Everton's Andros Townsend calls out Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp | OneFootball

Everton’s Andros Townsend has called out rival boss Jürgen Klopp over his ‘banging on’ about changing the rules to allow five substitutes in the Premier League.

After the change was initially implemented temporarily for COVID-19, five changes have now been introduced permanently.

“I love how Jurgen Klopp has found a way to get his way,” said Townsend on TalkSPORT. “He’s been moaning for years. They have been pushing back, and finally, they have given him his five subs.

“He will probably still use two or three in the biggest games. But who are we to argue with him?

“In the biggest games, Liverpool and Manchester City, they use one or two subs. They don’t use the four. It’s the games against Crystal Palace or Brentford, they can’t break teams down, 11 behind the ball.

“Then it ‘right can we bring on five world-class internationals who are fresher and can change the game’. That’s where it becomes unfair.

“I think we saw last season, even the season before, constantly banging on and banging on. Votes on votes on votes. Getting pushed back, then all of a sudden, they announced the five subs eventually.

“Last season again, moaning about the schedule, moaning about this and that, then all of a sudden, I think it was BT Sport putting a game on Saturday evening, which I had never seen before in the Premier League.

“All of this moaning, moaning puts pressure to give him what he wants and he has got what he wants on many occasions.”

Thoughts then moved to Everton and their survival from relegation this season and his relationship with both Rafa Benítez and his replacement Frank Lampard.

“Everyone knows my relationship with the previous manager,” Townsend continued. “I know he wasn’t liked much by the fan base but I had a great relationship with him from Newcastle and he took me to Everton when literally no-one else would touch me.

“But when Frank came in, he inherited a broken squad. Mentally, we were broken. For some reason, we couldn’t get out of that losing mentality, that losing run – we couldn’t shake it. Now we’ve survived, the manager will admit himself it’s the best thing that could have happened to us.

“He’s seen which players he can trust, which players he can’t, which players are mentally up for the battle. He knows what he needs going into the summer.

“Normally, when a new manager comes in, you get a bounce and we might have finished 10th and he wouldn’t have really got to know the players.”

Everton fans showed vociferous support for the players as they battled to stay in the top flight and the winger paid tribute to them for it.

“It was one of the best experiences of my life,” confessed Townsend. “The fans came around and really played their part. There were literally thousands lining the streets for home games and giving us a hero’s welcome.

“It was weird because we knew we didn’t deserve a hero’s welcome. We knew we probably deserved bricks thrown at the window but these fans realised the situation and worth to the team.

“Although it was a tough season, it was one of the best. He knows exactly what we need now going into the summer. Hopefully we can use this experience of it and never be there again but use it as a springboard to go on next season.”

Everton fans will certainly hope so too.