Gabriel Agbonlahor has urged Jurgen Klopp to put his concerns about the lack of a five-sub rule in the Premier League to one side and ‘get on with it’.
The German has repeatedly raised the issue in press conferences, emphasising the importance of extra substitutions with regard to player welfare.
“It’s been three subs for ages now, just get on with it. It’s always been like this, just get on with it and stop trying to change things,” the 35-year-old told Football Insider.
“Just because you’ve got so many players now and you’re in so many competitions, that’s your problem for being so successful.
“Other teams who are playing once a week, they don’t need five subs.
“I think it should stay as it’s always been.”
The Reds used eight subs (from a possible ten) across both legs of the Champions League Round of 16 meeting with Inter Milan.
Whilst there’s something to be said for tradition at times, the notion that something shouldn’t change simply because ‘it’s always been like this’ is, quite frankly, utterly bizarre.
It’s a shame that Klopp’s thoughts on the matter continue to be framed as selfish rather than highlighting the potential benefit to players who are being forced to adopt increasingly demanding fixture schedules.
The reality of the situation – regardless of whether or not it benefits clubs with bigger squads – is that either the three-sub rule in the English top-flight needs to change to allow players some reprieve or the schedule itself needs to be heavily revised.
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We have been doing that for years…..blah blah blah. The one consistent thing in life is change – you need to get used to it because that is how things improve. The EPL are the only league that still uses 3 subs….that should tell you something DUMBO!!!