The Manchester City manager has the third-smallest squad in the Premier League
Pep Guardiola says he could re-think his preference of working with a small squad, with Manchester City stretched by injury at the business end of the season. Problems for John Stones, Kyle Walker, and Nathan Ake, plus Joao Cancelo’s suspension means the Blues could be down to just three fit defenders for the visit of Real Madrid on Tuesday.
And that has called into question Guardiola’s preferred policy of working with a relatively small squad – the Blues have the third-smallest squad in the Premier League in terms of senior players. The manager says he has no plans to change that, although they are expected to add a striker to the squad in the summer with plans to land Erling Haaland’s progression.
Guardiola made up his subs’ bench with academy youngsters in the two recent games against Liverpool, who were able to include eight senior outfield players on their bench plus an Irish international goalkeeper. But the City boss is still relaxed about working with a small, tight group, and dipping into the academy to make up the numbers.
He said he would “maybe” think about a change in approach, but added: “I don’t like it. I’m sad to leave four or five on the bench who don’t play much – I don’t want to be eight, nine, 10.
“That’s why the academy is important to provide extra depth, with the quality, they can help us be more stable. Sometimes we are lucky, we have new technologies, new machines, for the players to be better.
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