The rule of five changes, a revolution that asks a lot of questions

Thomas Tuchel has changed an average of four players per game since the start of the season.

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• Temporary measure introduced when the European championships resumed last season after deconfinement, the rule of five changes could continue in the football of tomorrow.

• If the coaches do not all have the same way of analyzing this novelty, they agree that it is indeed a real revolution.

While Arsène Wenger scribbles in his corner crazy ideas to revolutionize the football of tomorrow, it has already experienced a noticeable evolution with the introduction in most European championships of five changes per match instead of three.

This rule, enacted in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic to deal with the accumulation of matches after the various 

, was also adopted by the LFP for the 2020-2021 season.

As with anything new, there are the pros and the antis.

But before looking at this battle of arguments, let us first note that all the coaches agree that this is not a trivial measure but a real revolution.

For Stéphane Jobard, the Dijon coach, it is “a new way of doing coaching” that is open to them.

For Rennes coach Julien Stéphan “it can be compared to a revolution because you have the possibility of changing half of your team, it's huge!

".

Christian Gourcuff goes in the same direction when he explains that “in terms of football, the construction of a victory, that totally changes the situation”.

Agreeing with his little comrades on the observation, Gourcuff seems on the other hand to have another appreciation of the rule.

"It's not my vision of football," he growls.

It must be said that the coach of the Canaries is apart.

When most of the Ligue 1 coaches that we have approached say they are generally enthusiastic about the idea, the Breton, him, pout.

Let's take each other's arguments and confront them one by one.

Replacements are more concerned

This is the number 1 argument, like Julien Stéphan: "It changes a lot of things for the players in the preparation of the week because they know that they will be more likely to be affected by the match and to be able to come into play. This gives the chance to players who are not new to be even more important ”.

“Previously, some players would not have left the bench or would not have been part of the group, explained for his part Olivier Dall'Oglio the coach of Stade Brestois.

Today, with the 20-name game sheet and the five changes, everyone is more concerned.

Not having a start is less of a disappointment for the players because they know they have a better chance of returning ”.

But is this necessarily a good thing?

This is the question asked by Régis Brouard, the former coach who became a consultant on TV.

"With that reflection, aren't we pulling the level down?" He asks himself.

The replacements will say to themselves that they have more luck than before returning during the match, which is not necessarily conducive to motivating them to surpass themselves in training… ”.

In other words, the carrot is smaller but easier to eat.

The coach weighs more on the match

By being able to bring in more players during the match, the coach now has the possibility of changing his system more quickly if he sees that he has typed next when building his starting XI.

This is what happened to Stéphane Moulin at the break of the match against Brest on the 5th day.

In

, he says: “At half-time, we had to shake the coconut tree.

There was a change of players, of system because it was necessary to shake things up.

We showed character and I'm happy with the newcomers.

On arrival, the Angevins who were led 2-1 at the break reversed the match to win 3-2 late in the game.

From there to say that it is thanks to this new rule ...

For Olivier Dall'Oglio, it can also be double or quits for the coach.

“It's an interesting new rule but it can be an advantage or a disadvantage, as was the case for us at Angers where my replacements were ineffective, he notes.

As for the tactics, it is not always easy and should be taken with a grain of salt.

These changes disrupt the organization of the team, and a balance must be found.

You also have to know your players well, to know which ones are very strong when entering ”.

More leeway on one side, but also more risks, the coaches will have to find the right balance in the coming weeks.

Large numbers still have an advantage

There is no debate on this.

Apart from Quique Setien perhaps, who found a way to say when he was still on the Barça bench that this new rule would disadvantage the top clubs used to making a difference at the end of the match by playing on physical fatigue and mental health of their opponents.

“When you have a squad like we have in Lille, these five changes are an advantage,” admits Christophe Galtier.

"The clubs with high budgets will inevitably benefit more than us," engages David Guion in

.

They have at least 20 top players who can change the game.

We will have a lot of players from the training center on the bench.

"

On paper, in fact, this observation leaves little room for doubt.

However, in practice, it is not yet that.

If PSG, Lille and Rennes are already there, OL and OM have failed to take advantage of this hypothetical advantage to get warm at the top of the standings.

No more show at the end of the match

This is the theory defended by Pascal Dupraz, the Caen coach.

"The spectators will be guaranteed a necessarily faster game since there will be fewer players who will play the 90 minutes", he announced at the start of the season in the

.

A speech that gives Christian Gourcuff desires for exile.

“It's like an amateur or a preparation match, there are so many changes that the second half is much less interesting.

There is no longer any readability because there are changes everywhere.

There is a loss of quality and that is necessarily felt in the game, ”plague the former Hake.

"This new rule distorts this sport"

In short, difficult to draw definitive lessons.

What we can say, however, is that the coaches did not take long to integrate this rule and to use it happily.

Indeed, apart from Gourcuff, Hognon (FC Metz) and Arpinon (Nîmes) all the coaches have on average made four or more changes per game.

The palm goes to Claude Puel, who since the start of the season has always burned his five cartridges during the game.

In Europe too, except in the Premier League, most of the major leagues have decided to extend the experience, proof that in the short term everyone seems to benefit from it.

It remains to be seen whether this revolution does not risk in the long term profoundly modifying the very nature of this sport.

This is exactly what Régis Brouard fears: “Maybe I'm from the old school, but for me this new rule distorts this sport and its non-rationality, I want to say.

I find that we remove a part of uncertainty and risks which are precisely all the charm of football ”.

Nantes

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