A small squad may become a thing of the past for Pep Guardiola | OneFootball

Heading into the 24/25 season it did appear that Manchester City had entered the campaign with a small squad. With an expanded schedule to deal with this season, it appears that the world champions had misread the situation surrounding the size of their squad. Based on City’s injury woes so far this campaign that’s how it has played out. Speaking yesterday before Sunday’s Manchester derby Pep Guardiola acknowledged that he may need to work with a bigger squad going forward. Based on his comments yesterday it does appear that Guardiola working with a small squad may become a thing of the past.

Speaking during his pre-game press conference ahead of tomorrow’s clash with Manchester United Pep Guardiola spoke of the challenges faced by his squad. The expanded FIFA Club World Cup looms at the end of the season. This season has also seen the UEFA Champions League expanded. All of these factors have seen the City manager change his tone about the size of City’s squad. He told the media yesterday: “It made me reflect maybe you need a squad of 25, 30 players. It’d be more difficult financially for the club, but today we’re going to play the Club World Cup in summer for three weeks, start again the Premier League, maybe we have to have more depth.”

Although Pep Guardiola prefers to work with a smaller squad the game has changed. It is highly unlikely that UEFA or FIFA are going to reduce the amount games played by the players anytime soon. There is too much revenue at stake. In the case of Manchester City and Guardiola, they will need to adapt to the new footballing landscape. To do that they will now need a bigger squad to cope with the new demands on the players. Perhaps that is the lesson that Guardiola and the Manchester City hierachy can take from a disappointing first half of the 24/25 season.

Based on Pep Guardiola’s comments it appears that they have learned their lesson. Now the January transfer window looms as the ideal opportunity for the world champions to add reinforcements to Pep Guardiola’s squad. Based on City’s injury crisis this season they have to. It may also be something we see them address next summer also.