Player welfare remains a bone of contention in the Premier League as managers continue to face questions over whether five substitutes should be reinstated.
The Premier League was the only major European league to revert to three substitutes at the beginning of the 2020-21 season, having opted for five during Project Restart when it returned from its hiatus due to Covid-19.
With a 14-6 majority needed, the pre-season vote was reportedly 11-9 against, but it appears there is a groundswell of support for five subs to be reintroduced as the season heads towards a busy set of festive fixtures.
Muscle injuries appear to be on the rise, while the Premier League recently recorded its highest number of Covid-19 cases (16) during one round of testing this season, and should the calls for five substitutes grow then a rethink could be in order.
How five subs can be reintroduced
Before the November international break Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said a return to five subs is unlikely.
“We have had two votes on it at club level and both have been relatively supportive of three subs,” Masters told a Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee.
“That has created some frustration, alongside discussions of fixture scheduling, which is related to the pandemic. There is a real issue and I don’t see it changing in the foreseeable future.”
For a change to take place the matter would need to be discussed at a shareholders’ meeting, though there is currently not one scheduled.
However, with the EFL recently agreeing to allow five subs for the remainder of the season, Premier League clubs may feel the need to urge Masters into calling an emergency meeting with discussing a reinstatement the sole purpose of the gathering.
Klopp: Managers are changing their mind
Should any meeting take place, once more it is likely a 14-6 majority would be needed, and while managers of sides who are playing in Europe appear to be mostly in favour, it remains to be seen which way every club would vote.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has suggested the vote would pass, claiming a meeting of managers on Wednesday saw six of them change their mind.
Klopp told the Daily Mail: “Before the season, some people thought it would be an advantage for us, the people who said we should stick to five substitutions. But it was never – and I can promise you this, I’m a Christian – it was not for one second about having an advantage. All the other countries did it. Italy – Juventus, Inter Milan, they have the biggest squads, but still the other clubs said, ‘We need five subs.’
“Yesterday [Wednesday] six managers changed their minds. We need it. For the players, not the clubs. December and January in a normal season is brutal. We know that. But this year, for the Champions League and Europa League clubs, October is like December. November is like December. December is still December, then January, then February.”
Who else is in favour?
Man City’s Pep Guardiola: “I don’t understand, I don’t know who is in charge to decide these things but I don’t know how they don’t understand when all the leagues around the world except this league have five substitutions, to protect the players, to protect the footballers, to protect the physicality of playing every three days.”
Man Utd’s Ole Gunnar Solskjaer: “Would I have liked to have seen five subs? One hundred per cent. And I don’t understand, and cannot believe that the vote went against, because we have to look after the players; we have to think about the players. This season is the most demanding season of all.”
Chelsea’s Frank Lampard: “My main concern is player welfare, they are under incredible stress, especially those playing in Europe.
“I don’t want anyone to cry their eyes out for players, we all know how lucky we are, but everywhere else has five subs so we have to revisit this in my opinion.”
Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta: “I am all for it and not only that but to extend the numbers in the squad. At the moment, we have a big squad for different reasons and we have to leave seven or eight players at home.”
Hodgson torn but won’t vote against
Crystal Palace’s Roy Hodgson: “I am prepared to go with the flow after yesterday’s meeting. I still think it is an advantage for the teams with stronger squads, more quality players at their disposal so that later on in games when others are tiring they can bring them on.
“I originally voted to stay with the three because we all vote for ourselves, we don’t see it as an advantage to have five subs, we only see it as an advantage for these clubs. I think we’re entitled to say with our vote that we don’t want to go along with it. But I think there has been such a clamour now, such a desire [for change].
“Once you start bringing in player welfare it makes it very difficult for people like myself – who certainly can’t prove that player welfare won’t be enhanced or improved by this, I want it [player welfare] to go as well as anyone else.
“If it goes to another vote and the chairman asks me if I’ve changed my mind, I’d be happy enough to say that if it is what everybody wants then go along with it.”
Moyes changes his mind, Southampton and Brighton in favour
West Ham manager David Moyes has admitted he has recently changed his mind and would back the move to five subs.
“My opinion was that we should just have three subs because I felt it would help sides with the bigger squads and budgets, but what I didn’t foresee was the amount of injuries,” Moyes said.
“We’ve not had a great deal of injuries and many clubs have not had a great deal of injuries. The clubs which have suffered the most have had European football. I think for the fairness of the game, for this season only, I wouldn’t be against changing and going to five substitutions.”
Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl seems lukewarm to the idea, although he did admit on Friday it would be “a good thing”. He said: “I was not a big friend of five subs in the past even when I was managing in the Bundesliga. The crazy thing is that I did not use it very often even when I could.
“I do not think that it helps you avoid injury because when you have five subs the game doesn’t slow down at the end it speeds up which causes a problem for those staying out on the pitch.
“Normally everybody is getting tired at the end and the game slows down. It definitely helps you flip the players a little more and give some more rest time. For the teams that have more games it is an advantage but I can take it. In this special season, in this intense time it is a good thing.”
Brighton are also in favour, with chief executive Paul Barber telling the Argus: “It our particular game management systems, and the way Graham likes to use his squad and change systems during games.
“We voted positively twice on the idea and if there was to be another vote, we would vote positively again.
Are Villa and Sheff Utd against five subs?
Aston Villa boss Dean Smith also referenced the meeting Klopp had spoken of, but told reporters on Thursday he is not currently seeing on issue of player welfare within his squad.
“We had a meeting yesterday and we spoke at length about each manager’s individual feelings,” Smith said. “I can only go from my football club, and if player welfare becomes an issue then it’s a no-brainer and you have to increase substitutions or look at the fixture scheduling.
“At the moment, I’m not seeing any trends from my players that suggest player welfare is an issue. I speak to my players all the time – I want the best for them and I want to look after them. That’s what we’re doing.”
Meanwhile, Sheffield United chief executive Stephen Bettis recently told Sky Sports News: “We remain suspicious that big clubs simply want to be able to sub-off players to rest them to keep them fresh.
“Of course the bigger the club, the stronger the bench. Any change of rules mid-season will clearly affect the integrity of the league.”
Did clubs use five subs over the summer?
i crunched the numbers back in the summer during Project Restart, where after 45 matches it was evident teams were taking advantage of the five-sub rule.
Eight teams averaged at least four substitutes, while only Burnley and West Ham were below an average of three at the time of the research.
This season, West Brom, Tottenham, Wolves, Arsenal, Newcastle and Manchester United have all used the maximum three substitutes in every league game before the November international break.
Only Aston Villa and Burnley fell below an average of two per match, while City used exactly two per match on average in their first seven games.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/2KgZuhR
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