Thomas Tuchel believes the Premier League needs to re-introduce the five-substitutions rule which was originally used at the beginning of the pandemic and currently in the Carabao Cup.
The Blues have six fixtures across exactly three weeks in January, three of which are against Tottenham Hotspur, before we head off to compete in the Club World Cup in the UAE, and Tuchel believes his players are not being fully protected by the traditional three-substitutions rule, especially during these Covid times.
‘We want to win everything but we have two more games against Tottenham in the Carabao Cup and one in the FA Cup, all in between Liverpool and Man City games, so it does not stop but the schedule is not the problem,' said our head coach.
‘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.’
On his desire for five substitutes to be available again in English football, as it was during Project Restart last year, he had this to say:
‘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.
The Bavarian believes the authorities should adapt to the ever-changing situation to help cope with physical fatigue and injuries.
‘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 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.’