The value of hindsight...
Erm,
This is my point, isn't it?
Pep shouldn't be a victim of hindsight.
He has (as mentioned above) a team of industry elites behind him who should be
telling reminding him that his CB squad depth is compromised. He should have listened and planned accordingly.
CB squad members for 24/25 at the beginning of the season were: (open to correction).
Dias,
Stones,
Ake
Akanji.
EDS additions include:
Pusey
Alleyne
Braithwaite.
Ake and stones are only ever 1 player between them. They are not reliable team members. It's not rocket science to see that you were at risk of both being out at the same time, leaving Akanji and Dias who are both nearly 30 left to do the heavy lifting on a potentially 70+ game season.
The EDS lads are pointless. Training cones. Pep just won't use them.
Our academy is so poor that Pep prefers to constantly reach for half fit or injured players rather than the EDS.
The two new additions (Khus and Rheis) have been forced on him and he's slow to use them as well.
This isn't controversial.
Pep has explicitly said that he fucked up with squad management in the summer. I'm just repeating his own criticism.
Unless you think having 2+ 2x0.5 players you are actually willing to field for two positions for a season of 70 games plus in elite football against the UK/European/worlds best players and teams across 6(?) competitions stretching for 10 months is somehow reasonable?
With a team of superfit supermen, our squad would be far too small for the position the club is in regarding national and international competition demands.
But we don't have supermen. We have Dad's army.
It's insane.
I'm happy to be proven wrong btw. Gaslighting in a rebuttal is not necessary.....