firstly is his 'defensive football' that is 3-5-2; which is actually a 5-3-2.The former Old Lady of Turin player is usually compared to Josè Mourinho due to their style of play i.e. hitting teams on the break after initially sitting back.
Secondly is his ruthlessness in management as he's a fiery and feisty lad and isn't afraid to call anyone out or drop them regardless of who they are or their past achievements/ contributions if they are not playing to his principles.
Conte is understood to be open to take the helm should it be vacant but does have reservations concerning the club's structure.
It'll certainly be a difficult task to make the fans buy into his ideology as many fans view the use of a back 3 as being defensive, however this isn't the case with Conte.
Certainly one of the questions we'd be asking ourselves is how certain personnel would fit into the team specifically the likes of Aaron Wan Bissaka, Paul Pogba and one of if not the double pivot of McFred(Mctominay and Fred). The reason being as in a typical Conte team(3-5-2/5-3-2/3-4-3) the Wing Backs are usually converted Wingers who are definitely too good to leave off the roster as they offer different qualities from the other attacking personnel. Players like Victor Moses, Juan Cuadrado, Antonio Candreva and recently Achraf Hakimi(though he's been deployed largely as a Right Back/Right Wing Back throughout his career so far as compared to the previous mentioned lot) all thrived under the Italian tactician despite their natural positions being higher up the pitch.
Although Conte's teams are capable and competent enough to play a fluid short passing possession game in which the ball is played put from the back, they mainly play a direct style of attacking football while amidst utilizing long balls to score from the counter with relatively few touches however the 'Godfather' discards claims that his teams usually sit back and attack on the break.
His teams have always been compact and defensively solid as well as very aggressive pressers in order to pile pressure on the opposition and recover the ball as quickly as possible. His teams also boast pace, athleticism and high work-rates(prime examples are Claudio Marchisio, Arturo Vidal, Ng'olo Kante among others),versatility and are technically gifted as well as tactically astitute.
However there's more to Conte than just his tactical prowess. He's one hard-headed/ stubborn manager and isn't afraid to lash out to players who are not adhering to his principles or stepping out of line as well as the club's board itself if they don't fulfil the promises made to him.
He was sacked by Chelsea for his alienation of several players most famously Diego Costa as well as a complete breakdown of communication with the club's board. Conte's relationship with Chelsea hierarchy had hit rock bottom and there were regular disagreements concerning the club's transfer policy.
Meanwhile at Inter, he reportedly left the Nerazzurri due to disagreements he had with the board over the next season's transfer. Following his resignation we saw the selling of Romelu Lukaku for a fee of £97.5 million to Chelsea as well as Achraf Hakimi to PSG for €60 million($70.9 million).
Personally I just don’t think 352 suits our players but it’s gonna be interesting to see how he does it from a neutrals point of view.
Fred and Lingard will definitely be on the starters sheet as they are fantastic pressers. CR7 on the other hand, will definitely be dropped if he doesn't step up his work rate. As for Pogba I do not see a place for him in the line-up as Conte's team usually contain a DLP and alongside him two dynamic midfielders as was the case in Juventus when Arturo Vidal and Claudio Marchisio were fielded beside Andrea Pirlo to facilitate the Maestros elegance and ping balls and make up for his old legs and lack of pace. It'll also be interesting to see who'll be fielded in attack between the likes of Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford, Mason Greenwood and current outcast Anthony Martial. Cavani might get the nod ahead of CR7 due to my reasons mentioned earlier. Diogo Dalot will definitely be slotted as RWB as he is far more attacking compared to Aaron Wan Bissaka and has a superb work rate. However his brief cameo for the season wasn't exactly one to remember as his outing against Villareal will definitely put fans in question as Villareal's Winger Danjuma sent him on a one way ticket to Lisbon.
Conte isn't one to consider for the long haul but just like Mourinho he guarantees trophies in the short term. Trophies in which Man United are desperately in need for as they haven't tasted silverware since Mourinhos tenure whey they scooped a UEFA Europa League as well as FA Community Shield.
