2025/26 Squad

richards30 said:
Donnarumma
Stones
Khusanov
Gvardiol
Ait Nouri
Rodri
Reijnders
Foden
Cherki
Marmoush
Haaland

Our best team of everyone is fit?
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I'd switch Khusanov with Stones.
I think Khus has all the attributes to play at right back in the Walker role. He also looks better on the ball than Walker was.

That team above depends on Foden getting back to good consistent form and Cherki showing that he can do it in this league. Both are doubts until they're done for me. Getting injured every few weeks is frustrating and isn't what Foden needs at present. Is that 3 different injuries already this season since the start of the CWC, to go wtih all the injury problems that he had last season.
At the minute I'd go with Bobb in our best XI.
Hopefully Savinho has improved also and kicks on this year.
 
IrishBlueSince92 said:
I'd switch Khusanov with Stones.
I think Khus has all the attributes to play at right back in the Walker role. He also looks better on the ball than Walker was.

That team above depends on Foden getting back to good consistent form and Cherki showing that he can do it in this league. Both are doubts until they're done for me. Getting injured every few weeks is frustrating and isn't what Foden needs at present. Is that 3 different injuries already this season since the start of the CWC, to go wtih all the injury problems that he had last season.
At the minute I'd go with Bobb in our best XI.
Hopefully Savinho has improved also and kicks on this year.
Click to expand...
I’d go one further than that, I’d like to see 352 with Doku right midfield , Ait Nouri left midfield .

Donnarumma,
Kushanov, Dias, Josko
Doku, Rodri, Foden, Reijnders, Ait-Nouri
Haaland, Marmoush
 
I think this thread is worth a bump, there doesn't seem to be a place to chat about squad generalities.

Three big things are of interest to me at the moment, with our squad. In order:

  • The first 11 is becoming obvious, and anything but that appears weaker. This is a huge departure from anything we're used to under Pep which might see 3 or 4 rotations a game as standard. I am unsure what this implies about the squad at large.
  • The back line is more fragile than perhaps we realise.... Khusanov just isn't getting a look in for reasons slightly unknown, Ait-Nouri needs minutes but Colossus O'Reilly has LB locked down while Stones and Ake all of a sudden look a bit 'lethargic'.
  • An injury to Gonzalez, without a fit Rodri, would probably spell the end of any title challenge, realistic or not.

Players like Lewis & Bobb have dropped completely off the radar while Marmoush and Reijnders are struggling to have impact.

The above points might come across as negative, it's not meant to be, but it does appear our season is based on a core performing 11, as opposed to a squad approach of previous seasons
 
The Don, Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol and NOR are nailed on as the defence in a full strength team now.

Doku, Gonzales, Foden, Haaland and, almost certainly, Cherki and Bernardo now form the front 6. All the above have found form and done a good job in getting us to where we are currently. Pep's shown that he won't depart much from this for the foreseeable future

Injuries and lack of form/minutes has resulted in inconsistent or inadequate contributions from the rest of the squad as they've come in and gone out.

We've seen what Marmoush, Reinders and Savinho are capable of on their good days, but they've been fleeting to date. We've also seen the mistakes Nunes was prone to at right back, and it's hard to believe that they'll have disappeared completely. RAN? £50M spent and following his injuries and with the rise of NOR, he must be kicking himself - as must James Trafford, who could have been number 1 for the Geordies.

Khusanov is a bit of a mystery; popular with fans but evidently not so much with Pep.

Rodri changes the equation if he can regain fitness. Is he any more likely to get back up to scratch after nearly 15 months out than the likes of Stones, Kova and Ake.

Personally, I think we need a speedy right sided defender and a strong midfielder given that Rodri's future is looking so uncertain. The squad will rebalance again next summer when I suspect that Stones, Kova, Ake and Bernardo will leave and the loaned players will return for assessment. Bobb hasn't progressed yet; Savinho is iffy, so perhaps 1 or both of them will be moved on as well

It's cut throat at the top level - as James Trafford will testify - so who knows what Pep or Vianna might be planning for January. We'll see.
 
the blue panther said:
Personally, I think we need a speedy right sided defender and a strong midfielder given that Rodri's future is looking so uncertain. The squad will rebalance again next summer when I suspect that Stones, Kova, Ake and Bernardo will leave and the loaned players will return for assessment. Bobb hasn't progressed yet; Savinho is iffy, so perhaps 1 or both of them will be moved on as well

It's cut throat at the top level - as James Trafford will testify - so who knows what Pep or Vianna might be planning for January. We'll see.
Click to expand...

An Akanji style player would be ideal, centre half or full back, happy as squad. he was an amazing signing all round. We need another if Stones is in and out and Ake is looking a bit creaky.

If Rodri is still deemed unfit into January, Gonzalez will need help for certain. Whether that is another purchase, a younger player, re-purposing O'Reilly or Nunes or even the resurrection of Kalvin Phillips, i have no idea.
 
the blue panther said:
The Don, Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol and NOR are nailed on as the defence in a full strength team now.

Doku, Gonzales, Foden, Haaland and, almost certainly, Cherki and Bernardo now form the front 6. All the above have found form and done a good job in getting us to where we are currently. Pep's shown that he won't depart much from this for the foreseeable future

Injuries and lack of form/minutes has resulted in inconsistent or inadequate contributions from the rest of the squad as they've come in and gone out.

We've seen what Marmoush, Reinders and Savinho are capable of on their good days, but they've been fleeting to date. We've also seen the mistakes Nunes was prone to at right back, and it's hard to believe that they'll have disappeared completely. RAN? £50M spent and following his injuries and with the rise of NOR, he must be kicking himself - as must James Trafford, who could have been number 1 for the Geordies.

Khusanov is a bit of a mystery; popular with fans but evidently not so much with Pep.

Rodri changes the equation if he can regain fitness. Is he any more likely to get back up to scratch after nearly 15 months out than the likes of Stones, Kova and Ake.

Personally, I think we need a speedy right sided defender and a strong midfielder given that Rodri's future is looking so uncertain. The squad will rebalance again next summer when I suspect that Stones, Kova, Ake and Bernardo will leave and the loaned players will return for assessment. Bobb hasn't progressed yet; Savinho is iffy, so perhaps 1 or both of them will be moved on as well

It's cut throat at the top level - as James Trafford will testify - so who knows what Pep or Vianna might be planning for January. We'll see.
Click to expand...
I do find the discussion on James Trafford interesting.

I assume the original plan was to replace the similar aged otega with a younger deputy for eddy who was wanting to move within a year or so.
But with Donna becoming available and therefore eddy being allowed to leave earlier means aside from Ortega being retained(again I assume by the early injury to bettanelli as the new Carson) who will likely leave in Jan leaving our current 3 keepers completely different to last season feels like an international shift in tactics i.e. being less reliant on what made eddy so good.

Generalising (and ignoring bettanelli as I don't know anything about him) we have Donna who is focused on being the best shot stopper And JT who was club trained to be very comfortable with his feet with the goal of getting a middle ground between the two or switching between games based on opponents rather than cup lines.

Also I think a lot of people don't quite appreciate the balls JT has to take the number 1 shirt while eddy was still there. How many deputies has he had over the years while wearing the number 31. With them taking 13 or 18 as deputies.

Unless there's much more going on than we know I doubt anyone coming in (like Donna) would stop a young player as confident as him still trying to learn and claim the starting spot from them.
 
As there are various questions around about how many transfers can be included in the squad in the January window, I have updated the spreadsheet on page one to indicate who was included in the CL squad. It shows that we have 2 CL squad places available - but one has to be Home Grown and one has to be Club Trained.

Elsewhere I also indicated that because Adam Wharton is classified as an under-21 player for this season, he could come in without any impact on the squad, but I forgot that for CL purposes he needs to have been with the club for 2 years to be included on the B-List. Hence for the CL squad we have one place for either Wharton or Anderson (or another HG player) without having to move anyone out. In the PL we could include both.
 
cyan said:
As there are various questions around about how many transfers can be included in the squad in the January window, I have updated the spreadsheet on page one to indicate who was included in the CL squad. It shows that we have 2 CL squad places available - but one has to be Home Grown and one has to be Club Trained.
Click to expand...
After January Rico Lewis will not qualify for B list for CL as reached 21 in Nov. He will be in the club trained spot that is vacant, unless of course he moves in the Jan window.
 
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