Is our 1st team squad too small?

Too small, no.

Short of more quality and experience, possibly.

At the end of the day, this squad won a treble last season and are well on course to win a double.

Appreciate we lost Gundogan and Mahrez and haven't replaced their quality and experience, but not sure it's enough to be concerned about given our current position.
 
It might not be too much of a problem if we're pushing for a couple of trophies but if we're going balls deep in the CL, the FA Cup and playing 38 PL games then it's bound to catch up with us.
Again, it might not be too bad with decent summer breaks but Euro 2020 was played in 2021, the following season started early had a break for the World Cup and finished late, and we have the Euros again this summer. Our players are mainly internationals so get dragged all over the world for different tournaments. Consequently they are all shagged out.
We need a bigger squad as they've been used past the point of exhaustion.
 
If we had the luxury to rest half the squad for games against the lower half of the League and the early rounds of competitions, it’d be just fine…as it had been throughout Pep’s career in Spain & Germany.

This is not that, as shown by needing a full strength team to beat a relegation candidate!

With a 16-17 player core, it only takes a few injuries in key locations at an inopportune time to really damage your chances in multiple competitions. Thankfully, we were able to cope with KDB & Haaland, but suffered during Rodri’s suspension, which may cost us the League this season.

Thankfully, Ortega has been a seamless replacement to Ederson during his self-inflicted injuries in that very specific position, and we usually have the ability to shuffle players who can play multiple positions, but DM is one of those where the step down from Rodri is significant.

I think another big, strong hold up striker with a head on his shoulders would be a very, very nice addition, as would an experienced DM who is happy getting 15-30% game time. Beyond that, a big, strong, athletic Bob to box midfielder who can chip in with double digits in both goals and assists…pretty please!
 
ChicagoBlue said:
If we had the luxury to rest half the squad for games against the lower half of the League and the early rounds of competitions, it’d be just fine…as it had been throughout Pep’s career in Spain & Germany.

This is not that, as shown by needing a full strength team to beat a relegation candidate!

With a 16-17 player core, it only takes a few injuries in key locations at an inopportune time to really damage your chances in multiple competitions. Thankfully, we were able to cope with KDB & Haaland, but suffered during Rodri’s suspension, which may cost us the League this season.

Thankfully, Ortega has been a seamless replacement to Ederson during his self-inflicted injuries in that very specific position, and we usually have the ability to shuffle players who can play multiple positions, but DM is one of those where the step down from Rodri is significant.

I think another big, strong hold up striker with a head on his shoulders would be a very, very nice addition, as would an experienced DM who is happy getting 15-30% game time. Beyond that, a big, strong, athletic Bob to box midfielder who can chip in with double digits in both goals and assists…pretty please!
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those wish list players don't sound like Pep players. Do big, strong hold up strikers actually exist nowadays? I cannot think of any off hand apart from Kane
 
jamesha said:
those wish list players don't sound like Pep players. Do big, strong hold up strikers actually exist nowadays? I cannot think of any off hand apart from Kane
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They’re all over the world. He doesn’t need to be an already world class talent, but if we are going to compete on 4 fronts every season, with the CL & CWC only getting bigger and more & more games at Intl tournaments, we are going to need options for the one “big lad” we have upfront and the one “little lad” that deputizes for him. Additionally, it would be nice to have some continuity in a transition if Haaland decides to seek warmer pastures at some point. I don’t even mind if it’s a homegrown talent, but we need to blood someone.
 
Squad size is just about right, neither small nor big. We cannot complain cover for Rodri after spending about 120 million on Nunes, Kovacic and Philips. No other team can afford that either.
 
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