Solskjaer and Bielsa encourage change with bold switches

Adrian Clarke looks at key tactical points that could prove influential in 2021/22.

Decisive action

Strong and decisive half-time decision-making reaped positive rewards for many managers and head coaches last season.

Waiting until around the hour-mark to affect matches with a substitution is the most common policy among top-flight Head Coaches.

But the data tells us that those who were bold enough to make frequent changes at half-time tended to enjoy stronger second-half displays over the course of 2020/21.

Most half-time substitutions

Over the previous two seasons 6.6 per cent of all substitutions came at the break.

However that average rose to 7.2 per cent last term thanks to the purposeful actions of Marcelo Bielsa, who led the way by some distance.

Leeds United and Manchester United made 30 half-time changes between them and ranked joint-top in improving from 45 minutes onwards.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer memorably turned a couple of matches in Man Utd's favour after making double substitutions at the break.

Edinson Cavani came off the bench to inspire a fightback from 2-0 down and earn a 3-2 win at Southampton.

Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes’ introduction at the break against West Ham United was also the springboard for an outstanding 3-1 turnaround.

West Ham 1-3 Man Utd highlights

With a greater willingness to shake things up after 45 minutes, six of the eight teams who made the most changes at the halfway stage enjoyed an upturn in their half-on-half points return.

Leicester City, Man Utd and Leeds, also scored the most goals in the final 20 minutes of matches.

Most goals scored in last 20 mins

Despite fighting for trophies on all fronts and having one of the deepest squads in Europe to draw from, Manchester City Head Coach Pep Guardiola made the fewest number of substitutions.

Choosing to use only two of his three permitted changes per 90 minutes on average, the Spaniard adopted a policy of making minimal changes during the course of matches.

It was an interesting experiment, creating less disruption from a tactical standpoint, especially in a season that featured a congested fixture schedule.

It was an unexpected strategy that worked well for Guardiola as he steered his team to the title.

Fewest use of substitutions 2020/21

It was a huge downturn by Guardiola who had used 120 of a permitted 134 subs during the COVID-19 affected 2019/20 season, in which five changes per match were allowed after Project Restart.

Only three other Premier League bosses used more substitutes than Guardiola in that campaign.

Indeed, four of the top six were among a small group that dipped under the 100-mark for subs, highlighting the success of a surprise trend for fewer in-match switches.

Interestingly, one of Guardiola’s proteges, former City Assistant Coach Mikel Arteta, took the opposite view at Arsenal.

Arteta stood alone in the division and deployed all 114 available substitutes.

Changing formations

There was less inclination to persist with a regular shape among top-flight teams in 2020/21.

Southampton’s Ralph Hasenhuttl was the only Head Coach to stick with the same system for all 38 matches.

In fact 12 of the 16 Managers who took charge of every match used their primary formation in less than 75 per cent of their fixtures.

And six of those - Carlo Ancelotti, Graham Potter, Nuno Espirito Santo, Brendan Rodgers, Steve Bruce and Scott Parker - used their first-choice shape in fewer than half of the matches.

Formations used 2020/21

One clear pattern shift saw 3-4-3 and 3-5-2 morph into two variant formations.

There was a sharp rise in the popularity of 3-4-2-1, a shape favoured by Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea.

It is a system which offers slightly more protection down the centre of the pitch out of possession and suits teams with a wealth of central attacking midfield talents and strong wing backs.

The 3-4-1-2 shape was also implemented on a more frequent basis.

Wolverhampton Wanderers and Brighton & Hove Albion tried out this strategy more than anyone else, and this made sense because both sides lacked goals and a natural focal point in attack.

At Molineux, without the injured Raul Jimenez, it made sense for Nuno to use two mobile forwards to split wide when necessary, supplemented by an attacking midfield goal threat playing just behind.

Both of these fashionable formations rely on interchangeable movement inside the opposition half. It is something more and more coaches are encouraging from their players.

Most and least popular

Across 2020/21 the most popular shape was once again a 4-2-3-1 with a 26.6 per cent share share, but narrow box-like midfields did fall out of favour.

The 4-4-2 diamond and 4-2-2-2 almost became extinct in the top-flight last term, being used three and two times respectively.