How the introduction of the five changes after the covid-19 pandemic changed the most loved game in the world.
They’re almost gone five years since the start of the pandemicthe largest sliding door collective of our lives, at least if we were born from the nineties onwards. In those days – the reader is free to choose the derogatory adjective he prefers – I too, like everyone, had many serious things to think about. I remember well the noia of Sundays without football, without Serie A and the nostalgia for the atmosphere at the stadium: the grease of the salami sandwich, the cold beers that freeze the hands, the speaker announcing the lineups, the smoke bombs, the flags. Everything was still, and there was no way we could forget about it.
Today we are back in the stands, no more distancing or masks; when Inter won the second star’s scudetto, I was able to celebrate without anyone moralizing to me. Nevertheless, Today’s football isn’t exactly how we left it.
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There was a before and an after. Two episodes that I will never forget. One is the Champions League match between Atalanta and Valencia on 19 February 2020infamously known as the “zero event” of diffusion of covid-19 in Lombardy. La Dea was experiencing a historic season and the enthusiasm of the Bergamo fans for the round of 16 was uncontainable. The stadium in Bergamo did not meet UEFA standards, so over 40,000 Nerazzurri moved en masse to San Siro, in a demonstration of joy and belonging unprecedented in recent Italian football. Atalanta won 4-1, cementing the already visceral bond between the team and its fans.
Within a few weeks, Bergamo became one of the epicenters of the epidemic in Italy, and some experts linked the acceleration in the spread of covid-19 to that match. In a way, it was the first moment in which the pandemic touched the world of football.
Then it arrived March 8, 2020, the day of Juventus-Inter behind closed doors: for the first time, the Derby d’Italia was played without an audience, in surreal silence. No roars, choirs, choreography. Only the noise of the ball, the calls of the players and the instructions shouted by the coaches, which echoed in an empty stadium, emptied of its soul. It was a bitter taste of football that would accompany us for months: football without support. It ended 2-0 for the Bianconeri, but the result mattered little in the face of the heaviness of that silence. “It’s no time for us,” the deserted curve seemed to say. The following day, March 9, the Serie A championship was officially suspended.
After months of uncertainty, the matches resumed on 20 June 2020, behind closed doors and with strict safety protocols, to conclude on 2 August. We were starting to return to normality, but the stadiums were still empty: there was talk of a “sterilized football,” devoid of that live support that gives the matches rhythm and soul. The clubs focused on digital: exclusive content, live social media and interactive activities, in an attempt to bring a bit of “stadium” into the homes of fans. Watching the games on TV, you could hear the conversations between the players and the coaches’ shouts: the only aspect Really fun about football in the times of the pandemic. It wasn’t much, but it was something.
Football was finally back, with lots of games to follow. The clogged calendar post-lockdown forced a fast paceso he injuries and the tiredness visibly increased on the pitch. To make the situation more sustainable, the five substitution rule. Before the pandemic, with only three changes available, each change had to be carefully planned and often reserved for last-minute emergencies. With five changes, however, the coaches could make the men catch their breath more frequently, change formation and keep the game more fluid and dynamic throughout the entire 90 minutes. In fact, a real revolution, perhaps a little underestimated.
The coaches of the richer teams and with a deeper roster see the two additional substitutions as an opportunity to make turnover and manage energy during the most intense periods of the year, especially with international competitions in addition to championships. Among the enthusiasts of this novelty, it is no coincidence that they stand out Guardiola, Klopp, Nagelsmann, Mourinho and Conte. Those who have many high-level players at their disposal, including among the reserves, can make better use of the bench and quickly resolve tactical problems, insert fresh players, and spare those with poorer physical fitness. Furthermore, the possibility of making multiple substitutions in one slot allows the coach, if he deems it necessary, to upset the setup by introducing three or four players at key moments of the match.
One of the most visible consequences of this change, for example, is thehigh frequency of substitution of booked playersfetish strategy of Simone Inzaghi. Thanks to the five substitutions available, coaches often decide that the risk of a second yellow card, perhaps in a key role, is not worth taking and it is absolutely worth sacrificing one slot so as not to risk losing control. This flexibility has contributed to reduce expulsions for double yellows (46 per season on average, in the four-year period 2016-2020; 35.5 in the following four-year period), maintaining a more balanced and controlled game on the pitch.
The pace and intensity of the matches have also improved: with more substitutions, coaches can maintain more freshness in the second half of the match, introducing rested attackers, experienced defenders or young players with fewer minutes in their legs. Consequentially, matches have become more physical and often more spectacularwith more unpredictable endings and teams still capable of pressing on the accelerator in the final minutes.
It must be said, however, that this rule has also accentuated the gap between the top clubs and the minor teams. Richer clubs, with long benches and high-level reserves, can maintain a high pace for the entire ninety minutes, rotating players without compromising the quality on the pitch. For smaller clubs, however, making full use of the 5 changes is more complicated, and the challenge of competing at the same level becomes even tougher. Today, football is a spectacle, and everyone wants it to be exciting. But intervening on something beautiful without risking ruining it is always difficult. Let’s say that the effect is a bit like that of the construction site of the Trevi Fountain: for the moment, a question of trust.
