How many players do we need?

[Bruce Wayne]

Looking at the player stats for this year, we've by and large, used just 19 players this season (classed as playing >5 times), and that includes Alcaraz and Robles, who have just scraped past that figure (and doesn't therefore include Felli, Kone, Gibson, Hibbert, Heitinga, Gueye or Traore).

With European football likely next year, how much bigger does the squad need to be do you think?

 

[Leeboy]

The 2 you mentioned are not good enough..and IMO neither is Kone from what i saw of him at Wigan.

So we are 3 down before we even start for me.

 

[FTY]

Mentioned this here yesterday:

http://www.grandoldteam.com/forum/threads/summer-transfers.65744/page-131#post-2701990

Don't normally do FM style posts but I will.
Say we've got 30 mil, excluding loanees and including players out on loan that will in all likelihood be in the squad next season, we have 23 players, Martinez wants 28.

In:
Barry, Free
Lukaku, 17.5 mil
Deulofeu, loan
Traore, loan
Kovacic, 8 mil
Bruno Martins-Indi, 5 mil

Leaving us with...

GK: Howard, Robles

RB: Coleman, Hibbert, Stones*

CB: Jagielka, Stones, Distin, Alcaraz, Duffy/Browning, BMI

LB: Baines, Oviedo, Garbutt, BMI*

CM: McCarthy, Osman, Gibson, Lundstram, Kovacic, Barry, Barkley*

Wingers: Pienaar, Mirallas, McGeady, Deulofeu

AM: Barkley, Naismith, Osman*, Kovacic*, Pienaar*, Mirallas*

CF: Kone, Traore, Lukaku, Naismith*, Mirallas*

*Can play there but it's not there favoured position

28 players there all capable of playing at this level, and I reckon with tht squad we could defo compete on all 4 fronts.

That leaves us with 2 teams if Martinez wants them, 1 for cups and 1 for the league, and there's players left over in the case of injuries, and lots of room for rotation.

 

[Brennan]

I'd rather we go in for quality rather than quantity transfer wise. Promote from within the youth ranks as much as possible.

 

[Brennan]

We don't need 28 players either imo. Man City have competed strongly in four different competitions this season and have only used 23 players.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

It's an interesting one. We've seen Martinez attempt to rotate some positions a lot this year, and others not at all. The attacking midfield three for instance have been mixed and matched pretty much every game. The two holding midfielders and Lukaku however haven't at all.

It would be interesting to see whether he'd rotate all positions to the extent he has with the midfielders if he had the personnel available to do so, or whether he just thinks those three positions need more freshness to them.

 

[Daveysgingerlovechild]

Steve Sidwell, Brede Hangeland, Kenwynne Jones, Gary Medel, and Steven Reid from West Brom. Quality additions right there

 

[neil999]

what are we basing this on? are we assuming everyone will stay? loans?
assuming squad was the same (including loans) i think we need 2 central midfielders,a young right back(someone like oviedo) and maybe another striker

 

[MartSlinger]

- Get the long term injured players back; Gibson, Oviedo & Kone.
- Use the loan system again; Deulofeu, Traore and another 2.
- Sign 3/4 players of good quality on a perm; Lukaku, Barry, Tadic and Martins-Indi

The squad is good enough and big enough to compete in four competitions.

 

[Daveysgingerlovechild]

Joking aside, I think Bobby would have experimented more up front, but he lacked (what he perceived) to be sufficient quality to play the lone front man role aside Lukaku. He clearly didn't fancy Jelavic and it was just rotten luck with Traore and Kone's injuries.

 

[Dymak]

We need 2 maybe 3 quality players.

We don't need to go overboard, wasting good money on average and crap players.

 

[Duncan Disordely]

A right back as cover
1 central midfielder (2 if Barry doesn't sign)
1 winger (2 if Deulofeu doesn't join again)
2 strikers

 

[Azzurri]

11 if we give them what the cyclists are on.

 

[Pabbers]

Twelvety

 

[Pienaar's gloves]

I think it might have to be a time to go for quantity over quality, but I won't moan either way to be honest.

Roberto will take the Europa League seriously and I think he is a big proponent of the FA Cup. He won't want to be putting out weakened teams for league games and you can be dead by Christmas if you're playing Europa, league and have a run in the League Cup as well without a lot of rotation.

He will have a plan in my opinion and it is a little part of the Spanish football mentality to rotate, but I think he will probably have an idea who will come in and this will culminate in how we go about pre-season, so as to prepare the squad for rest and rotation or a massive David Moyes-style season long slog.