Squad Depth/Injuries mounting up

[Cobwebcat]

small squad? i keep hearing we have the biggest squad in the league?

4th Smallest in Europe

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/vereins-statistik/wertvollstemannschaften/marktwertetop?plus=1

 

[RayCTID]

And what about when he was through on goal tonight and missed? You do understand what unreliable means? It doesn't mean they can't score, it's that they can't be entrusted with day in, day out and if we had both Sterling and Diaz starting, it'd be a struggle on the goal front more than we'd want. I'm actually backing Diaz for more game time here but he's not infallible

Even the seniors are prone in missing gilt edged chances. Give him a chance and a run of games and he will improve. We can't keep blocking any promising youngster's path with expensive stop gaps just because of injuries.

 

[Woody135]

Definitely see the desire for an extra attacker and it may come back to haunt us that we weren't able to sort out a deal, though it may not.
I wouldn't however ever call it a mistake as you still have to have a structure in times of struggle as well as when things are going well.
On priorities, I would rather us go down fighting on all 4 fronts than throw our chances in the fa cup for example. Nor do I see Pep making excuses now or possibly in the future (certainly nothing like pellegrini did against chelsea).
Team spirit and faith in the manager gets teams through difficult periods and the loss of key players.
We've seen an abundance of it this year and I'm sure they'll fight for everything.

 

[Dax777]

I trust Diaz

 

[Yates]

Give him a run of games and he will improve.

I 100% agree, needs the real game scenarios to learn from. He's got the natural ability, I liked his improvised dink tonight, a lot to like about the lad but patience is required

 

[BerkshireBlue]

if we can get Delph back it would help a hell of a lot as he can cover the LB DFM CM and also free up Zinchenko up for LW as well. There is just no news on how long he's out for

 

[I'm With Stupid]

I think some people have unrealistic expectations about how strong a squad any team can realistically have.

Ederson

Walker------Otamendi------Laporte------Zinchenko

Fernandinho
KDB------------------Gundogan
Bernardo-----------------------------------Sterling
Aguero​

That's the team we had out when we had 7 first team players injured. Obviously our bench didn't look particularly strong, but you no-one can expect to have that many injuries to key players and still put out a world class team with a game-changing bench. At least we could do the first bit.

Obviously, it would be nice to keep the momentum going, but let's be honest, if we had to risk a few league games to put out a stronger team in other competitions, then we've given ourselves a cushion to take that risk. Pep has shown that he's not afraid to play without a recognised striker in the past when he's needed to too.

 

[Fame Monster]

 

[TonyM]

This is where our season gets very interesting. Pep will hopefully play masterful shellgames to keep getting the results we want. (but I fear that the CL will be too much of a stretch now).

 

[Andouble]

This is where our season gets very interesting. Pep will hopefully play masterful shellgames to keep getting the results we want. (but I fear that the CL will be too much of a stretch now).

More injuries happen along the way surely but if we get past Basel then Jesus and Sané should both be back by the round of 8. CL like any other Cup, all about the draw.