Is our 1st team squad too small?

RegMuffin said:
Squad size isn't the issue. It's depth of quality that's the concern. Clearly some players just aren't trusted to step in (Nunes, Gomez) and others are a downgrade on the player they replaced.

We've quietly overhauled our squad over the last year without the implosion that would happen at other clubs.
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Because Pep makes the sum of all parts much better
 
Crooked_rain said:
We do. It's so difficult though. Firstly Rodri is so good that even someone half as good is still a quality player that's probably a starter at a good team, so you really need a seriously good player to be happy to start on the bench for almost every game.

Or ideally we get a cover for Rodri that's also capable of playing a bit more advanced too. Then they'd probably get more game time than just a straight cover for Rodri. That'd be more appealing I reckon.

Of course, playing for City is very appealing, but if you're coming in knowing you're just a back up for Rodri then you know you're barely playing. Not so easy to attract the kind of quality required for back up rodri when their opportunities are so limited
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The only way I really see around the Rodri puzzle, is Kimmich if he’s even available. Maybe let Walker go, play Kimmich as an inverted right back ,when he plays as a 6 then Akanji or Lewis plays right back.
Other than that think we need Txiki and Pep to pull a rabbit from the hat.
 
Axel Freed said:
Rico's gotta go, he's had his chance but i just haven't noticed any growth in the lad
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Got to get rid of the likes of Bernardo Silva, Julian Alvarez, Phil Foden and Jeremy Doku too. Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish and Rodri are ok.
 
We can get by with a smaller squad for a few reasons.

I feel like we get fewer injuries than most teams, seem to have 3 or 4 out maximum, usually less.

I don't know if that's a style of play thing, or the quality of our training and backroom/medical operation.

The quality of player we have is ridiculously high, which means that they have the versatility to fill in various position.

And maybe the biggest factor is our coach. He has the ability to adapt to who is available. The level of coaching is so high that we can fit players into unusual roles and they can perform because they know exactly what is needed and the quality of the players around them makes it easier.
 
The only thing I'd like to see is a bit more versatility in the fullback positions. Currently, our only option on the left is to play centre backs in those positions, and even on the right, Walker is way past his days of bombing down the wing (and his delivery is largely shit anyway). Gvardiol and Ake are good, but I can't help but think what it'd be like to have someone in the vein of Cancelo occasionally, delivering balls for Haaland. There were times in the past when bringing Zinchenko on would change a game not because he's so amazing, but just because he gave a different option overlapping and offering a genuine attacking threat. It's hard to argue with a treble-winning formula, but it's nice to have options. At the moment, it's just Gomez, who isn't really good enough.

But I think one of the reasons we have such a great squad is precisely because it's so small. Just from a budgeting point of view, if you only have 17 senior players, then you can pay them more on average, meaning they'll likely be better quality. There's a reason (other than bias) that everyone thinks we've got a big squad, and it's because we've got a first 11 and substitutes bench of players that would all be stars for any other team in the league.
 
...but..but...but ... we've got the biggest squad in the PL....we can put out a first and second 11 and still win.....but mard Arsewipe from Scotland told Simple Simon .. so it must be true....
 
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