Alan Shearer has demanded a new rule to be brought into football after one incident he saw during Manchester City’s recent game against Tottenham Hotspur.
In their penultimate Premier League game of the season, the Blues beat Spurs 2-0 in North London to put themselves two points above fellow title-chasers Arsenal at the top of the league table.
Despite the positive result, one worrying incident that took place during the game has now led to one pundit and former top-flight star to call for a rule change.
In the second half of Tuesday’s big game, Ederson suffered a head injury as a result of being on the receiving end of a nasty-looking collision with Cristian Romero.
After getting some medical attention, the Brazilian played on for a few minutes before being substituted off.
This then led to Shearer sharing his thoughts on the situation and what the rule-makers need to do to protect the players.
Shearer demands rule change after Ederson injury
Speaking in a recent episode of The Rest Is Football, Shearer had this to say about how Ederson was allowed to play on for a few minutes before being replaced by Stefan Ortega.
He said: “Before you go on, how on earth was he allowed to stay on the pitch? We talk about the protocols and the head injuries and everything else, how on earth was he allowed to stay on the pitch?
“If you ever needed evidence that you need a temporary substitution rule to be brought in then that was it the other night.”
Would a temporary substitution rule in football work?
On Thursday, it was announced that Ederson will miss Sunday’s final Premier League match of the season against West Ham United and next weekend’s FA Cup final against Manchester United after the injury suffered against Spurs fractured his eye socket.
In terms of a temporary substitution rule, if the lawmakers could figure out a way that would protect players who have suffered head injuries but keep disruption of the games to a minimum, this is definitely something that should be considered for the future, in our view.