Most elite managers want to work with a smaller squad these days but Erik ten Hag is unable to do that at Man Utd at the moment.
In the week that Manchester United named three goalkeepers on the bench in a Champions League game to fill up their quota of 10 substitutes, Manchester City picked two 'keepers but also left two spots vacant in their squad.
When Guardiola raised the ever-expanding schedule as a major issue a couple of weeks ago, he was asked if increasing the size of his squad was going to be necessary, particularly when the Club World Cup begins in 2025. The question hadn't finished being asked and he was already shaking his head. "No, no no," he interjected.
Guardiola is not alone in wanting a smaller squad to work with and although United have countless options to flesh out their own bench, it's not actually what Erik ten Hag wants. Injuries might be decimating Ten Hag's options at the moment, but as Guardiola pointed out, it isn't sustainable to plan for that. If the treatment room clears and Jadon Sancho was to return to the squad, United would probably have 30 players in their first-team training group. Even allowing for naming nine substitutes, that would mean 10 players who have been on the fringes, at the very least, this season would be out of a matchday squad.
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