Thomas Tuchel has been heavily criticized after his comment on the PL for not having the five substitutions rule in place.
Chelsea picked up three important points on Boxing Day away to Aston Villa after it took Romelu Lukaku’s introduction to turn the game fully on its head.
Man City had earlier won in the day with their 6-3 thrill against Leicester. But this victory for Tuchel’s side kept the gap at just six points, with Chelsea now level with Liverpool in second place having played one game more than Klopp’s side.
Aside from Lukaku praise that followed the contest, most of the focus post-match was on player welfare as Tuchel saw more injuries to his squad. N’Golo Kante and Thiago Silva were the latest victims.
“Five changes were invented because of Covid. Now we’re in the middle of Covid, and some teams are having games postponed, and others aren’t. Three changes are a big disadvantage,” Tuchel raised concern.
He then added on the potential solution to this clear ‘disadvantage’: “Of course [five substitutions should be allowed]. Zero chance [they will]. We are the only league that plays in winter, which I love, but we’re not protecting the players”.
“All other leagues have five changes. Then we compete against them in the Champions League. It’s a bit frustrating. It will not stop.
“Brighton will play a super physical game; then we have two games against Spurs, who are out of Europe and fully focused on the league and Carabao Cup.”
These comments came under scrutiny from Shearer, who wasn’t holding back when responding to Tuchel after what should have been a happy day for all associated with the club.
“This is what out country is, he knew that before coming in,” the Newcastle legend pointed out on Match of the Day.
“The teams vote that in and they didn’t want that. I think it can be an unfair advantage for the smaller clubs.”