Just have a look at this table: please log in to view this image As a strategy for next year we would do well to take a leaf out of the bottom two sides' book - have a small, well knit squad. Oh, and I guess adding a tight defence and two goal scorers would help a little.
Given that we'll be starting from scratch with virtually a whole new team, I doubt we'll use just 23 players next year. But your point is taken: settling early on a good squad that knows each other's patterns would be very helpful. Back during our time with Roy, we had very low numbers in terms of players used during the season.
It's not about how many players or how few; it's about finding the right combinations of players. Teams who do that early get more good results and have less reason to make changes, hence using fewer players. Our strategy should be to find out which of our up and coming youngsters are ready to play a major role, buying in the right experienced heads to compliment them, and watching the team and individuals grow throughout the season. Oh, and starting to defend a bit. Definitely that.
Exactly, I doubt Leicester and Burnley's strategy was to use as few players as possible (although it probably was a factor in them doing well).
Given the amount of youngsters we have that may be bordering on the fringes of the first team I'd expect us to use a lot more players than others. I can see a couple of the U18s getting a cameo appearance here and there. A lot will also depend on transfer dealings too. I think the best things Burley and Leicester managed to do was hang on to their star players (Ings, Moore, Schlupp) which meant they didn't have to try out a couple of different players in an attempt to replace them.
The other thing is those players are probably better than Championship standard. Any team with a couple of stand out players generally does quite well in the championship - think West Ham, Newcastle & QPR all of whom kept the majority of their Premiership squads and bounced right back.
