DON’T COMPLAIN, CONTE. YOU COULD BE AT WEST BROM

IF Antonio Conte does not want to play in the Champions League, he has options. West Brom, for instance. there is a club whose schedule is very rarely complicated by European commitments, and they’re in the market for a manager. no doubt they’d be delighted to have Conte (right) on the rebound from a long flight back to London. He’d be out of their class under normal circumstances. Conte is unhappy because Chelsea played in Baku on Wednesday and must now travel to Liverpool on Saturday. It was an exhausting journey with precious little turnaround time; but it did not have to be this way. Chelsea dropped five Champions League points in two games to roma, meaning their fixture with Qarabag took on great significance. Had they achieved better results in those games, Conte could have sent a different team east, and kept key players in reserve for Liverpool. roma are doing well in Serie A, but nevertheless Chelsea were poor. napoli, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid have all beaten roma this season, and had Chelsea taken four points from them as Atletico did, they could have been as good as qualified after four games. Equally, the Premier League cannot base its schedule around European commitments — that would not be fair to the rest of the league. the elite clubs already have giant economic advantages and managing a punishing fixture schedule is a tiny balance. Conte should appreciate that while Azerbaijan on Wednesday, Liverpool the following Saturday is not easy, it’s a damn sight more agreeable fun than managing West Brom.