Soccer Star

Curious to see what managers feel is their preferred squad balance.

Not necessarily what you have now, but with all things being equal what would the balance of your squad look like assuming you could find the players at the level you wanted and you had the money to get them.

I have gone back and forth on this for years, from the minimalist 5-5-5 to far larger (mainly due to my teams' ability to get injured so often) and am still not entirely convinced what would be my optimum squad balance (certainly not at Charscot, where to this day my mood can mean anything from grab all the players I can to getting rid of perceived surplus).

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Cheers
Rich

CHARSCOT WANDERERS.........WPL1
DEP EL CELTICO.........................WPL37
WASCISCO RED SOX...................WPL43
ZIASTE NEQUENO.......................WPL24
CASTLE ROCK FURIES..................WPL31
OSSUS STELLA SEI.....................ELZ56
REVELSTONE..(C 05/6, 08/9)........RH15....(191T)

I tend to go 6-6-5 at the start of the season, perhaps one less overall if I have players who can play in multiple positions.

Once forms are up I don't mind a bigger squad...

Cheers
Dave

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AFC Binfield WPL28
Astral FC RH44
Seabourne City WPL27
Poole Town Panthers NSA23
St Agnes Aces NSA13
Boscombe Athletic OPAL8
AFC Wokingham MOA39
Selly All Stars MOA53

I always want to go 6-6-5 or 6-5-5 but can rarely stop myself from going way above or below depending on the team

The one thing I do tend to do is try to keep the number of attackers no higher than 5 (working on the theory that any more than 5 who can actually score would be a waste as some would never get a game - the reality sadly is that normally I am struggling to find any that score ).

I do find Charscot's squad the hardest to reduce, but that is as much about being wary of letting all brils leave via the market (almost impossible to get Swap deals for them these days) as anything else. In fact, the current squad (6-7-5 with two youths being trained by Razor coming in next season) was the reason I posted this as was and am considering AM'ing one or two but curious to see how others feel they get by with differing numbers (never too long in the game to learn something new about SS from someone else's perspective)

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Cheers
Rich

CHARSCOT WANDERERS.........WPL1
DEP EL CELTICO.........................WPL37
WASCISCO RED SOX...................WPL43
ZIASTE NEQUENO.......................WPL24
CASTLE ROCK FURIES..................WPL31
OSSUS STELLA SEI.....................ELZ56
REVELSTONE..(C 05/6, 08/9)........RH15....(191T)

Keepers is a good point. Should have really set up a separate post for how many of them as the poll has kind of assumed two but have had sides survive on one and others need 3.

Totally agree re injuries, seem to have definitely spiked up both in terms of frequency and number of long term injuries

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Cheers
Rich

CHARSCOT WANDERERS.........WPL1
DEP EL CELTICO.........................WPL37
WASCISCO RED SOX...................WPL43
ZIASTE NEQUENO.......................WPL24
CASTLE ROCK FURIES..................WPL31
OSSUS STELLA SEI.....................ELZ56
REVELSTONE..(C 05/6, 08/9)........RH15....(191T)

Always 2 G/K's, sometimes 3, & then try & get 6,5,5 maybe another Mid, but as Rich days no more than 5 Arts

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Razor HAS the edge!!

Kilburn United (WS57)
Inter Derby (WS10)
Spondon Phoenix F.C (WPL3)
Chaddesden Celtic (Opal41)
Torpedo Belper (NSA17)

http://razorsssteams.bravesites.com/

I tend to go for 3 keepers and 6 players in each of the other positions. I had 4 injuries last week across my teams including 2 at the same team.

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York Rovers OPAL2
Fishburn Park Opal21
Whitby Town OPAL43
Stainsacre United OPAL44
Tadcaster Albion OPAL49
Askham Bryan United OPAL53
Par Athletic OPAL59
MTK Budapest WPL22
Whitby Arcadians ELZ61
Sleights FC RH12
FC Tayside NSA11
AFC Liverpool NSA64
Stainsacre FC WS5
Askham Bryan Athletic WS24
Robin Hoods Bay WS51
AFC Scarborough MOA22

I tend to go for 2 - 5 - 5 - 4 (sometimes 5). Bare minimum and a tad risky with injuries but I like to keep the wage bill down.

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Steven
Ropery Rovers (NSA55) Polaris Cup Winners 2017, 2020
Ropery Alexandra (WS43) Div 3 Champions 2018
Tamriel FC (OPAL6)

My Third keeper tends to be somebody from the Youth system.

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York Rovers OPAL2
Fishburn Park Opal21
Whitby Town OPAL43
Stainsacre United OPAL44
Tadcaster Albion OPAL49
Askham Bryan United OPAL53
Par Athletic OPAL59
MTK Budapest WPL22
Whitby Arcadians ELZ61
Sleights FC RH12
FC Tayside NSA11
AFC Liverpool NSA64
Stainsacre FC WS5
Askham Bryan Athletic WS24
Robin Hoods Bay WS51
AFC Scarborough MOA22

I tend to go for 2 - 5 - 5 - 4 and worry about the injuries when they happen (which at Cair seems to happen regularly )
Reason being is that the training staff have less to work with and get around the players fairly regular.

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Cusco (Opal51)
Cair Paravel (WS19)
Southpool (WPL33)
Manics (Opal19)
Blackmore Knights (WS47)

Usually go 2-5-6-5 like to try to keep squads fairly small.

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Cheers
Dave.
Barton Blitz......WPL 53 Mancs F.C......WPL 64 Wigan Wildcats....Opal 58
Swinton Pirates ....ELZ 24 Dinamo Petrovac....ELZ 54
Manchester Dragons...RH 17 Stonefield Cobras ...RH 26
Luosto Tunturi...WS 7 Locomotiv Leigh. ...NSA 18 Limone Sul Garda .....BS26
Trafford Rhino's ...MOA 10 Tyldesley Panthers ...MOA 38

6-6-5 for me is the ideal mix when they are all decent quality players. Most of my squads have slightly more, but that is what I am aiming for with good quality players that are ready to hopefully compete for championships.

Always think 6 defenders is enough, especially when I only play 4 and never have 1 on the bench.

6 midfielders incase I play 4 and need one on the bench.

5 attackers for me is enough at the moment.

The one time, I played a whole season with just 6-6-5, Tigers got promoted from Div 1 to Prem.

U23s are currently 6-5-4 and I am amazed they are still 2nd.

This has got me thinking of a serious cull at the end of the season with the Lions.

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Broomhall Lions (WPL11)(P)-Div 2 Champions X 2 (10/11) (18) - Div 1 Champions (18/19)
Broomhall Tigers (WPL5)(1)
Broomhall U23s (WPL2)(2)-Div 3 Champions (16/17)
Inter Academy (NSA49) (3)
South Gyle Athletic (MOA7)(P)- Champion Club x 2 (2014) (2018), SLFA Cup Winners x 2 (12/13) (2018), Div 1 Champions (2013),

Thanks all for your votes and for your measure, informed thoughts in the comments. Both interesting and much appreciated.

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Cheers
Rich

CHARSCOT WANDERERS.........WPL1
DEP EL CELTICO.........................WPL37
WASCISCO RED SOX...................WPL43
ZIASTE NEQUENO.......................WPL24
CASTLE ROCK FURIES..................WPL31
OSSUS STELLA SEI.....................ELZ56
REVELSTONE..(C 05/6, 08/9)........RH15....(191T)

As I've voted, I should share my views. I don't have any particular rules or aims and it is so different across my teams. In a couple of my longer term teams I have players who can move between positions, but I have a habit of doing that, even if they aren't perfect for the position, just to alter the formation. I perhaps have a tendency to start with a bare minimum at the beginning of the season, stockpile during and then shed at the end. In some teams, their favoured formations are 532, 442 (so I have fewer strikers) or I might play 433, 334, 343 (with more attackers or mids) so there really is no pattern across them. If I have a lot of young players (like in the RH) the squad is larger as the players improving values are helping the team to be stronger financially - I will soon sell off a number of them and be more selective.

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Allestree Allstars nsa35
Dark Alliance nsa10
Duffield Dynamos opal39
Yorkshire Patriots rh7
Melwood moa4

I usually aim for 5-5-5. Don't see a point in having more than 5 defs as I rarely play 5 defs and never have any on the bench. always a spare Mid and always 2 Att options on bench if required, the prob occurs if u get an injury I guess, but then normally able to switch players between positions most of the time.

One of my squads was midfield heavy (8) but thats because I found 3 foreigners in about 5 weeks.

I think you can't go wrong with 5-6-5 though as you can always throw a Mid in Def or Att to bulk up.

What do I know though I've just been hammered this week with most of my teams!!!

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Silky
Bayer Dortmund...rh39 Div 1 14 Div 2 09, SLFA Cup 18, 19
Bayer U23s..........rh9
LJC Coningsby......rh30
Navenby Vipers.....moa23 Prem 09, 10, 12, 14, Div 1 08, SLFA Cup 16
AFC Liverpool........moa1 Div 1 10, 18
Bruggen Village.....ws55 Div 2 15, 16, SLFA Cup 19
Greylees FC..........nsa56 Prem 18, Div 2 16, Div 2 15
Sleaford Town.......wpl46

More mids the better as they can cover other positions

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The Northerners WPL16
Mexicana Wave Opal32
Northern Soul Opal42
Old Gold Jnrs RH49
Hood Manor MOA24
Warrington Wolf MOA44

(*) Previously won premier division