With a pack footballing schedule causing havoc amongst the modern day squads, PapaPincus is here to look at the numbers behind an unsustainable amount of games, how teams need to be built in the future and what could be done about so many injuries - because here's the sad truth about football, one squad isn't enough anymore.
00:03Between league games, cup ties, European nights, international breaks and half-made-up tournaments,
00:09the calendar is bursting at the seams.
00:12It's no longer enough to have a world-class start in XI.
00:15If you want to survive, let alone win at the top level, you need something more.
00:20You need two full squads ready to go.
00:24In this video, we'll have a butcher the impact caused by modern-day football.
00:28Why squad depth has become the non-negotiable for success at the highest level
00:32and how it's affected clubs' transfer market strategies.
00:36Papa Pinker's here with 4-4-2. Let's talk about it.
00:41So why do clubs need two squads?
00:45Well, to state the obvious, the football calendar is absolute chaos.
00:49A club competing in all comps can play up to 65 games in a single season.
00:54That includes 38 league games in most leagues, up to 15 in the Champions League if they reach the final,
01:01domestic cups, pre-season tournaments and more.
01:05When you average that out, it's a match every four or five days for 10 months.
01:10I mean, just ask Pep Guardiola about it.
01:12In Man City's treble-winning season back in 2023, they played 61 games.
01:18Not just competing either, but dominating.
01:20They did it by rotating heavily, sharing the load and having depth in every position to keep themselves fit and fresh.
01:27For example, in the Premier League, they used 37 different line-ups in their 38 games.
01:33And not because of an injury crisis, but because they could.
01:36Because their schedule demanded it.
01:38And because they had the quality in personnel that meant changing players or positions didn't lead to a drop in standards.
01:45In comparison, Arsenal fielded just 22 different line-ups when they finished runners-up that season,
01:51making fewer changes to their line-up than any other Premier League team.
01:54Because when they did give their bench players a go, they went out of both domestic cups very early on.
02:00Same can be said for Liverpool last season, where one decision to play a couple of youngsters and a few fringe squad players
02:06resulted in them crashing out of the FA Cup to Plymouth, while their best XI consistently sliced through the Premier League week in, week out.
02:15As Arne Slott used the second-fewest amount of players throughout that campaign.
02:19While there is an argument to be made that rotating a squad and keeping it fresh could interrupt the fluency and consistency of a team,
02:26having the option of squad depth today is just non-negotiable.
02:30With these busy schedules, no player, no matter how elite, no matter how talented, can stay at their peak across 60-plus games.
02:39With constant travel involved too.
02:41All of this inevitably leads us on to one of the biggest disruptors in modern football.
02:47Injuries.
02:48According to the UEFA Elite Club injury study, elite clubs suffer about 1.2 injuries per match.
02:54Typically soft tissue injuries, the kind caused by overuse and fatigue, have increased by over 20% in recent years.
03:04And clubs competing in four or more competitions have an 18% higher injury rate than those playing in two or fewer.
03:11Look at Liverpool in the 2020-21 season.
03:13They were the defending Premier League champions, but injuries completely and utterly destroyed them.
03:19Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Matip were all out with long-term injuries.
03:24Henderson and Fabinho had to play at centre-back on multiple occasions.
03:29In total, Liverpool used 20 different central defensive pairings that season.
03:34The result?
03:35They scraped them to the top four thanks to a winner from their goalkeeper.
03:39But their title defence was gone by Christmas.
03:41Now compare that with Real Madrid in the 2023-24 season.
03:46They lost Courtois, Militao and Alaba, three key defenders, all to ACL injuries.
03:53But thanks to squad depth and tactical flexibility, they adapted.
03:57Chouameni filled in at centre-back.
03:59Carlo Ancelotti reshuffled his system without reducing the quality.
04:03And they still won La Liga and the Champions League.
04:06And that's the difference.
04:07One club had to sacrifice their identity and collapse under pressure.
04:11The other had a second wave of players ready to step in.
04:15Successful teams rotate their squads strategically.
04:17The best clubs aren't just playing the same 11 week in, week out.
04:21They're distributing minutes to 18 or 20 players consistently.
04:25So with all those stats in mind, let's talk about what a successful squad actually looks like
04:30and how teams go about assembling one.
04:32Firstly, it's an obvious numbers game.
04:35You need the bodies in there.
04:36But not just any, you need first team quality players who can slot in without dropping the level.
04:42On average, title winning squads feature around 18 to 21 players who log at least 500 minutes over the season.
04:49These aren't bloated squads.
04:51They're cleverly constructed teams where almost every player has a clear role and a genuine impact.
04:56But second, and most importantly, clubs need to strike the right balance between bringing in multiple of the same style of players,
05:04but also having a variety of tools in the box to adapt and surprise.
05:09For example, some clubs are now so committed to a specific playing style that they've actually started recruiting players who are stylistically identical to their starters.
05:18The goal isn't just to have cover, it's to keep the system ticking, even when someone drops out.
05:25Look at Arsenal, for example.
05:26They're eyeing up Noni Madueke, not just because he's got talent, but because he plays almost identical to Bukayo Saka.
05:33Left-footed, direct, hard-working and positionally disciplined on the right-hand side.
05:39Newcastle doing the same thing by signing Anthony Elanga, whose high-pressing, electric pace and counter-attacking style lines up neatly with what Anthony Gordon and Harvey Barnes bring.
05:49It's clever recruitment, building a squad where the machine keeps running no matter who's on the pitch.
05:54It's not about signing superstars for the sake of it.
05:57It's about having ready-made replacements for both now and the future.
06:01Barcelona are a prime example of how to attack recruitment from both angles.
06:07After years of big-name spending and faced with financial issues in previous years, their 2023-24 season was bolstered by breakout talents like Lamin Yamao and Pau Koubasi.
06:19A good academy pipeline turned their 25-man squad into a 30-man rotation machine, without spending a penny of their transfer budget.
06:27In the 2024-25 campaign, those youngsters became starters and shining lights.
06:34It's a win-win.
06:35The clubs that lift trophies in May aren't just the strongest, they're the deepest.
06:39They can rest their best players, rotate effectively and shift tactics on the fly.
06:45They survive the full 60-match grind and come out thriving.
06:48So next time someone says a team doesn't need another midfielder or a backup winger, remember, modern football is a 60-game war.
06:57And to win it, you don't just need a strong team, you need two.
07:00But even that might not be enough.
07:02Because while clubs are busy trying to manage this relentless schedule, there's something they have absolutely no control over.
07:10And that is the international calendar.
07:12These aren't high-stake qualifiers or tournament deciders.
07:16They're meaningless games dropped right in the middle of a brutal club season, like potholes in an F1 track.
07:23You've got players clocking 60 games a year, giving everything to fight for league titles, cup runs and Champions League glory.
07:30And then suddenly they're flying to Moldova to jog around in a half-empty stadium for a friendly no-one cares about or remembers.
07:38And yet, the consequences, they are very real.
07:43Pulled hamstrings, rolled ankles, torn ligaments.
07:46All because someone played 82 minutes in a game that quite literally means nothing.
07:52Just ask any fan who's watched their club season unravel because one of their best players came back from international duty with an injury.
08:01Odegaard.
08:01The risk-to-reward ratio is completely off.
08:05There is no reward.
08:06And this isn't about disrespecting international football, by the way.
08:09The Euros, World Cup, AFCON, Copa America.
08:13These tournaments matter.
08:14They're sacred.
08:15That's where the magic lives.
08:17But these drop-in friendlies during the season, they make me sick.
08:20So maybe it's time to evolve.
08:22Maybe it's time to protect the product.
08:24And more importantly, protect the players.
08:28Modern football requires squad depth, sure.
08:30But it also requires some common sense.
08:33And until something changes, clubs will keep waging war across 60 games whilst holding their breath every time an international break rolls around.
08:41Because in today's game, it's not just about building a great team.
08:45It's about surviving the chaos that happens outside of your control.
08:49So what changes would you make to the football in Canada?
