Brendan Rodgers does like to have a group of not more than 20 players to chose from but at the moment he is in a risk of destroying talent and send players out to dry with concerns regarding Patson Daka, Kelechi Iheanacho and Jannik Vestergaard probably just being players on the fringe, that cannot last much longer.
Either you start a massive rotation system or you start to ship out players that you cannot find a place to, signing players for the future will never work as they are all getting to their best level by playing week in and week out, sitting out games will never be good and it will just stop your progress.
To see a number of players shipped out over the summer was no surprise as their game time in the first team at Leicester would have been very limited. Dennis Praet, Kamal Sowah and Rachid Ghezzal all departed and have found new clubs in Torino, Brugge and Besiktas.
We also did see Wes Morgan and Christian Fuchs moving, but to see new faces not really signed to go straight into the first team could be money thrown out of the window as Brendan Rodgers needs to use a different formula going forward, trying to sort out how he will progress.
Embed from Getty ImagesYou need to have players available who are capable of playing two games a week during the season and not really being much bothered about them getting tired. If you look at Man City and Chelsea especially they do manage to keep this flouting without having a grand group of players to rotate.
You will see the key players in there two games a week as they are getting the rest needed to be fresh midweek and weekends during a season, that must also be what Brendan Rodgers will be looking at and not rest players in games and believe that he can water out and still get results.
Embed from Getty ImagesA big problem for Brendan Rodgers is the situation regarding Jonny Evans, probably his most important player at the moment struggling heavy with injuries and his age is working against him, so BR need to decide on what he will do, you cannot sit around and wait anymore as Jannik Vestergaard also will be seeking answers and of course at this moment nice to have alternatives, but long term, players will need to play and get the game time they deserve, a decission must be made about Evans very soon.
In the midfield area Sammy Braybrooke is looking as a player that could be introduced to first team action this season. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall cannot just be played in the EFL Cup, with Hamza Choudhury and Papy Mendy probably looking for an early exit in January.
The loan signing of Ademola Lookman looks exciting but what will then happen to Marc Albrighton and Ayoze Perez. Both players will be under great treath from Lookman and could be seeing the bench more often, and again time will be against especially Marc Albrighton.
Brendan Rodgers needs to consider the following, first of all, what is my strongest 11, what is the best system suited and who are my 18 best players. When that is done, you should also be able to keep a carrot for those in the academy set up so they know working hard can see them as first team alternatives and also get a feeling of being involved and close to an oppertunity. If you ignore that key in your work as manager you will never get your hands on the best recruits and they will go to other clubs.
Embed from Getty ImagesWe certainly would like to see BR reducing the squad of first team alternatives down to 18 players, send the rest out on loan or going for complete sales as academy graduates must be seen as possible alternatives if injury strikes. To believe that you need three players to cover each position in a first team will not be the ideal plan going forward.
TCF belive the following should be the squad,
Goalkeepers: Schmeichel, Ward
Defenders: Castagne, Justin, Fofana, Pereira, Souyuncu, Thomas
Midfield: Tielemans, Ndidi, Soumare, Braybrooke,
Forwards: Daka, Iheanacho, Perez, Vardy, Barnes, Lookman
TCF believe that picking a starting eleven from these 18 players will be the only correct thing to do and as we have seen at Man City they do put younger players on the field and use their academy graduates frequently for cover if a first team player is out of play.
Sadly, at this moment, Leicester do have too many players either equal in quality or just being left as fringe alternatives, this will not be working well over time as a rotation of them will just see a weaker eleven week in and week out.
Of course harsh to make such drastic cuts in a player squad. But if you as a manager cannot secure first team action for most of your players and know that you cannot rotate too much to get results, you are stuck and will get into a very difficult dilemma going forward, then you need to gamble to get as high as possible in the table and have 18 players you believe in and if crises occur then giving one or two youngsters a chance on the bench, that would not be a problem.
Embed from Getty ImagesPlayers such as Vestergaard, Amartey, Benkovic, Dewsbury-Hall, Choudhury, Mendy, Albrighton, Jakupovic, Bertrand, Evans and Maddison will not accept to be sitting out most games over more than a season and you cannot hold them back as they will seek other options and to try to sign covers for fringe players is a bit of a bingo, so this is the way forward, building a stronger and more smaller squad unit.
Schmeichel and Ward are goalkeeper alternatives, if one of them gets injured surely U.23 alternatives Young or Stolarczyk will be more than capable of sitting on the bench. In the back four with Fofana and Justin still out, Castagne can cover in the center and play alongside Soyuncu. Pereira and Thomas will be the the full back alternatives. Soumare, Tielemans and Ndidi will be a great midfield, Braybrooke and Perez can go in and do a job if needed. Up front you need a bit of alternatives and with this set up Daka and Iheanacho both wold be more considered to play as you can alternate a bit with other players.
At the moment BR will just see his team getting weaker and weaker watering out the game time available for each player in this massive squad.
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