MANCHESTER
Cristiano Ronaldo’s reaction to life among the substitutes has put the role back in the spotlight. But it has done so at a time when the impact and the importance of the Premier League substitute has never been more apparent.
Ronaldo was dropped for Manchester United’s trip to Chelsea in October as punishment for refusing to go on as a late substitute and for leaving early in the win over Tottenham.
And yet, the previous month, Heung-Min Son became the first substitute to score a Premier League hat-trick for seven years. When Ronaldo himself came off the bench to score against Everton last month, the number of Premier League goals per game being scored by substitutes jumped to its highest level for almost a decade.
That is a logical consequence of the rule that now allows a team to make five substitutions, encouraging their earlier introduction.
Any coach – and indeed any player – who chooses to downplay or ignore the opportunities that this presents does so at their peril.
This was not always the accepted wisdom in football, as Sean Dyche explains. “I tend to think that if you are on the right lines, stick to it,” he tells Sky Sports. “I remember that there was a lot made a few years ago of the fact that I didn’t make substitutions.
“Brian Clough didn’t make substitutions. I remember him saying once that if you picked the right team what did you need to change it for because that right team could still work right until the last minute of the game. If I believe in what I do then give it a chance to work.
“That can vary, of course. If you were unsure going in, you might only give that decision 60 minutes to work. But if you are sure of your team and it is going well and the team are performing well then why not leave it until the end of the game to find out if it will work?”
