How Bournemouth are reinventing the use of the substitutes’ bench to great effect, writes MATT BARLOW
Logic dictates the introduction of five substitutes panders to the biggest, wealthiest clubs. Those with the deepest, most lavish squads but when it comes to goals, Bournemouth are making it count.
Andoni Iraola’s subs have scored seven in the Premier League this season, six in the last eight games to enhance his growing reputation as a modern football thinker and Bournemouth’s as a bright, creative club.
‘The ones from the bench are giving us good things,’ says Iraola. ‘They prefer to start to be honest, but I think they have learned can be very important from the bench.
‘They can affect the game and use their strengths when the opposition is tired. Even though they have less minutes they can have better quality chances at the end of the game and they understand because we see it frequently.’
Footballers respond to proof. They want to win above all else. Convince them you can help them do it and they will listen. Bournemouth have won the last three and key to success off the bench might be a kind of equitable status across the squad.
Levels of quality and desire do not fluctuate greatly with their substitutions. Particularly in forward areas Iraola can make changes and still boast the power and pace to maintain his style of intense pressing and speed in transition, vital when games are torn open in the final minutes.
Andoni Iraola has found repeated success utilising substitutes when his Bournemouth side have been in need of a goal
Conventional wisdom dictates that the five substitutes rule mainly benefits the strength in depth of bigger clubs
But the Cherries have consistently found goals when they need them most from their options off the bench
Bournemouth’s seven goals from the bench have been scored by seven different players, which is a slightly different phenomenon to Jhon Duran coming on to score four times in Aston Villa’s first five games.
Duran’s impact sparked demands for him to start instead of Ollie Watkins, an England striker whose goals were responsible for Villa finishing fourth last season. Ego enters the equation and harmony put under stress.
Unai Emery has the skill and experience to manage it. He might even consider competition useful to a point, especially as long as Villa are in the Champions League and he is looking to equalise the workload of his players.
Watkins though will not be satisfied to sit on the bench, restricted to late-game cameos as the new England manager comes into office.
At Chelsea, they have a huge squad of high quality signed for big fees, comfortable on long contracts and Enzo Maresca’s challenge is to stop those on the fringes putting their feet up. As things stand, he is doing it incredibly well.
All these things are dynamic. Injuries and suspensions come into play. Moods will swing but Bournemouth have an exciting collection of hungry young players out to prove they belong in the Premier League and can go higher.
Perhaps they are at present free from ego, committed to jobs they are given by a head coach they trust. Besides, they will know if they start on the bench there is a good chance they will get on. Iraola has used 72 of 75 substitutions available across the first 15 games.
He talks intelligently about how those coming on will not have the desired effect if those who start don’t do what is asked, wearing down opponents to create a platform for fresh legs to make a difference. Something easier said than done.
Jhon Duran has been invaluable for Aston Villa with his goals after coming on this season
Duran’s influence has seen him vying for a starting place with England star Ollie Watkins
Fulham have also proven prolific in terms of goals from substitutes throughout the campaign
Premier League players ought to be well adjusted to the squad system by now. Managers have been banging on about it for years.
Five subs were introduced in 2020 and, according to data supplied by Stats Perform, the number used has increased with each season and the number of goal contributions has grown with it.
In 2020/21 there were 2,033 substitute appearances in the Premier League and 156 goals and assists registered by those subs. Last season it was 3,024 subs appearances and 277 goals and assists.
All the interruptions do not help the spectacle but we are not going back and that has changed the nature of the game.
Games are rarely 90 minutes long for those in forward positions. Still the big stars like Kevin de Bruyne, Mo Salah and Heung-min Son are not immune from a tantrum if they are hauled off.
Substitutions are not all about goals, of course. They can be just as effective defending a lead, recharging energy levels or responding to the opponents.
Goals by subs, however, is a handy weapon and not a bad indicator of a club with a bright mind and a healthy culture.
Fulham have played a game more but went level with Bournemouth as most prolific from the bench when Rodrigo Muniz scored at Liverpool. They too are a club who have caught opponents by surprise and are taking points off the elite.
(FYI: Top 5 subs goals before Sunday games: Bournemouth 7, Fulham 7, Villa 6, Leicester 6, Brighton 5. Bottom 5 before Sunday games: Everton, Liverpool, Saints, Wolves all 1, Palace 0.)
FIVE THINGS I LEARNED
1. Apparently, Sheffield United were not at their best against Plymouth but nine home wins in a row without conceding a goal proves the exceptional job Chris Wilder has done. He went back to Bramall Lane to dissemble the team he built during his first spell and create another one. Yes, they have parachute money, but the Blades hardly spent big. Still, with a points’ deduction and a takeover rumbling in the background, Wilder has them clear at the top of the Championships to prove once again what a fine manager he is.
2. Kalvin Phillips and James Ward-Prowse were unused substitutes on Saturday for Ipswich and Nottingham Forest respectively. Two England midfielders who left the clubs that nurtured them through their academies and where they were adored in the name of ambition. Both have seemed a little lost and out of place ever since.
Kalvin Phillips (pictured) and James Ward-Prowse have suffered from moving away from their boyhood clubs
3. At this time of the year, we are usually poring over the last 16 of the Champions League and exciting knock-out ties after the turn of the year. Six games into the new format for European football and I’m still waiting to find out how this listless ramble of matches is in any way an improvement.
4. Aston Villa were upset not to see the challenge by Elliot Anderson on Matty Cash in the build up to Nottingham Forest’s winner ruled a foul, but the decision is a consequence of the maddening trend of players preferring to fall down to win a free-kick rather than stand up and defend, which in turn is a consequence of forwards falling down when defenders go anywhere near them. If they weren’t all trying to con the officials I’d have some sympathy.
5. A FA Youth Cup tie would attract thousands in its heyday and gave U18 players a taste of big-match football but Tottenham tucked their third round tie against Middlesbrough away at the training ground on a day when the first team were playing. Spurs won but something tells me the competition is losing its appeal in some quarters.
