Reports | Premier League managers looking to reintroduce five substitutes rule
The Premier League is the only major competition to revert back to three substitutes
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According to the BBC, a catalogue of Premier League managers are looking to bring back the five substitutes rule despite it being rejected twice by the twenty Premier League clubs. The rule/concept was put in place post Project Restart but was voted against by English clubs for this season.
With injuries, especially soft tissue injuries, growing at an alarming rate, Premier League managers have now started to vent their concerns. It has seen Manchester United’s Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp and Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola ask for the league to better look after players especially in a condensed season. While there has been no response from the league as of yet, reports have indicated that many managers are looking to bring back the five substitutes rule.
The BBC has reported the same and revealed that despite the rule/concept being rejected twice already by the twenty Premier League clubs, a few managers are asking for a third vote. The last two votes did not get the minimum requirement of 14 clubs in favour although vote number two did see eleven clubs vote in favour. Reports have indicated that the tally might rise with a few managers changing their stance on how the rule affects clubs.
One of the main reasons as to why it was rejected twice was because it hands the elite, and bigger, clubs an advantage over the smaller ones who don’t have a squad size as big. That has seen many of the smaller sides vote against the law which is why the Premier League is the only major competition to return to the normal three substitutes rule.
