EPL: Six managers change minds over use of five substitutes

 

Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp, has claimed up to six managers have changed their minds about the use of five substitutes per game.

The EFL earlier this week confirmed its clubs would be able to make use of five subs in matches from this weekend.

But the Premier League, despite introducing a rule to allow five changes during 2019-20’s Project Restart, reverted to three subs for 2020/2021, even though the rest of Europe’s major leagues continued with the added amount.

At a meeting on Wednesday, managers discussed the situation, with Klopp confirming a number of opinions have been changed.

“People need to understand football players. People say: ‘Oh, but they earn this much.’ It’s not about that. They earn that much because they are so special,” Klopp told the Daily Mail. 

“There are actors who are brilliant but will never be James Bond. But as a James Bond, you earn more than others. With football, it’s the same. So many people play football and the best of them earn more. But that doesn’t make them more robust for everything in life. On Wednesday we had a meeting between all of the managers and it was so important.

“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.’

“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.

“We all agree we want to play, 100 per cent. But it’s little adjustments.”