Is our squad stronger or weaker than last year?

What do you think?

  • Total voters
    736
Cricket Blue said:
For me definitely weaker.
We've lost some excellent players, we've signed arguably the world best forward but he may take time to adapt.
We've not yet signed a left back and the squad is very thin.
I think we're in for a transition season.
Click to expand...
Sounds like something posted last summer when we didn’t get kane.
 
I think we’ll start the season with a weaker squad than last year, but will finish with a stronger one.

We’ve lost a lot of experience but the new players will bed in. The January transfer window could be more interesting than usual, with players possibly more receptive to a move after the World Cup is out of the way.
 
Not signing a left back specialist before letting Zin go was a mistake. I know we have Cancelo and Ake who can play there but we should really have had someone finalised first.

We’ve sold players with proven PL and CL experience.

The new players will need time to gel and Grealish needs to step up this season.

Having said that we still have an amazing squad and will be the team to beat in both of those competitions.
 
My opinion is that we should be measuring the squad not against last season but the one before. With the previous campaign having ended ridiculously late owing to Covid, it was a very demanding fixture list in 2020/21, and we were clearly superior to our rivals in terms of quality in depth, which allowed us to win the league fairly comfortably in that campaign.

In 2021/22, we'd lost Garcia, Mendy and Aguero before August was out, and while one can argue that the former didn't need replacing, we did have to go through the campaign without a specialist left-back and a striker. We also released Torres, who was injured in the first international break and was sold as soon as the transfer window opened without having played again.

So last season, we certainly had less depth than previously, even if Mendy had been of dubious quality and Aguero had played little owing to injury. Indeed, for the first time Liverpool arguably surpassed us in this department. I assumed that, in strengthening up front (as we did weeks ago) and presumably adding a left-back, we'd rectify this to a large degree. However, it seems not.

We've swapped one reserve 'keeper for another, seen Jesus and Sterling leave as Alvarez and Haaland arrive, while Phillips comes in for Fernandinho. A new left-back will simply take Zinchenko's squad place. Yes, we have Cole Palmer making his way now but he has less than 500 minutes of experience in the CL and PL, while the other youth hope who was touted as possibly earning minutes this season, James McAtee, has been loaned out.

This coming season will be incredibly compressed and squad depth is more essential than ever. The mid-season World Cup will be a severe disruption for players and two-thirds of our squad (the lads playing for England, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Holland and Brazil) could easily reach the quarter finals and beyond. IMO, even if we do land a decent LB, the current level of squad depth could easily cost us.

I'm not moaning about this. Pep likes to work with a small squad and if he's happy to go with this set-up, then I fully back him. From numbers 1 to about 17 or 18, we have a superb group of players and I hope that will be enough to cope with the inevitable injuries and fatigue that will affect us in the coming season. but I do wish we had just a touch more depth.
 
Weaker for a year while the new lads bed in and then we'll be stronger for at least 2 more years with the ginger prince in his prime.
 
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