One of the defining aspects of Unai Emery’s first season in charge has been the impact he has made in-game with his substitutions.
Our head coach has gained 17 points from 32 changes made this season, better than any other Premier League manager or head coach.
So how proud is he of this record?
“Every player wants to play each match for 90 minutes, but as a manager I need to use the player in the best moment,” Emery said. “Maybe sometimes that is playing 90 minutes, maybe sometimes that is starting on the bench. But to convince the player that is very difficult.
“When I was speaking about two important strikers, Lacazette and Aubameyang, sometimes our performances are better with both, but sometimes our big performances are better with only one, and after they make an impact replacing another striker.
“This is because the idea and the system of the opposition gives us the idea to do something different. To convince the player that is the most difficult thing, but I am very proud of both because they are scoring a lot, they are playing a lot, and sometimes they are starting as both, and sometimes they are just starting as one. They are helping us with big performances.
“This is the first reason I take this decision with the players, and it’s the same reason we started playing with Cech, who gave us good performances before his injury, before we started playing Leno, who gave us good and important performances also.
“After we can use both in different competitions and I’m very proud of Petr Cech with how he’s keeping his performances in each match in the Europa League and helping us in the end of his career with big behaviour and big commitment. This is an example for other players and it’s a position where we can use two players for the same position.”