Laudrup Still Wants Small Squad

Swansea City boss Michael Laudrup still says he wants a smaller squad despite securing a place in next season's Europa League.

Laudrup stated at the start of the season that he wanted a rather small squad, so that every member of the squad was worthy of a first team place, and had a chance of playing.

Despite qualifying for next season's Europa League, Laudrup has no plans to increase the size of his squad in the Summer, even saying that 22 players is enough to cope in the Premier League, as well as the cup competitions - FA Cup, League Cup and Europa League.

'I know one year that Barcelona played with 19 first-team players, as well as a few younger players, and they played every three days. It is possible.

'I know again the risks if you get an injury. Look at what happened to us when Neil Taylor broke his ankle the day after the transfer window shut.

'That has special implications, but I don't believe in having 27 or 28 players.

'You won't have 27 players who are at the same level, so you will still have five or six who never play.

'I think if you take all the games this season, even the two-and-a-half months when we played every three days and had injuries, we always had a competitive team.

'I don't recall us ever having only 15 or 16 players to choose from. I felt in that period everyone had an importance in the team.

'I think two players for each position is more than enough, just about 22 players.

'That way you can still have some young players, someone with talent and potential (on the fringes of the squad).

'That means everyone feels important and the young players get the feeling that they are not so far away from playing.'

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