So use Elanga for his pace in behind and bring Sabitzer on.
If you absolutely MUST bring Fred on, bring him on as a presser, higher up the pitch, away from our goal. Having a player in CM who constantly turns over possession is a huge problem when defending a lead
The other problem is he has this obsession with Weghorst. When Weghorst comes on, that gives teams license to push 10/15 yards up the pitch and press us higher because he is so slow.
Plus, lest we forget...it is actually allowed to change tactics in a game. If we're tired, instead of bringing on the same old substandard crap, why not sit in deeper and try to counter?
Do you seriously think Elanga makes a difference? I can refer you to his last substitute appearance when he did both Elanga and guess what, ten Hag got slated.
Weghorst I'll give you and it makes better sense in my opinion to get Sabitzer on there. But Spurs were winning a lot of near post headers from corners, so I can see some but of logic with getting Weghorst on. But still, I'd rather see Sabitzer in that instance. Also worth remembering, the only reason we have Weghorst is ten Hag had his hands tied to loans only in Jan.
And going deep and countering would be interesting. Personally this season, as long as we get top 4 and we have a trophy and the chance for another, I don't mind seeing ten Hag sticking to his principles. I've maintained all season, beyond the first XI, not only does the quality drop off, but the technical ability and fragile mentalities really drop off as well.
If we're doing the same in 6 months, I'd start to worry. But right now, I think we're in a good place with ten Hag with some clear improvements to make.