EPL: Tuchel slams Premier League over fewer substitutes rule

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel says he cannot understand why the Premier League has refused to allow more substitutes.

The German is unhappy with the fact that only three substitutes are still allowed in the English top-flight especially during the busy festive schedule and the outbreak of COVID.

The former Borussia Dortmund manager said he cannot get his head around why the amount of subs is fewer in England than across Europe.

Chelsea played on Sunday and are in action on Wednesday night against Brighton.

“We love the schedule and we love to play through winter and be the only league to play through the winter, but we need also protection from the league,” Tuchel told the official Chelsea website.

“I can absolutely not understand zero per cent why we are the only league that plays through the winter and we are the only league with three substitutes in a period of heavy Covid threat and heavy Covid situations.

“I’m heavily concerned and I don’t understand why we have only three substitutes. That makes absolutely no sense but it’s a situation so it is worrying that we struggle and we have injuries and we have players who suffered from Covid, and we have no time to build them up.

“So obviously we are in the middle of a very strange situation where all teams are affected heavily and I simply don’t understand why we cannot have the five changes because five changes have been invented also in the UK now when coronavirus first started.

“We are now in the middle of it and simply I get the feeling that everybody’s refusing it or not even thinking about it or refusing to think about it.

“For me, it is logical to do this because everybody is affected by COVID and you simply need more possibilities to protect the players and to share the minutes. It is my opinion, and I will not stop to stand up for it.”