Divock Origi, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and six other great 'super subs' in English football

Michael Graham
26 April 2022

Super Subs - Origi - Defoe- Solskjaer - Giroud

As Divock Origi showed again for Liverpool against Everton, there are few things more feared in football than the 'super sub'.

When Divock Origi was stood on the touchline waiting to join the Merseyside derby this week, there probably wasn't an Everton fan in the world who wouldn't have been feeling a deep, dark sense of foreboding.

That is the psychological power of the fabled 'super sub', that rarest of footballing breeds who possess the knack of impacting a game from the bench.

Naturally, Origi did impact the game. He helped create the first and scored the second in a 2-0 win, and absolutely no one was surprised.

Planet Sport takes a look at some of the most super of super subs.

Ole Gunnar Solskjear

For many, probably those of a certain age now, you say the words 'super sub' and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is the name that immediately springs to mind.

Solskjaer was always the man Sir Alex Ferguson trusted when he needed something from his Manchester United side, and it was never justified more than his injury-time winner in the 1999 Champions League final against Bayern Munich.

When he retired, Solskjaer had scored a record 28 goals from the bench for Man Utd and held the Premier League record of 17.

Jermain Defoe

That Premier League record was broken, and is still held by, the recently retired Jermain Defoe.

Defoe was one of those strikers who was too good for an average Premier League club but didn't have enough dimension to his game to lead the line for a top one. That cast him in a role of a super sub far more often than he liked.

More than a third of his 20 goals for England also came as a substitute, as well as those record 24 Premier League goals from the bench.

Peter Crouch

Sometimes it's not all about the goals a substitute scores, but his impact on the game as well. Peter Crouch made 158 appearances as a substitute during his career, with only James Milner making more in Premier League history.

For all football has gotten prettier over the years, it still hasn't eradicated the desperate late calls to 'throw the big man on'.

At 6ft 7in, Crouch was one of the biggest around, and one of the most trusted substitutes the game has ever seen.

David Fairclough

David Fairclough was probably the first ever 'super sub', although it's a term the man himself says he absolutely hates.

In the 1970s clubs were only allowed to name - and use - one substitute. That tended to be a midfield or defensive player to utilise in an emergency. It was rare that substitutes were used to try to win a game.

Fairclough was one who broke the mould, though. He scored 18 goals in 62 substitute appearances for Liverpool, including an incredible European Cup quarter-final winner against Saint-Etienne.

Olivier Giroud

Being Olivier Giroud has always been a bit of a thankless task. The Frenchman has always produced but has rarely received the recognition for it that he deserved.

That has led him to him having a reputation as being the one thing no footballer ever really wants to be - 'a great squad player'.

There is basis for that, of course, with him scoring 20 goals from the bench during his Premier League career for Arsenal and Chelsea. That is a total that only Defoe can top, but he scored a lot more as a starter and that shouldn't be forgotten.

Javier Hernandez

Sir Alex Ferguson relied on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's goalscoring impact from the bench so much that when the Norwegian retired he looked for a like-for-like replacement.

That search took him to Mexico for Javier Hernandez and the results were just as impressive.

By the time the Mexican had left Old Trafford, he had scored more goals as a substitute than Solskjaer -19 - although not necessarily the big ones his predecessor did.

Ronny Rosenthal

Ronny Rosenthal is probably more famous for missing an open goal at Villa Park than anything else, but he was also a very effective substitute.

That was the role he had most often for Liverpool and then reprised at Tottenham.

His peak super-sub moment came in an FA Cup fifth round replay for Spurs at Southampton. Introduced at half-time, the Israeli scored a hat-trick in a 6-2 win.

Divock Origi

Divock Origi is one of those players who you don't really see often, but when you do you are almost expecting him to score.

He will be the first to admit he has not played enough football at Liverpool, and that is why he has ultimately decided to leave the club this summer, but he has certainly left his mark.

His goal against Everton was his 12th goal as a substitute (11 in the Premier League), which makes up 30% of his total.

If that wasn't impressive enough, he also has a habit of scoring big goals at big moments, so he is certainly someone who will be missed by the Reds.