Having jetted back into the UK on a very windy Thursday morning, Antonio Conte has been speaking at Cobham ahead of the weekends game against Liverpool. Conte reported that the flight back from Baku needed two attempts by the pilot to land the aircraft safely.
Having praised the pilot, Conte turned his attention to the game and Chelsea preparation, or rather the lack of it. Having taken part in warm-down session on Thursday, the players had their one and only full training session between the two games this morning. Conte spoke before the team flew up to Liverpool, his thoughts have been reported on the Official Chelsea Website,
`Today we had a good training session,` he reported. ‘We tried to prepare for the game very well, but to have only one day to prepare for a big game, and especially to have only one day to rest, is not right, not only for Chelsea, but for all the teams.`
Chelsea`s two other games following away Champions League games, were both against ‘big teams`. After the trip to Atletico Madrid, that Chelsea won 2-1, Manchester City were the visitors to Stamford Bridge.
That was a tough game and Conte`s men were outplayed all over the field. That said they only lost 1-0, that nearly counts as a victory this season against Pep Guardiola`s free flowing City side.
The other away European fixture was the Roma game. It was a poor performance, particularly in the second half, and resulted in a 3-0 defeat. Back in domestic action though, Chelsea at least had another home fixture. This time, the other Manchester team were visitors. It was another close call, and Chelsea edged the game 1-0. However, the scoreline didn`t reflect Chelsea`s dominance.
So, this time Liverpool are the opponents, but following a 5000 mile round trip, another home fixture would have been nice. The article reports that Conte had expressed his concerns about fixture scheduling to the clubs hierarchy, but he wasn`t looking for excuses,
`’This was an intense week for us. At the same time, it`s right to not find an alibi, or excuses, and to try and play a good game against a really strong team. This week was a strange week but we must be focused on a big game. We want to play well and have a good result.`
For sure, it does appear unfair the way the fixtures have panned out in this case. Could the Premier League and TV companies not look to alter the schedules to give the English clubs in the Champions League some kind of a chance. I don`t think they are looking for an advantage, just parity.
Whilst those teams around Chelsea must welcome the Stamford Bridge clubs misfortune this time around, what goes around, comes around. As the fixtures build and the season progresses, their time at the hands of the fixture fixers will come.
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