Both squads had their fair share of crocks and players who weren’t much good. But seeing as my arguement is the state of the squad as of today I’ll put it another way.
As of today we have 18 outfield players. 2 of them have never kicked a ball for us in the PL. 3 others - Chiesa, Endo and Gomez - much as I love them, are as good as finished here unless they can rise like Lazarus from the ashes.
Bradley, Ekiteke and Leoni might not kick a ball for us until Christmas. MacAllister and Gakpo stunk the place out all last season and both should be sold. Jones may still leave. Frimpong and Wirtz look nowhere near being PL footballers.
It doesn’t leave much.
You talk about age, well 3 of our squad are older now than any of those players from 2010. 3 of them are younger and more inexperienced than any of those players from 2010.
That squad wasn’t great by any stretch of the imagination but at the very least it had enough numbers to cover every area of the pitch. This squad is threadbare in virtually every position.
Without wanting to get into the weeds to much with the details, I’ll again point out that at a very basic level you’re comparing a squad as it was for the start of that season, with a squad at the very start of the summer before any signings have been made.
If this was our starting squad for the 2026/27 season you’d have a point, but why don’t we wait and see what the next couple of months bring?
You seriously want to go down that road with the state of this squad?
Because, for the umpteenth time and at the risk of it getting extremely boring, I’m talking about the state of the squad as of today
Seriously, what’s the point of doing that?
Wirtz has played left wing a few times for Germany and looked very effective.
It’s how I roll.
Lol… you got me with that one!
Seriously though, it’s the who would you buy thread and while I’ve offered nothing in that respect it is concerning me how much work needs doing just to stand still.
Big job to be done this summer for sure, agreed there mate.
One of the odder hills someone has been willing to die on.
We have two left backs but you’re refusing to count Tsimikas. We have four centre backs but you won’t count the £75m worth of talent we’ve invested in. You’re leaving out Elliott too I assume even though he’s a Liverpool player still.
I think there’s a point to be made about depth. But, you aren’t helping make it by saying a second string line up with no left back, a midfield with Cole and Aqualani in it and a forward line that includes Shelvey and Ngog is somehow evidence of historical depth.
There’s two, maybe three players in those second and third string lists who’d make it into the current squad. And of the first string only Gerrard and Mascherano would get into the current team.
There’s a difference between genuine depth of quality and having lots of players.
I am not convinced it needs to be. I maybe just a bit high on the excitment and I’ll come around a bit by August, but I really think the changes suggested by @Sweeting could be enough. I think reinvigoration of last season’s disappointments, clarity on where some of these misfits can play, reintroduction of some discarded talent, and possible more trust in a couple of the now one year older youth and there could be far fewer spots that need filling than it looked like for most of last season.
Because the lower level teams are coached better and they also have more money to spend on better quality players.
The Premier League, as a whole, pay far higher wages than their counterparts in the other leagues.
It is also the most competitive league, with most teams being competitive and on their day being able to beat the so called top teams.
Money is a driving factor for most players and the Premier League offers the best wages and therefore will have a higher calibre of player.
The second list was the bench, not a second string line-up.
Personally I’d take either of the CB’s over Konate, Meireles over MacAllister, Babel over Gakpo and Kuyt over the Mo of last season. But that’s just my opinion.
A coherent tactical playing philosophy will go a long way to helping, although it is the long term injuries that are currently the main issue and undermines the ability of the squad.
Yeah, I think you’ve proved a point with this, just not sure it was the point you were looking to make.
Ok, I’ll bow to your superior knowledge and opinions.
I think once Iraola signs then a few names will come from Joyce et al. I’m going for Diomande and Wharton. We’ve apparently been working on both for a while.
I’m not saying I would buy all of these or expecting an addition in every position but some players I’d be having the recruitment team take a look at as potential options:
LB - Nathaniel Brown
RB - Julian Ryerson
CB - Nico Schlotterbeck, bring back Jarell Quansah for home grown quota, seen links suggesting we have looked at Ousmane Diomande and António Silva in Portugal
Midfield - Carlos Baleba, Adam Wharton, Angelo Stiller, Ayyoub Bouaddi, Alex Scott, Mamadou Sangaré
LW - Yan Diomande and Bradley Barcola the two names linked, Rafael Leão wants a move
RW - Rayan, Maghnes Akliouche. Roony Bardghji mentioned as wanting a move
ST - Junior Kroupi
I’ve wanted a DM for the previous 2 seasons so would like to see us finally address that, probably another midfielder as well with Jones potentially leaving and a couple of defenders with Robbo and Konate gone.
In terms of forward players there are a couple of possible routes depending on formation - we could have Wirtz and Szobo as two AMs behind the striker and have the width coming from the wingbacks with the DM slotting back as the extra defender when they go forward.
If we are going with wide players then would look to add one for each side.
We brought two strikers in last year so it shouldn’t be a priority but given the injuries if there is the opportunity of either bringing in a young forward or promoting from the academy that would be good.
Busy summer ahead 
I would have said the same - however, is Wharton the type of midfielder that Iraola would be looking to prioritise, or would he want a different type of player?