It’s obvious that the first few signings we made in the summer were with Europa League football in mind – you need a squad if you’re to have any chance of being successful in Europe and domestically.
But having failed to reach the group stages of the competition, Slaven Bilic now finds himself with something of a selection dilemma once everyone is fit.
The only position we were seriously lightwieght in was right-back, but Bilic rectified that with the free signing of Alvaro Arbeloa on deadline day, which means Sam Byram will have a very experienced tutor behind him to help with his development, as well as us having a very good back up should Byram fall out of favour.
So having made 13 new signings this summer, and with only two high profile departures, it means our strength depth this season has to be at it’s strongest for many years.
Now there isn’t a single position in which we’re really struggling in, which can only be a good thing when you consider we’re only competing across three domestic competitions this season.
It gives us a good chance of really trying out best to win either the League Cup or FA Cup, as well as having the personnel available to mount another serious challenge on the top six.
So here’s a look at our strength in depth throughout the squad; we look at each position available in Slaven Bilic’s most favoured formation – 4-2-3-1…
