Premier League increases subs
Eriksson has been granted his wish of having more substitutes in Premier League games
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Thursday, 07, Feb 2008 10:16
Premier League clubs will be allowed to name seven substitutes from next season, it has been announced.
Although managers will still only be able to make three changes during the course of the game, clubs will be allowed to have two extra players on the bench next year.
The move sees the Premier League adopt the same system as the Champions League, which has always allowed seven substitutes to be named by clubs.
One Premier League manager who will no doubt be pleased with the announcement is Sven-Goran Eriksson. The Manchester City boss was calling for the number of substitutes to be raised earlier in the season.
"When you have, say, 23 players, who are working hard, it is bad when you have to omit them on match days," said Eriksson back in November.
"Everyone wants to be on the pitch but it would help if we could change the rules on substitutes. If we could have seven players on the bench, it would be much better," he added.
There was a concern that any move to increase the number of substitutes would favour the bigger clubs who have larger squads to call upon.
However, it seems that the majority of the clubs are happy with the decision, as 14 out of 20 Premier League clubs must vote in favour of a rule change in order for it to be passed.