London (dpa) – After the great victory, Thomas Tuchel vented his great concerns about the health of the players in view of the continued rampant corona pandemic.
Like his German colleagues Jürgen Klopp and Ralf Rangnick before, the Chelsea coach demanded five substitutions in the Premier League after the 3-1 win against Aston Villa on Sunday evening.
“From my point of view, we absolutely need these five changes. I absolutely don’t understand why we don’t have them. That would help the prevention and health protection of the players so much,” said Tuchel.
Three Premier League substitutions
Rangnick had already expressed almost the same wording earlier. “I think it would be a great help to have five options,” the 63-year-old said recently. The interim coach of the English soccer champions Manchester United reminded that this rule was introduced at the beginning of the corona pandemic. “A year and a half later we have a comparable situation and I see no reason why it shouldn’t be the same again,” said Rangnick. As far as he knows, the Premier League is the only major league in Europe that currently only allows three substitutions.
Jürgen Klopp from Liverpool FC had given consideration that almost every team had to cope with corona failures and Covid-19 diseases. The situation is not normal, but extraordinary. “And on that basis, I beg those with power to change something,” said the world coach. The shortage of personnel is getting bigger, the Premier League reported a record on Monday evening: There were 103 corona cases within a week among players and members of the support staff – there have never been more in this period since the tests began in May 2020.
Tuchel appeals to league leaders
At the beginning of Christmas week, the Premier League clubs discussed the situation at a crisis meeting. He was not alone in wanting five changes, said Tuchel. “But we obviously don’t have a chance,” said the coach of the Champions League winner and addressed the leaders of the league association directly: “They let us play all the time, even if we have Covid. We have new injuries, and it does will not stop. People at the green table, in offices, make these decisions. “
The 3-1 at Aston Villa was the eighth game for the third place since the beginning of the month. It was “a really big victory”, according to Tuchel. “We are struggling with injuries, we are struggling with Corona. We play against teams that had postponed games and had a lot of time to prepare for these games. And we play one game after the other,” he complained. The Londoners have to play against Brighton & Hove Albion again on Wednesday. “It’s not the game plan that is the problem, it’s the injured and sick players,” stressed Tuchel.
Striker Romelu Lukaku, who had scored the 2-1 goal in the meantime, was on the field for the first time after his Covid 19 illness, as was Callum Hudson-Odoi in the second half. “Maybe we made a big mistake in using the players after Corona and only one or two training sessions,” said Tuchel. “I’m very impressed with my players, but I’m really worried.” The German national players Timo Werner and Kai Havertz are still out due to Corona. On Boxing Day, Thiago Silva and N’Golo Kante also had to leave the pitch injured.
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