Morning all.
Interesting comments from Pep Guardiola this morning as Sky Sports quote him as saying he’d quit Man City if his squad is too big.
”As a manager, I cannot train 24 players and every time I select I have to have four, five, six, stay in Manchester at home because they cannot play. This is not going to happen. I said to the club I don’t want that.”
Premier League clubs can name a 25 man squad. Under 21 players don’t contribute towards that number so next season, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri won’t take up a squad place, nor will Max Dowman should he be in Mikel Arteta’s plans.
According to Sky Sports, City currently have 28 players listed on their official site, five of whom arrived in January. They have four more players out on loan. Chelsea have a massive 31 senior players listed with a further 21 players out on loan. Wolves have a large squad too, with 30 listed and just behind them is Totts and Brighton with 29. Aston Villa, Liverpool, Everton and Nottingham Forest have 25 whilst Arsenal have 24, although on checking, just 22 are listed on the official website with a further 6 out on loan.
I totally understand what Guardiola means when he talks about numbers and if English football was only about English competitions then a smaller squad is likely to work but when one adds in European fixtures and international fixtures, then larger squads are a necessity in my opinion. But, it’s not just about numbers, it’s about quality.
We started the season not only with a small squad but with players like Zinchenko, Sterling, Tierney, Kiwior and Neto, all of whom Mikel Arteta has been reluctant to play, or at least that’s how it seems. Tomiyasu has been injured for most f the season so our squad was more like 16 than 22. Add in the injuries which have been constant since day one of the season and it’s staggering really to think we’re likely to finish second, let alone make it to a Champions League semi-final.
I don’t understand why Guardiola would moan and grown about having too many players, especially as those who arrived in January probably helped his side finish in the top four. I bet Mikel Arteta would love to have the kind of numbers and quality City have.
Another thing Guardiola said was that he’d rather use academy players should injuries be a problem which I can’t believe he means. Not wholeheartedly anyway because if he truly believed that, why make so many signings back in January? No one will convince me he didn’t agree with the decision.
When it comes to the number of injuries we’ve suffered this season, we top the table with a reported 27. City have had 18 according to PhysioRoom. I’m not sure Timber and Saliba are included in that number.
Anyway, it’ll be interesting to see if Guardiola quits after the summer transfer window closes because I doubt very much that he’ll have a small squad for next season. Hopefully, Arsenal won’t either..
Catch up in the comments.
Morning Rico and all,
Sounds to me like that Pep is doing his best to stop the media from talking about any court hearing against the club.
If you can afford maximum numbers then why not, it gives you more players to rotate and replace any injured players with out rushing them back too soon.
Morning Geoff, I think he just likes the sound of his own voice..
Good afternoon Rico and all.
Maybe Guardiola won’t need such a big squad next season, that is if the various authorities have the balls to punish City for their “alleged” transgressions with demotion to the Championship. I guess if that happens he would p**s off anyway.
Having the numbers is one thing but keeping them happy is another.
Man City have the money to buy top quality in every position several times over but if you leave the wrong person out regularly then they can hurt the squads moral quickly.
The problem with a large squad is, as Guardiola says, you have to leave four or five players out of the match day squad. That does nothing for the confidence of those players left out.
Afternoon Rico, I pretty much steer clear of most Sky/TNT narrative, if anyone has the chance online or has a VPN then try and get the NBC/Peacock feed on match days, no agendas, just honest analysis from Robbie Earle and Robbie Mustoe.
You can trace most of the anti-Arsenal narrative in the media back to Sky, they hate us and love it when we fall short. They can’t stand Arteta as he has made us competitive and they would love to see him driven out, ostensibly by Arsenal fans influenced by them.
Nice post Rico, Guardiola is not in a happy place atm, after only his second trophy less season in England, maybe he’s losing his touch a la Wenger?
He’s certainly going to be losing a lot of his greatest ever City squad this summer, players who are technically excellent but also have a strong mentality, replacing that strength of character is going to be more problematic for him.
Having too many players is only a problem if they all stay fit and that ain’t happening. Man City are bringing through a few of their own academy boys but with the exception of Foden I’ve not seen anyone up to the level of their best players.
I read a lot of nonsense about other clubs, bringing through young players and that Arsenal don’t bring any through, but from what I’ve seen this season, I’ve not seen any player come through another club from its academy, anywhere close to the level of Lewis Skelly and nobody has come through and scored as many goals as Nwaneri.
Afternoon Cicero, good point.
Doesn’t Pep rotate a lot though Hobart? I just don’t see how small squads are an advantage, not with the number of games clubs play, especially those in Europe..
Afternoon Kev, thanks.
Apparently, this is what Pep does before he leaves a club. Moans. I hope this is the beginning of the end for him. City too for that matter.
I signed up for Peacock Kev, but despite using a VPN, I couldn’t access it.
Hmm, that’s a bummer Rico.
Do you watch the games on Peacock Kev?
Hello again Rico, nice piece again, thanks for your work.
We don’t have a big enough squad, and what we have is so imbalanced.
Joan Garcia at Espanyol has an incredible ceiling, last summer he may have been happy to be understudy to David Raya, a year on he’s an undisputed Number 1.
Raya has been a good signing, but we have no proper back up.
Defensively we are solid, but that depends a lot on Saliba and Gabriel being available, without them we can look extremely vulnerable and easily exposed, again there’s not enough quality cover.
When we lost Odegaard and Saka to injuries the drop off was drastic.
Raheem Sterling has had a shocker, but what is it about Arsenal over many decades that they feel compelled to give Chelsea fortunes for their dross? It seems like every year we have to spend millions on the latest reject, when will the penny drop?(Granted Hudson was at Stoke, but he went there from Chelsea).
We have a functional metronome midfield that doesn’t transition the ball fast enough and lacks any basic creativity.
We’ve not had a proper striker since Aubameyang left, which is a massive gamble and a mis-judgement on our part. How can we go from watching Wrighty, Dennis and Thierry Henry to this in such a relatively short time, it doesn’t make a lot of sense.
It doesn’t surprise me that Liverpool have won the title, Klopp left him a quality squad of players with a good balance and a lethal attack, what is disappointing is how little he had to do to win it at a canter.
We have a long history of coming up short when the heat is on and it has burnt many previous Arsenal managers, including the great Arsene Wenger, and has since added Mikel Arteta.
No other clubs celebrates glorious failure with as much regularity as Arsenal, and I don’t have a lot of confidence that Arteta can break this long-running pattern that has come to define Arsenal’s identity.
Hi Alan, I think we’re good in defence, White and Timber can play right central and Kiwior has more than proved he’s a very good defender. Plus we have Maldini coming through.
I see little point now in chewing over the season that might have been and what “should” have been done last summer etc. What’s more important now imo is this summers transfers and being ready for the new challenge.
Quite right Rico, the subject has been done to death, time to start looking forward.
Huge challenge, Rico.
If you don’t subscribe to the Arsenal ‘curse’, or lacking ruthlessness on the big occasion, I give you Cardiff, Swindon, Ipswich, West Ham (2nd Division), Luton and Birmingham.
Liverpool have Wimbledon, United’s shocker is Southampton, Spuds is Coventry, but it only happened once, for Arsenal it’s a recurring habit.
The past is a good indicator of the future, Rico, and structurally the inner vulnerability that allows these shocks to happen has never been addressed, so I prepare for disappointment.
Arteta needs to learn to rotate and not run players into the ground.
I don’t think there’s another big club in world football who would consider appointing Arteta and think that he could lead them to glory.
Hello again, Cicero.
It’s been done to death because the managerial position at Arsenal is always a hot topic, especially when they’re going into a 22nd year without a title.
Since Bill Shankly brought Liverpool up in 1962, they have never finished below 8th. Yes they went 30 years between titles, but they were still winning cups, including 2 CL. They don’t allow the same comfort or complacency, they will not tolerate a manager who goes years without a trophy or is not challenging for the title.
The difference in mentality between the two clubs is night and day.
But yes, Cicero, as a very Conservative risk averse club who have to make the owners a healthy profit, we’ll settle for glorious failure because at least we are part of some meaningless noise that passes for conversation.
Let’s never adopt Liverpool’s bravery and actually go for it, let’s stay in the safe lane and keep managers for years without ever applying the pressure to deliver silverware. Why change habits even if they haven’t worked over the long term.