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Andrea Agnelli has said things about Andrea Agnelli again.
The Juventus boss and president of the European Club Association (ECA) has outlined the plans for the next season, the football calendar and some of the rule changes that have been encouraged by the great and good of Europe.
One notable inclusion from his keynote speech: The Rule of Five Subs.
“I understand that Germany and France have already voted for five substitutes throughout the season,” Angelli said. “I understand that Spain is changing its decision and is converting it into five substitutions and I think that in Italy the level of the league board has voted in favor of five substitutions.”
Premier League clubs have already shot down the idea of extending the five substitutes rule into the 2020/21 season. Twice, the biggest clubs in the league brought the proposal to the table, but it was rejected both times. Smaller clubs fear the advantage is too great for those with larger squads, so they scrapped the idea that had been strongly supported by Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp.
The rest of Europe’s top five leagues will vote to continue the measure, according to Angelli, in order to minimize the amount of attrition on players during a truncated schedule.
“I think we want to make sure that we see this also at the international level, in the Champions League, Europa League, so that we have a consistent and harmonized style of play.” Angelli said. “This was a consensus that we had throughout the general assembly when we discussed it amongst ourselves, especially given the busy schedule.”
So there are four of the five main leagues in Europe, the main continental ones, and internationals who will have five substitutes this season. The only exception: the Premier League.
The lack of conformity is almost ridiculous. Yes, those competing in continental competitions will have the opportunity to make five changes during those competitions, but the fact that continental teams can make two more substitutes per game throughout their national calendar is an undeniable advantage.
Teams from Serie A, La Liga and Bundesliga will be able to rest and rotate better than Liverpool or their Premier League rivals. The advantage is huge: gaining an extra 20 or 30 minutes here or there will add up as the season draws to a close, especially when the Champions League reaches the knockout stage.
All clubs will be forced to rotate this season. There are too many games scheduled for too short a period of time. But what the five-substitute rule allows is for coaches to take a little extra rest here and there. Let’s say Bayern Munich have a tough game away from home in Augsburg, but the home team is having a bad day and Bayern are up 3-0 in 50 minutes. Hansi Flick would then have the option of giving some of his key players an additional 30 minutes off in a game he had not planned to rotate in.
Those extra breaks will add up as the season progresses and the ability to change the break strategy. inside a game (it can also work the other way around: a coach opts to rest players, finds his team 1-0 down at halftime, and then calls three, four or five of his key players to rescue the team) It is a game changer for coaches who will have to carefully control their players’ minutes or risk burnout.
The Premier League will already do without winter break this season and now coaches will not be able to manufacture extra minutes in the same way as their contemporaries across Europe.
(As an inset: it should be a factor of concern for Gareth Southgate as well as England head to the Euro this summer.)
The rule of the five subs is bad. That needs to be stated. The rule, in conjunction with the Project Resort’s drink break, often wiped out the momentum of post-restart matches. There were too many pauses in the action. Everything became a bit disjointed and forced. Five is too much. There are too many stoppages.
Dropping the rule is a good thing, but doing it out of time with the league unquestionably hurts Liverpool’s chances in the Champions League.
Having conformity in continental competitions is not enough. There needs to be a degree of uniformity in the matches that precede and follow those important two-legged ties in March.
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