Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have turned up the pressure on Premier League chief executive Richard Masters to re-introduce the use of five substitutes.
Liverpool manager Klopp accused Masters of a “lack of leadership” for putting the issue to the vote in August.
Manchester United manager Solskjaer, meanwhile, revealed he fears for the physical and mental well-being of players in the midst of the packed fixture schedule.
And at the end of a week in which Liverpool’s Fabinho, Sergio Aguero at Manchester City and West Ham forward Michail Antonio have all been lost to hamstring injuries, the high-profile trio were united in their condemnation of the League’s failure to retain the five-sub rule that was used during Project Restart.
Guardiola said: “Definitely they should, they should 100 per cent. It’s not about one club.
“There are statistics that they don’t deny – that in the Premier League players have 47 per cent more muscular injuries than the previous season. Due to no preparation for most of the teams and the amount of games.
“All the leagues – Germany, Spain, everywhere – is five substitutions to protect the players, not to protect one team.
“They should [reconsider], hopefully they can reconsider and do what the rest of the world does because we have to adjust to the pandemic situation and other things.
“The reality is completely different now to before. Intelligent people adjust to the situation in the world – football is about the players. We’ll see.”
Clubs voted against the new rule in August, due to fears it would offer big clubs an advantage due to their deeper squads.
But the Liverpool manager believes Masters showed a “lack of leadership” by putting it to a vote rather than imposing it.
Klopp said: “I thought it should have been in in the first place. For me it is a lack of leadership just to put the question on the table and say; ‘So what do you want with that?’
“It should have been sold differently with more information, showing more of what could happen, all these kind of things, by Richard Masters.
“We never asked for any advantage. None of the top seven clubs asked for any advantage. We just knew, because we knew our schedule, that it would be incredibly difficult.
“To have the best games at the weekend in the Premier League, it would have helped that as well. I think we should think about it again to be honest.”
Solskjaer has been relatively unhurt by serious injuries in his squad to date.
But like his two rivals, the Manchester United manager has lost players due to positive Covid tests with full-back Alex Telles missing Sunday’s clash with Arsenal for that reason.
Solskjaer joined his colleagues in voicing his unhappiness at reverting to three substitutes for the current campaign.
He said: “I don’t understand, and I cannot believe, that the vote went against because we have to think about the players and this season is the most demanding season of all.
“I can see the point why clubs voted against but if you take a step back and think about these professional footballers and their mental and physical health, I think the only sensible solution would have been to give us the opportunity to rest a few more.
“We have already seen a load of injuries in the Premier League. I know Pep has been talking about it, and we as managers, as clubs and staff, medical staff, we have to look after them.
“That’s why we have to rest players at certain times. So, yeah, I would have liked to have had five subs.”
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/383WwHg
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