Whats an appropriate first team squad size iyo?

I am Man City and competing in all domestic competitions plus the Champions League, what i usually try and do is build up a squad so i have two competent players for each of the eleven positions plus maybe three or four senior reserve players in case of emergency. However i recently find that having players just hanging around the squad not playing is affecting my overall team moral. Am going to try and trim down my squad so that all players will be getting games and maybe send out a few of the reserves on loan with a recall option in case of an injury crisis.

Just interested in what the general feeling is, on the pros and cons of having a big verses a small squad. Cheers

well youre right that having 2 players for each position is good but it does give less playing time for decent players. what i am doing with ac milan is have a few versatile defenders who can cover for the regular 4, same deal for the midfielders, and i double up (or more sometimes) on strikers because if they arent in form i dont want them messing things up for me and i only play 1 keeper in league and a different 1 in cups

18, 22,

or 18 & youths

I usually have 2 keepers, 6 versatile defenders and midfielders and 4 strikers. All of these players have to be good 1st team players and will play in CL or League. I will then have up to 5 or 6 youngsters who play in Cup and CL Group Stages to get experience.

Well...if I' playing alone, I can mess about a bit. But if I'm playing a big team, online against another human player, which means I have to be at my best I'd go for:

22 main players (2 for each position)

1 versatile defender

2 versatile midfielder

So that's 25, which will most likely be my 25 man UCL squad as well.

For each position 2, so 22. Maybe a additional midfielder, but the rest I make up whit loan signing for big clubs and with my own youth players.

Am playing in Eufacup, domestic cup and domestic premier league and with this I can handle all games with out anyone getting unhappy.

I like having 18 first teamers and 2-4 prospects.

I try to keep to around 18-20 in the 1st team. 2 Keepers, 4 1st choice defenders and 2 versatile backups. I have 8 midfielders as I play 5 in midfield usually. I also have 4 strikers. I am fortunate enough to have a strong reserve side due to scouting some absolute bargain youngers.

Thats usually enough for me!

25. I always have around about 25 players who could play for the first team, at least 3 to 4 of those will be kids.

For Spurs:

23

3 GOA

8 DEF

8 MID

4 STR

22 players

2 for each LB,RB,GK,DM,AMC,AML,AMR.4 strikers and centre backs

Usually 18-20 for me. I like to have versatile players who can cover two or more positions on my bench and for backup.

I'd have 6/7 defenders.

6 Midfielders including wingers.

3 or 4 strikers.

2 goalkeepers.

1/2 youths.

I have about 22 firs teamers and then about 4 young prospects .

17 is the ideal number for me. Three players for every two positions - like three central defenders, three central midfielders, three full-backs and three strikes, so they can be rotated and all get games, of course two goalkeepers. That way you can pretty much have a bench with players that can cover any injury that may occur during a game.

The weakness is of course that you will need to find some versatile players, like a DR/L, which is not that common, but find a good one andit works well - at least it does for me :-)

to me its where you dont have to scroll down to look at your team.

to me its where you dont have to scroll down to look at your team.

WHS.

I have a strong reserve squad so every time a first teamer gets injured I call up a reserve player. In the lower leagues that's not possible so I just make sure I have cover for every position.

to me its where you dont have to scroll down to look at your team.

Perfect answer in my opinion

I try and buy players whom are as versatile as possible. I like players overlapping with each other and capable of filling various positions. It's the best way to keep your squad to a reasonable size and have it competitive.

A match squad is 18 players but you may anticipate a couple of players to be injured at a time. So for me i'd look at a minimum of 20 players. If you have a decent reserves you shouldn't be left short and if you have a fair number of versatile players there'll be enough cover for each position.

In my first team I generally try to only have my first XI and 7 substitutes.

However, I always ensure that I have 2 players who can step into any position in my reserve or youth team who I would be happy to play if needed.

I agree with RichardAv .... hate scrolling.

Well, let's see. I've never thought about it. It's July in my game right now...I've got 2 GK, 10 defenders (6 of which play more than one defending location), 3 central midfielders that can play wing (one of the other defenders can also play midfield), 5 players capable of playing MR (all but one of which play elsewhere, too)........aww, heck with it.

My squad is so diverse and multi-roled I can't hope to list out how many people play each position. But my July roster has 27 players on it, and about four-to-six of them will be in Reserves on opening day. A couple of them are gonna need new contracts, too, because they ain't "First Team" anymore...

I play three CM, two AMC and one striker so my squad is a bit different no wide players for a start.

2 GK

3 CB

3/4 FB

2 DM/CM

3 CM

3 AM

2 ST

Plus about four reserve team player who I can call up for easy games/emergency subs.

i have a 2 players for each position and i like 2 have 5 designated subs. By this i mean a keeper, a defender who can play anywhere across the back, 2 midfielders who can play anywhere in midfield and a striker who can also play on at least 1 wing

I have about 26 players usually.

i have 18 and if i haven't got cover i'm afraid it's that snotty nosed 17 year old that's been dying for a game

For me its 22 players so 2 for each position and 3 youngsters who are always available for the reserves to keep them match fit. Like to make sure I have cover for the full squad and as other people always swap keepers for cup games (except the CL). Any more than that and to hard to keep them all fit and happy.

Squad of 25 for me.

1 GK (plus 1 on loan,saves on money and can still get some good 1s in)

2 LB

2 RB

3 CB (with possibly 1 on loan that's versatile or a good youngster thats comes through the academy)

2 LM

2 RM

3 CM (possibly with a loan or good youth player who's versatile)

4 ST (or 3 with a good young loan striker)

20: 3 goalkeepers, 7 defenders, 7 midfielders, 3 strikers

I usually loan out one of the keepers and I like to have lots of players who can play multiple positions, like D/MR and AML/ST, etc.

Cheers for all the replies, food for thought!

I always keep a minimum of 22 - Two teams. Once im comfortable that my "2nd" team is pretty much good enough to win the league i then pretty much turn my attention completely to signing players with potential who will ultimately replace the first teamers when i choose to sell them on.

I think it depends on your formation a lot as well.

If you play with 1 striker, the 2 players for each position isn't ideal in my opinion. You want to have options for a position like striker, so 3 is usually best i find. One who can offer something very different and one maybe who can be cover or play in a partnership. If you have 2 strikers, you'll want cover for either position (in some form) so if there's an injury you have a reliable option on the bench.

If you play with 3 central midfielders, you can comfortably get by with 5 central midfielders altogether. But if you play with 2, you wouldn't want to just have 3, you'd need 4.

So it depends in my opinion a lot on formation as to what cover and squad depth you have.

Also have an idea of alternate formations you will want to use aside from your main one. It's all very well having cover for your first team but you should have options as well. If you play 4-3-2-1 Christmas Tree, very narrow, you may at some point want to play with width so having players in the squad who can cover (A)MR/L positions even though you don't play with them is wise. As an example. Have the variation in your squad to be able to flip from one formation to the other - the ultimate ideal being that you could do that in-game with the same eleven players, change from 4-4-2 to 4-5-1, to 4-3-3 to 3-4-3. If you get to that situation, well done i say. It's quite difficult though. It's hard enough finding players good enough sometimes, with the right attributes, let alone finding players with a lot of versatility. Still, that's what i try and strive for. If you're Man City mind it should be an awful lot easier.

I got by with 28 last season, apparently...

3 goalkeepers (a 35-year-old Akinfeev, a regen, and a backup backup goalkeeper - my youngster was left to develop)

3 left-backs (!)

4 centre-backs (!)

3 right-backs (!)

2 left-wingers

2 right-wingers

1 two-footed winger

4 defensive midfielders

2 attacking midfielders

4 strikers

Yeah, too many. I suspect that I could have done with 1 less full-back on both the left and right, 1 less winger and 1 less defensive midfielder. Maybe even 1 less attacking midfielder since two of my wingers can also double up as strikers. Half my full-backs can be deployed at centre-back or defensive midfield, too...

2 for each position is overkill - but getting every position able to be filled in by 2 players is a good idea, as well as 1 backup for your "spine" (central players).

So that would be something like:

3 GK

1 D R

1 D RC

3 D C

1 D LC

1 D L

1 M R

4 M C (assumes 4-4-2)

1 M L

1 M RL (two-footed wingers are always good)

4 F C/ST (including one or two who can play on the wing)

That's a squad of 21 and seems workable for a 4-4-2.

For formations like 4-3-2-1 or 4-2-3-1, which offer a bit more flexibility, you can have a pool of, say, 10 midfield-minded players capable of playing pseudo-wide (not proper wingers, but wide-ish midfielders; or simply wingers capable of shooting):

3 GK

1 D R

1 D RC

3 D C

1 D LC

1 D L

2 M C (defensive minded)

2 AM RC

2 AM LC

2 AM C (also capable of doing M C?)

1 AM RLC

3 F C

Squad of 22, which seems overkill, so you can mix and match. The good thing is that narrow formations mean you can do more rotating, so you could do with less AM Cs, say.

This was kind of the formation I tried to make with my first Triestina side as I didn't want to specialise in so many positions (expensive!). I used something like:

Acerbis

Martin Petras - Regen - Digão - Fábio

Marc Valiente (DMC) - Adrian Pit (DM, M LC)

Jaroslav Sedivec (AM LC) - Marek Matějovský (AM C) - Alessio Cerci (AM RLC, F C)

Danny Welbeck (AM RC, F C)

With 2 more attacking midfield options, a striker, a midfielder and 1-2 defenders, along with a goalkeeper on the bench.

Flexibility is always a good thing, especially for narrow formations, although I'm trying to move away from this easy approach and into 4-4-2-ish systems.

I'd say an absolute maximum of about 25, including a few who are available for the reserves. The only time I've gone over this, I had a 44 man squad, with about half of them being available for the reserves, and everyone was unhappy.

I usually have my starting 11, 5 subs and 5 backups so 21 for me.

15 first team: 2 GK, 5 Defenders, 5 Midfielders, 3 Strikers, i then have about 7 good youths who i use frequently.

i hate when you have to scroll down to see any players, thats when i know i have too many

23-25 for me, as i like two for every position, and every midfield position covered again.

e.g In my man city game the 23rd player is Jack Wilshere, so there's no need for 24 and 25 as he can play everywhere.

I am at Newcastle after a tycoon takeover.

I think it's essential to have 2 very good players for each position and role, but in order to not have too many players warming the bench or even a stand seat, I prefer versatile players, so in the end I end up with a first-team-squad of 18-20 players and one very promising youngster for each position behind that. If ever injuries hit me hard, then I know a future star will be getting the needed playing time.

If I wasn't a tycoon club, who can afford spending millions on 16 year old future gems, then I would have 2 or 3 more first team players to be on the safe side. How many exactly just depends on where and how many promising players I have in the reserves.

25 players is the perfect squad size.

1st choice GK, back-up GK and a youth GK

8 defenders of varying positions (one or two who can also play in midfield), 10 midfielders (some of who can play in defence and others who can play in attack), 4 strikers.

A mixture of "playing at their peak" 1st-teamers, experienced old hands (Hyypia-esque) and a sprinkling of youth.

i have 33 man squad with 3 players in each position i have

My strongest 11 which play in the premier league + Champions league

My Second 11 which play FA Cup and occasional League games

my 3rd 11 (mainly kids) who play in the carling cup

My squad is normally as big I can get without scrolling, then everyone bar the first 11 + 7 subs is allowed to play for the reserves, all U18s are set to play for reserves too. Worth noting is that most of my players are versatile. I only ever have 1 defender on the bench, who has to be versatile (I have a certain youngish dutch cb rb dm cm), then a gk cmd, a cma, two wingers and a striker.

for champions league competing squads, 25 inc. homegrown players.

otherwise 20-22 players with fringe/crap making up the other places is fine.

i like to have around 21-23 as my first team squad. i do find its always good to have a few versatile players, eg. a left sided player can play every position on the left to a reasonable standard. eg. have got a guy called rossato for my west ham squad, he seems to play awesome where ever i have him!!

normally 4 strikers, so unlucky though when u get 3 injuries and 1 suspended lol. Then i have to start looking like everton