Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp believes the Premier League have used "the wrong facts" when voting not to extend the rule change regarding substitutes.
Top-flight clubs earlier this month chose by majority to return to the established format of an 18-man matchday squad with a bench of seven replacements, three of which can be used.
When last season's action resumed post-lockdown, the Premier League extended squads to 20 players with five substitutions allowed.
And Klopp is bewildered England hasn't followed the rest of Europe's leading leagues by continuing the temporary initiative into the new campaign.
"We press a normal season into a shorter period which will be a proper challenge, especially with the wonderful rule we have set up with 18 and 3 (substitutes)," said the Reds boss.
"My concern is only about player welfare, nothing else, I don't know why we had to discuss it. The whole of Europe is doing it.
"I thought from a common sense point of view that this year, and only this year, not forever, we would have 20 and 5.
"It's not about having an advantage because we can bring five top players on.
"I don't like that we dealt with this thing based on the wrong facts. It's not about an advantage, it's about player welfare and it's about having the highest quality in the games for all teams.
"I was really surprised when I heard the league decided against it. It is really hard."
Klopp added: "You look to the other countries, in Germany you have Bayern (Munich) for sure the best team and having five subs is an advantage for them, but they play the most games as well. That balances it out.
"It's 18 and 3, back to that, so you have to rotate more, you need numbers, I don't know if you need more players but you need fit players to rotate and face these challenges. That's the job we have to do, to be prepared as much as possible."
Liverpool begin their Premier League season against Leeds United on Saturday evening, the first of five games in 21 days with the possibility of another Carabao Cup fixture during that period.
The Reds had just over a month between their final Premier League game of last season and the Community Shield against Arsenal a fortnight ago.
But Klopp said: "I'm completely recovered on a professional basis and my boys as well. Altogether it was a challenge for us, the break wasn't a break as it was intense mentally, then we played a lot of games in a short period and had a short break.
"We are now pretty much in our normal rhythm for the moment, that will change in a few weeks as we play more than we have an opportunity to train. That's okay, pretty much everybody has to do it, especially the teams in Europe. It's all the same.
"Winning the league last year is the best problem you can have. If it's a problem then I don't know it, but everybody else is giving me a feeling that it should be a problem. It's all about how we can put these intense performances on the pitch again and again and again.
"The Premier League is the strongest league in the world, and that means we have more competitors than we really need."
