100% right. I've seen a lot of people having a pop at Conte over the last 24 hours about his tactical nous. That's not the problem here. The players are the issue - a manager can only bring you so far. I think some people think there is some sort of messianic figure out there who could turn us into a top team. Some of these players are just not good enough and are too long in the tooth to be successful here. Conte or any other manager cannot change that. I loved Poch and he did an incredible job here but he ended up with an incredible 11-13 players some of whom were the best in their position in England. Some of that was down to his coaching, some down to good recruitment, some was down to get rid of trouble makers and some is just dumb luck.
Conte can be successful here. He's a winner. But he needs better than relying on Doherty and Emerson at wing back, Winks and PEH in the middle, players like Sanchez at CB or Scarlett (a kid) as his last roll of the dice.
Klopp's been successful because he brought Liverpool so far and was then backed with the likes of Alisson, Robertson, VVD and Fabinho who plugged the glaring gaps in his squad. It wasn't just his coaching - they were leaking goals for a long time before those boys came in. Had Fergie been forced to persist with Robson, Whiteside and McGrath in the 1980s, he probably wouldn't have built what he built. Even when Jose came into Chelsea, he didn't stick with the dozens of players they'd spunked millions on. The addition of Cech, Carvalho and Drogba were key to his early successes as well as shifting some of the flops.
Conte doesn't get judged for me until end of next season. He's made mistakes and opened his mouth too much but he gets a free hit this year. And that judgement next season can only fall on him if he gets decent backing from the club in the summer.