No doubt we have a stronger squad than we had last season. Plenty of cover all over the pitch, bar CM, which hasn't always been the case.
As we all know Money's always been tight and carrying a small squad but having a decent first 11 is generally how we've got round it.
If the papers are to be believed Fellaini will leave before the end of the window and we'll get a couple of players in with that money.
It's highly unlikely we'll get a better player than him. IMO looking at the first 11 without him in it I'd say we'd have a worse side that the one we had last season.
So my question is this. Will we gain more points through having a better squad, but a worse first 11?
I'll give my opinion now. We're going to get less points weakening the first 11 but strengthening the squad.
There's more factors at play here though - you have to consider the progress or decline in every other player too. Take Barkley for instance - he's at an age where he is likely to improve in leaps and bounds over the next 18 months and really blossom into an elite player. Stones also shows signs of becoming a big deal, as does Oviedo, and Coleman is on the verge of greatness from what we've seen over the last year. Mirallas just needs consistency, which will come with prem experience.
On the other hand, Osman and Pienaar are on the decline due to age; Distin simply CANNOT last much longer (and I say that as someone who's Everton shirt has Distin printed on the back), there are serious questions about all of our strikers, Gibson and Hibbert are only good for about 25 games a season and the likes of Naismith are not top-six material.
What can solve the problem of quality in depth? Money, and ONLY money. Be it invested in a youth setup that starts churning out at a quality and pace DeBeers would be proud of, or invested WISELY in the transfer market.
I would disagree with the OP about cover in the squad - we need another body at RB to replace Hibbert, another DM to cover / replace Gibson, another CM to replace Osman, another RM to cover Mirallas and another LB or LM depending on where we see Oviedo playing most of his minutes. Some of these can wait another season, but ALL need addressing within 18 - 24 months.
In addition to bolstering cover, we need to look at upgrading areas where there is currently good numbers but poor quality - Striker and, contentiously speaking, CB. Alcaraz is an unknown, Stones looks good based on no more than three or four games, Distin may hang up his boots in the near future and Heitinga has been looking to leave for some time.
Yes, selling Felli will weaken us in the short term, and we will lose a few points. However, if selling him means we can upgrade three players in positions very thin on cover, it is what must be done. Spurs for instance are doing EXACTLY the right thing in selling Bale - the cash he will bring in outweighs his individual contribution to the team. This is actually also a sound argument for shifting Baines too, even though I don't want to see him go.
Improving the strength and depth of the squad in the medium to long term is more important than the results gaine dby maintaining a strong first XI in the short term. But you can't just sell every good player, you have to sell the ones that attract bids far in excess of their individual value to our squad - that's how you generate extra funds without gutting the squad.
