EFL Clubs want 5 subs instead

EFL clubs have voted to allow teams five substitutions per match, starting on Friday in the Sky Bet Championship game between Coventry and Birmingham.

The English top flight is the only major European league that decided against continuing with 5 subs this season, used towards the end of the last term after the coronavirus pandemic truncated the length of the 2019/20 campaign. Despite the strong support from half of premier league clubs, they have still opted not to reintroduce it.

Clubs were originally permitted to use five replacements, as opposed to the usual three, because of fitness concerns and a congested fixture schedule when football returned in mid-June following the coronavirus lockdown. However, this was abolished at the start of the 2020/2021 season.

England boss, Gareth Southgate, recently criticised the decision to revert to three substitutes in Premier League and EFL fixtures. “We were able to make five changes against Belgium - four in the end - and clubs don’t have that option.“What will it take that to change? There were a couple of less serious injuries against Belgium but what do we do? Wait until we get a load of really nasty ones?”

A big positive is that there will end up being a lot less injuries and more rotation as this year is due to the late start fixtures are more close together than ever with EFL clubs having between 5-7 games in a month. A negative is that the game might not be as tactical and it might not be as exciting with things such as fitness or fatigue being concerns anymore.

Could this become a long-term thing and maybe even a permanent change?