Just Messi

🚨John Terry weighs in on Man United’s links to Antonio Conte as a potential Carrick replacement.: When Antonio Conte arrived at Chelsea, the club had just finished tenth in the Premier League. The training ground was filled with players who had previously won the title, yet the league table told a very different story. Having winners in the building and fielding a winning team are not the same thing. It would have been easy to point to past achievements. Conte’s response was straightforward: if you already know what it takes to win, why have you stopped doing the work required? Reputation could open the conversation, but it could not substitute for the daily standards he demanded. I say that as captain. I was not guaranteed a place every week. After years of leading the team out, that was difficult to accept. Yet a captain’s responsibility does not end when personal circumstances change. You still prepare fully and you still set the example. The younger players needed to see that the club came first, not individual status. Conte was building something that required everyone to serve the collective. The 3-0 defeat at Arsenal was a turning point. Rather than simply demanding a better attitude from a group of established names, he altered the structure. We moved to a back three, and players began to thrive in roles that suited their attributes. Victor Moses is the clearest example. After years of loans and uncertainty about his future, he was given a clear role as a wing-back and the coaching required to master it. That clarity changed his approach. Marcos Alonso, David Luiz and César Azpilicueta were similarly given defined responsibilities that maximised their strengths. There was purpose in every position. We then won thirteen consecutive league matches. After each victory the focus was immediately on the next opponent, not on celebrating the previous result. By the end of the season we were champions, rising from tenth to first. I watched this happen while my own role diminished, and I still regard that season with genuine pride. When people suggest Conte may be too demanding for Manchester United, I question what they believe rebuilding a major club actually requires. I played against United sides for whom any result at Old Trafford demanded total commitment. Those expectations still exist among the supporters. They deserve players who understand why the standards are so high. Conte would make those expectations part of the daily environment. Anyone appointing him would also have to accept them. You cannot ask a manager to restore standards and then withdraw support the moment those standards become uncomfortable. I would trust him to improve players, give a dressing room clear direction, and restore the sense that winning is a responsibility rather than an occasional outcome. I have already seen him take a squad filled with reminders of past success and turn it into something supporters could celebrate again. Manchester United should take that seriously.

We are witnessing the fastest collapse in football history. No Pep, 3 straight Premier League losses under Maresca, 6 points behind Arsenal, and the guilty verdict on the 115 charges finally dropping. Turns out Man City wasn’t a dynasty. It was just a decade-long financial crime.

Who or what made you hate that one football club so much that you never want to see them win anything?