Close menu

Premier League managers could ask for reintroduction of five substitutes

By Simon StoneBBC Sport

Last updated on .From the section Premier Leaguecomments914

Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola (right) and Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp (left) are both in favour of five substitutes

Disgruntled Premier League managers could ask for the return of the five substitutes rule this season, despite the concept twice being rejected.

A growing number of managers are not happy they can only make three substitutions in 2020-21, after being allowed five when last season resumed.

The Premier League is the only major competition to return to three.

Some leading managers believe the current substitution limit is contributing to injury problems.

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp and Manchester City counterpart Pep Guardiola have both said the decision is partly responsible for a spate of muscular injuries across the top flight.

BBC Sport understands the matter has been put to the 20 clubs twice - and on neither occasion did the proposal get the minimum requirement of 14 clubs to support it. On the last occasion, 11 clubs were in favour.

West Ham boss David Moyes said on Friday he had changed his mind after initially backing the return to three substitutes.

However, Aston Villa manager Dean Smith believes the Premier League should stick to allowing the use of three substitutes.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live after his side's 3-0 win at Arsenal on Sunday, Smith said: "I only made one change in the 88th minute. The intensity was there from our players.

"We haven't got the biggest squad in the world and we have to manage our players.

"I can sympathise with the teams that are in Europe but there are some big squads out there.

"I made my feelings known from the off that I thought they were right to stay with the three subs rule and now we have we started with it, we should certainly continue with it."

Clubs have the power to bring motions forward for a vote. However, it is unlikely any club would pursue that unless they were certain of changing the current situation.

It is understood Klopp in particular feels Premier League chief executive Richard Masters should have taken the lead in driving a return to five substitutes, rather than leaving it to the clubs, who have subsequently been accused of trying to bring in a regulation that benefits them.

Another cause of angst over the weekend was scheduling of fixtures.

Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was furious at his team being chosen to play in the Saturday lunchtime slot at Everton, having only returned from a Champions League game in Turkey on Thursday morning.

Similarly, Tottenham had a 12:00 GMT kick-off at West Brom on Sunday after a late Thursday Europa League tie in Bulgaria against Ludogorets.

Such issues are nothing new for Premier League bosses and stem from a league ruling that clubs should have two free days between matches - but once they have been afforded, broadcasters can choose whatever time they want for individual matches to be played.

In the case of Manchester United, BT Sport have the Saturday lunchtime slot and selected their fixture at Everton.

For Tottenham - who played four games in eight days during one week in September as they juggled the demands of three competitions - it appears they were given a lunchtime slot on Sunday because their game at West Brom did not have the same potential audience as the match between Arsenal and Aston Villa, which started at 19:00 GMT.

Both of those matches were shown on Sky Box Office.

The Professional Footballers' Association, the players' union, says it would be in support of a re-vote on the five-substitutes rule, having written to the Premier League in August voicing concerns for player welfare around the shortened break between seasons and the compressed 2020-21 campaign.

'They are acting like spoilt kids'

Former Premier League striker Chris Sutton was adamant that a return to five subs would not be good for the game and would only favour the wealthier clubs.

"They're all exceptional managers but they are acting like spoilt kids," he told BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club.

"They're critical of the TV companies but it's ok when they're handed out the money to spend on huge wages and huge transfer fees.

"They have to get on with it. They have the squad strength and depth to deal with it.

"This is elitism from the big clubs. The important thing about sport is competition and if we go back to five subs it will benefit the strongest clubs.

"The country is in lockdown, people are losing their jobs. This is a bad look for football, moaning about players being a little bit fatigued."

Around the BBC - SoundsAround the BBC footer - Sounds

Comments

Join the conversation

These comments are now closed.

914 comments

  • Comment posted by MarlyChusonda, at 17:20 9 Nov 2020

    Five substitutes will only give the richer clubs with better squads another advantage. This whole argument is pathetic anyway. These are supposedly elite athletes and yet they cant handle a few games of football.

    • Reply posted by User0323066196, at 17:27 9 Nov 2020

      User0323066196 replied:
      Dosnt it give the smaller teams an advantage as well? I mean they can go out and get an early goal then thrown on 5 defenders and park the bus for the rest of the game and see out the 1-0 win.

  • Comment posted by siralframsay, at 17:23 9 Nov 2020

    What do these big clubs do with there 5 subs.???
    Save 2 to the 88th minute and then let them take 5 minutes to walk of the pitch . 3 subs are quite enough thank you. Premier teams like Fulham, Sheff Utd etc find it hard enough competing 11 vs 11 without having to face £100 million pound substitute benches

    • Reply posted by D1710747313885, at 17:27 9 Nov 2020

      D1710747313885 replied:
      Rolling subs throughout the game to come and go when they like without stopping the clock. As I already commented on exactly the same thread today on the same topic HYS article.

  • Comment posted by GJE, at 17:21 9 Nov 2020

    Not sure why Pep is complaining. He made just the 1 sub yesterday when it was clear that several players were running on empty. KDB looks knackered already and we're only just in November.

    • Reply posted by Superdad, at 17:25 9 Nov 2020

      Superdad replied:
      Well said, Klopp only made two and one of those, Taa, was enforced and I'm a Liverpool fan!

  • Comment posted by Richard, at 17:42 9 Nov 2020

    As a supporter of "1 of the big 6 " - Chelsea, I don't like this one little bit. It will favour the bigboys & leave smaller clubs suffering. Yes we have to play in the CL blar blar blar, but that is what success breeds, more challenges & more games. We ( Chelsea ) have a big enough squad as do the other big teams to rotate & pick from. Man up get on with it & play the game.

    • Reply posted by St-Nick, at 17:48 9 Nov 2020

      St-Nick replied:
      Spot on.

  • Comment posted by Vince, at 17:21 9 Nov 2020

    Things not going the BIG 6's way then?

    • Reply posted by U19063229, at 17:39 9 Nov 2020

      U19063229 replied:
      Not really as penchestVAR & oil city are 14th - 10th and they want changes so you can't say the top 6 want changes xD
      #YNWA

  • Comment posted by AFCMickey, at 17:24 9 Nov 2020

    Of course Klopp & Pep want it, it favours the rich clubs that can afford more players...this 'doing it for the players' is a load of rubbish;)

    • Reply posted by Dave B, at 17:30 9 Nov 2020

      Dave B replied:
      Really - so you think playing Thursday evening away from home and then back on the pitch for 12:30 on the Saturday is good for the game - wow

  • Comment posted by Woollyfox, at 17:58 9 Nov 2020

    I do feel so sorry for poor old Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea, Man United, Spurs and Arsenal. They work so hard to buy the world's top talent, name them on the bench and then can only play 3 during a match when things are going wrong. Why not allow them to replace all eleven players, perhaps even the manager too? We need to protect these big clubs, and only their survival is important.

    • Reply posted by LetsallUNITEd, at 18:26 9 Nov 2020

      LetsallUNITEd replied:
      Who in the liverpool team is world's Top Talent?

  • Comment posted by jamois, at 17:22 9 Nov 2020

    Wasn’t the point about this that it heavily favours the big teams with more money - they’re the ones with major talent on the bench to bring on, unlike smaller clubs? 3 subs is a leveller, another reason for the premier league’s popularity.

    • Reply posted by Lets Agree To Disagree, at 17:36 9 Nov 2020

      Lets Agree To Disagree replied:
      Then they can argue that the extra Euro games that the top clubs have to play is also a leveller?

  • Comment posted by Dallas Cowboys Liverpool FC, at 17:29 9 Nov 2020

    Why? If it has been voted down twice already why keep flogging a dead horse?

  • Comment posted by Mike5467, at 17:43 9 Nov 2020

    Good thing these players didn't play football in the 70's and 80's. They would never survive

    • Reply posted by D1704385072642, at 17:46 9 Nov 2020

      D1704385072642 replied:
      By December they would only have the ball boy to bring on whilst others would be having the bits seen back on.

  • Comment posted by Dave, at 17:23 9 Nov 2020

    No sympathy, the clubs were really happy to take the tv money so now they have to dance to their tune!!

    • Reply posted by JR, at 22:32 10 Nov 2020

      JR replied:
      and you will moan because you are paying good money to watch teams without their top players who are out injured

  • Comment posted by RMC 1964, at 17:27 9 Nov 2020

    I wonder why the bleating is coming from the biggest clubs? Because they can see the MASSIVE benefits of having 5 subs. Keep it to 3 and the Prem stays widely open. Move to 5 and you'll have a procession on your hands.

    • Reply posted by OisinM, at 18:13 9 Nov 2020

      OisinM replied:
      Or maybe its because they play far more games with European and cup commitments

  • Comment posted by SWDC, at 17:32 9 Nov 2020

    Wonder if a rethink would be on the cards if West Brom and Brighton had made a fuss?!

  • Comment posted by Irons45, at 17:50 9 Nov 2020

    As I sides like Southampton and villa start doing well the bigger clubs start crying they want more subs because they know it will be a bigger advantager than the likes of Southampton.
    Fed up of the bigger clubs wanting to screw over the rest.

    Scrap group games in the CL 1st go straight knock out
    Oh but then they cry about money

    Modern football sucks

    • Reply posted by blocked by BBC, at 00:04 10 Nov 2020

      blocked by BBC replied:
      Or just make it champions of each country in the 'Champions' League, like when it was the European Cup? The competition was only expanded so the big clubs could still make money even though they weren't good enough to win their domestic league the previous season

  • Comment posted by RunForHome, at 17:23 9 Nov 2020

    Mangers want to have five subs on the bench because it gives them better tactical flexibility and easier to man-mange a big squad and keep everybody happy.

    Nothing to do with Covid or injuries really.

    • Reply posted by U19063229, at 17:41 9 Nov 2020

      U19063229 replied:
      We had to play our 2nd team vs city after vvd,fabinho,taa,tismikas got injuries!
      #YNWA

  • Comment posted by Sid Vicious, at 17:18 9 Nov 2020

    Would 5 substitutes make any difference? They want to sort out VAR first!

    • Reply posted by JayJay, at 17:27 9 Nov 2020

      JayJay replied:
      It's not VAR they need sort out, it's the rules set by IFAB. The offside for example.

  • Comment posted by tabby, at 17:36 9 Nov 2020

    If you have the big squad then pick a different starting 11....manage your team/squad.

    Don’t just go looking for yet another advantage.

  • Comment posted by Percy Daltons Peanuts, at 17:40 9 Nov 2020

    No no no. This is just an excuse for Mourinho, Klopp & Guardiola to break up play as the clock turns 90 mins.

    It’s infuriating when they do this. Blatant time wasting and cheating. What other purpose does it serve?

    • Reply posted by OisinM, at 18:07 9 Nov 2020

      OisinM replied:
      Do you realise they still only have 3 opportunities during a game to make their 5 subs? It has zero impact on time wasting and referees add on even more time for double and triple subs

  • Comment posted by D1687939230676, at 17:27 9 Nov 2020

    Play the academy players instead of injuring your own players?

    Just looking for more of an already huge financial advantage to keep the clubs with less money down.

  • Comment posted by Rainfordian, at 17:24 9 Nov 2020

    Playing weekend / midweek is nothing new and if they're playing then they're not training!
    Why have a squad if you can't rotate?

    The bigger issue is playing at 12.30 after a midweek game and VAR!!!!

    • Reply posted by Hot Bovril Cold Pie, at 17:28 9 Nov 2020

      Hot Bovril Cold Pie replied:
      Typical man u fan, bleating because the PE teacher did, stick to rugby league and Pimblett's pies lad.

Also in Sport

Elsewhere on the BBC