5 months ago
64
Making the right changes can be the difference in football, and Massimiliano Allegri seems to know this better than anyone.
As MilanPress report, football today is often heavily geared around the five substitutions permitted. The rule introduced during the pandemic has changed the way matches are managed, because it allows managers to change almost half of their starting XI.
Allegri’s trends
Some agree with the rule change, others disagree. Among the greatest exponents of limited substitutions is Pep Guardiola, while Allegri on the other hand has often been at the forefront of stressing the importance of having five substitutions.
More specifically, against Bologna, Allegri improved his game plan in the second half. He drew heavily from the bench, partly forced by muscular problems among his team, partly to change the formation with new players.
Pietro Terracciano replaced Mike Maignan, which wasn’t planned but he also wasn’t called upon. Koni De Winter meanwhile was the other ‘forced’ alteration as he replaced the injured Strahinja Pavlovic at the break, and he adapted to playing as a left centre-back well.
Above all, it was the introductions of Samuele Ricci, Christian Pulisic and Christopher Nkunku that truly made a difference. Bringing on players with fresh legs and technical quality not only allowed Milan to control things (with a 1-0 lead at that point), but also start to dominate.
What is interesting to note, though, is that in the first two league games against Cremonese and Lecce, Allegri only made three substitutions. It is possibly due to having some physical problems, and also waiting for final reinforcements from the window.
Milan’s squad is numerically limited and some selection issues in attack have not helped, but the report states that the tendency will likely remain to use all five substitutions frequently, also because Allegri is certainly not a coach afraid to use young players. His aim: ‘get everyone involved’.
English (US) ·