Squad Depth

[UHDrive]

BR has said a few times during his tenure that he prefers a smaller squad. I'm perplexed by this both because of the sqauds overall talent and rumours of our transfer spending money.

 

Firstly if BR prefers a smaller sqaud then the fringe players of the first team needs to have enough talent in all positions to be able to deal with injurys and close that gap to the top 6.

 

Secondly if the rumours are true that our net spend will be around £30 million then we will not be able to enhance our sqauds talent and we will also have multiple injurys to which those fringe first team players won't be able to do what they should do - carry the team.

 

Thoughts on a postcard.....

[Leicester_Loyal]

He'll have no choice for the coming season, we'll need a bigger squad or we'll be down to the bare bones (again) if we pick up 3 or 4 injuries.

[DerbyshireFox]

22 outfield players and three keepers is perfectly reasonable and adequate. It’s not the numbers for me, it’s the quality within that. We had the numbers, just not the quality in depth which let us down in the end

[davieG]

Rumours of spend value are as reliable as the rumours for players. How, why would anyone outside the club know how much we are planning to spend. I'm sure they have a budget and a contingency in mind but I'm also sure that if a 'jewel' suddenly became available outside the planned budget it would get some serious consideration.

[Leicester_Loyal]

12 minutes ago, DerbyshireFox said:

22 outfield players and three keepers is perfectly reasonable and adequate. It’s not the numbers for me, it’s the quality within that. We had the numbers, just not the quality in depth which let us down in the end

To be fair every team always registers 25 players don't they? As far as I'm aware anyway. Like you say though, if that 25 is made up of players like Hirst and Iversen, then we're gonna have problems. We just need to ship 3 or 4 out and replace them with a better 3 or 4.

[DerbyshireFox]

8 minutes ago, Leicester_Loyal said:

To be fair every team always registers 25 players don't they? As far as I'm aware anyway. Like you say though, if that 25 is made up of players like Hirst and Iversen, then we're gonna have problems. We just need to ship 3 or 4 out and replace them with a better 3 or 4.

Precisely 👍. They are allowed to register 25 but that can be supplemented with young players. Hirst and (possibly) Iversen wouldn’t count in the 25 the season just gone. We had the numbers, but in those numbers are Bennett, Gray, Fuchs, Morgan, Albrighton etc. Compared to the other clubs pushing for top six, if our aim is to push for it regularly then that pool has to be improved in terms of quality if we want to be able to sustain regular pushes for the top 6 👍

[Mickyblueeyes]

39 minutes ago, UHDrive said:

BR has said a few times during his tenure that he prefers a smaller squad. I'm perplexed by this both because of the sqauds overall talent and rumours of our transfer spending money.

 

Firstly if BR prefers a smaller sqaud then the fringe players of the first team needs to have enough talent in all positions to be able to deal with injurys and close that gap to the top 6.

 

Secondly if the rumours are true that our net spend will be around £30 million then we will not be able to enhance our sqauds talent and we will also have multiple injurys to which those fringe first team players won't be able to do what they should do - carry the team.

 

Thoughts on a postcard.....

Its being stuck between a rock and a hard place. We had cover this season post lockdown but in some areas, that cover was well below the standard required i.e. Bennett. Our first team is good so any replacements to allow us to continue a good run or not be adversely affected by injuries/suspension will mean that the replacement player would have to be of equal or similar standard. 

 

That simply means the players who act as cover would be on similar wages and would expect more than a handful of games a season. To do this, you would probably have to keep squad numbers down to afford the quality. In turn, you risk having less options when a injury crisis hits. 

[jeffschlupp]

Here's what I think the squad will almost certainly look like by October 5.

 

A starting XI of:

Schmeichel

Ricardo Evans Söyüncü (Chilwell/LB)

Ndidi

Tielemans Maddison

(RW) Vardy Barnes

 

With a 'second string' of:

Ward

Justin Morgan (CB) Fuchs

Mendy

Praet (AM)

Pérez (ST) Albrighton

 

Plus Jakupovic, Choudhury as a spare midfielder, and then whichever of Gray or Iheanacho they would rather keep. That makes 25.

 

All of that group can be registered in the PL squad, but 1-2 would have to miss out for the Europa League, most likely Jakupovic and then Mendy if Chilwell leaves.

 

Four signings (five if Chilwell goes), with James, Amartey, Bennett, Gray/Iheanacho leaving from last season's squad.

 

You would imagine Thomas stays to start the season at LB and then gets an EFL loan should Fuchs be fit by October as expected.

[coolhandfox]

47 minutes ago, UHDrive said:

BR has said a few times during his tenure that he prefers a smaller squad. I'm perplexed by this both because of the sqauds overall talent and rumours of our transfer spending money.

 

Firstly if BR prefers a smaller sqaud then the fringe players of the first team needs to have enough talent in all positions to be able to deal with injurys and close that gap to the top 6.

 

Secondly if the rumours are true that our net spend will be around £30 million then we will not be able to enhance our sqauds talent and we will also have multiple injurys to which those fringe first team players won't be able to do what they should do - carry the team.

 

Thoughts on a postcard.....

It not the size of squad that the issue its the quality........

 

We have plenty of numbers it the quality of the replacements that's the issue.

 

Ask yourself the question, large squad of average players or a small squad of quality players? Which would you prefer?

[UHDrive]

Its not what I'd prefer its what BR has said on a few occasions that he prefers a small sqaud and on that basis we seriously lack 4/5 players of quality so how do we get them?

[davieG]

Just now, UHDrive said:

Its not what I'd prefer its what BR has said on a few occasions that he prefers a small sqaud and on that basis we seriously lack 4/5 players of quality so how do we get them?

Define small in Rodgers' speak?

[coolhandfox]

Just now, UHDrive said:

Its not what I'd prefer its what BR has said on a few occasions that he prefers a small sqaud and on that basis we seriously lack 4/5 players of quality so how do we get them?

What the statement of wanting a small squad got to do with recruiting 4-5 players?

[UHDrive]

Just now, coolhandfox said:

What the statement of wanting a small squad got to do with recruiting 4-5 players?

Simple really. The smaller the squad the better quality needed, especially for injurys I.e. LCFC since winter. It was the lack of talent in that 25 sqaud that did us no favours I.e. chillwell, ricardo, maddison etc plus tielemans losing his form and the CB's and also the attempt to change formations without the quality. 

[Raw Dykes]

4 minutes ago, UHDrive said:

Its not what I'd prefer its what BR has said on a few occasions that he prefers a small sqaud and on that basis we seriously lack 4/5 players of quality so how do we get them?

To be fair to Rodgers, the size of the squad would have been about right if we hadn't had so many players missing from injury and suspension.

 

I'm sure he knows that the squad will have to have more depth now we have Europe to contend with. A small squad that has to deal with an extra competition, in his mind, might well be bigger than one that doesn't. His definition of a small squad might be different depending on the workload.

 

As for how we afford 4-5 players with a £30m net spend, it might rely on selling Chilwell. If we get around £70m for him, that's a budget of £100m. If one incoming player is a loan or a free, then we'd have an average of around £25m for each of 4 more players, or an average of £33m for each of 3 more players. We might be able to boost that a bit by shifting some dead wood, as well.

[coolhandfox]

1 hour ago, UHDrive said:

Simple really. The smaller the squad the better quality needed, especially for injurys I.e. LCFC since winter. It was the lack of talent in that 25 sqaud that did us no favours I.e. chillwell, ricardo, maddison etc plus tielemans losing his form and the CB's and also the attempt to change formations without the quality. 

A smaller squad allows you to have a better quality squad. 

Edited 6 August 2020 by coolhandfox

[Foxes96]

1 hour ago, jeffschlupp said:

Here's what I think the squad will almost certainly look like by October 5.

 

A starting XI of:

Schmeichel

Ricardo Evans Söyüncü (Chilwell/LB)

Ndidi

Tielemans Maddison

(RW) Vardy Barnes

 

With a 'second string' of:

Ward

Justin Morgan (CB) Fuchs

Mendy

Praet (AM)

Pérez (ST) Albrighton

 

Plus Jakupovic, Choudhury as a spare midfielder, and then whichever of Gray or Iheanacho they would rather keep. That makes 25.

 

All of that group can be registered in the PL squad, but 1-2 would have to miss out for the Europa League, most likely Jakupovic and then Mendy if Chilwell leaves.

 

Four signings (five if Chilwell goes), with James, Amartey, Bennett, Gray/Iheanacho leaving from last season's squad.

 

You would imagine Thomas stays to start the season at LB and then gets an EFL loan should Fuchs be fit by October as expected.

Pretty much this, links to the priorities thread as well. RW the main priority for me as it improves our starting 11 followed by a CB so Morgan isn’t 3rd choice. As long as we get those 2 I’ll be happy and a ST or CAM would be a bonus. 

[Guest An Sionnach]

Are we still expecting Vardy to play 90 minutes of every match , this to me is no longer viable . We absolutely need an experienced , proven alternative . I don't mean a deputy. It will cost pretty big money and the club must back Rodgers on this.

[FoxinNotts]

2 hours ago, jeffschlupp said:

Here's what I think the squad will almost certainly look like by October 5.

 

A starting XI of:

Schmeichel

Ricardo Evans Söyüncü (Chilwell/LB)

Ndidi

Tielemans Maddison

(RW) Vardy Barnes

 

With a 'second string' of:

Ward

Justin Morgan (CB) Fuchs

Mendy

Praet (AM)

Pérez (ST) Albrighton

 

Plus Jakupovic, Choudhury as a spare midfielder, and then whichever of Gray or Iheanacho they would rather keep. That makes 25.

 

All of that group can be registered in the PL squad, but 1-2 would have to miss out for the Europa League, most likely Jakupovic and then Mendy if Chilwell leaves.

 

Four signings (five if Chilwell goes), with James, Amartey, Bennett, Gray/Iheanacho leaving from last season's squad.

 

You would imagine Thomas stays to start the season at LB and then gets an EFL loan should Fuchs be fit by October as expected.

The only issue with this is we would be starting the first (3) prem games without Ricardo, Evans and most likely Chilwell, so we are already set for a bad start defensively, with Justin, Söyüncü, ANother and ANother as a back four. Far from ideal. We all know from this season, and those past, that a good start is essential. 

Edited 6 August 2020 by FoxinNotts

[mozartfox]

Without any new quality coming we are looking like a slightly up-market Burnley.

 

The major problem is the amount of dead wood that is sucking wages out of the coffers.  If we can chop out ‘some’ at least, at any price, this will help.  But our bench offers very little game changing options.  We need our scouting and recruitment team to pull 2 or 3 rabbits out of the hat, but reading some of the media stuff, the reality is we may end up pulling out Turkeys ( no offense Cags😶). 

[jeffschlupp]

20 minutes ago, FoxinNotts said:

The only issue with this is we would be starting the first (3) prem games without Ricardo, Evans and most likely Chilwell, so we are already set for a bad start defensively, with Justin, Söyüncü, ANother and ANother as a back four. Far from ideal. We all know from this season, and those past, that a good start is essential. 

I agree that this is a big concern, which is why I would think the club will be eager to get in a CB in the next 10 days so he can have at least a fortnight's training and possibly a few games in a backline with Soyuncu, Justin and Thomas. Ideally it would be someone under the age of 27 but not too young, speaks good English, fairly composed player for those reasons. If Evans hadn't got himself sent off I think they might have gone for someone younger there.

[dayday]

2 hours ago, coolhandfox said:

It not the size of squad that the issue its the quality........

 

We have plenty of numbers it the quality of the replacements that's the issue.

 

Ask yourself the question, large squad of average players or a small squad of quality players? Which would you prefer?

I would like a squad of quality and players in reserve who can make a impact.

 

The reason I say this is because we like to play with a high press, the second half of last season we looked tired,  if we’d  had a decent squad we could of rotated more, taking the pressure of the main players and keeping them more fresh.

[themightyfin]

48 minutes ago, An Sionnach said:

Are we still expecting Vardy to play 90 minutes of every match , this to me is no longer viable . We absolutely need an experienced , proven alternative . I don't mean a deputy. It will cost pretty big money and the club must back Rodgers on this.

Why wouldn't he? He's just won the golden boot. Explain why its not a viable option @An Sionnach

[Guest An Sionnach]

47 minutes ago, themightyfin said:

Why wouldn't he? He's just won the golden boot. Explain why its not a viable option @An Sionnach

Simple : burnout , he showed signs of that after Christmas . Aguero is used in a careful manner by Man. City these days and is still the most effective striker in the premier league. If we do the same with Vardy he could still be scoring goals in his late thirties.

[themightyfin]

32 minutes ago, An Sionnach said:

Simple : burnout , he showed signs of that after Christmas . Aguero is used in a careful manner by Man. City these days and is still the most effective striker in the premier league. If we do the same with Vardy he could still be scoring goals in his late thirties.

No signs of burn out for me. In fact Vardy has proved in the past the more he plays the sharper he gets.

He's already being managed in training so I dont see why he needs to be used sparingly.

[Guest An Sionnach]

22 minutes ago, themightyfin said:

No signs of burn out for me. In fact Vardy has proved in the past the more he plays the sharper he gets.

He's already being managed in training so I dont see why he needs to be used sparingly.

I would expect him to play some part in most matches , its playing the full 90 that concerns me.