Jurgen Klopp's big wish has come true as Liverpool reap rewards of controversial change

Jurgen Klopp finally got his wish at the start of last season.

After campaigning for change regarding increasing the number of substitutions permitted per match from three to five, the Liverpool boss' pleas for greater flexibility were heard after the Premier League approved this rule change ahead of the 2022/23 season.

First introduced on a temporary basis during the 2019/20 season, clubs were afforded this luxury at the time of Project Restart in response to the coronavirus pandemic. But Premier League clubs voted against keeping the arrangement in place on a full-time basis.

There were calls for five subs to become a permanent fixture during 2021/22 as the spread of Coronavirus caused all kinds of problems for teams, leaving them with limited numbers of players and fixture postponements due to failing to field a full squad.

'If they truly knew this' - National media react to Liverpool win as Jurgen Klopp 'secret is out'

Jurgen Klopp fumes as Dominik Szoboszlai Liverpool secret is outed

Klopp was one of the leading figures making a case for a change in approach, though had doubts over whether or not the notion would gain enough votes among top-flight clubs to be approved.

"We have to put the competition on our side and don’t say City has better subs than Southampton or that we have better subs than Burnley," he said in December 2021. "Yes, that’s probably true, but they’re still Premier League teams and can cause us problems. The problem is that this intensity for a top-class footballer in England is definitely at the edge.