‘Needs to be looked at’: Portsmouth boss calls for change amid EFL frustration
The Pompey boss has called for EFL to reassess the squad rules their members are currently working to.
John Mousinho believes the EFL needs to revisit their 25-man squad rules.
And the Pompey boss has aired frustration over young loan players counting towards the constraints clubs work to under league rules.
Pompey boss on squad rules: ‘Something which needs to be looked at’
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The league last week published its members’ squad lists, in the wake of the summer transfer window closing at the start of the month.
Pompey named 22 men, leaving three spaces open for players who are currently in the treatment room.
Mousinho aired his view that quota is outdated, however, amid the game’s growing athletic demands and pushes to see the ball in play for longer periods.
The Pompey boss said: ‘Registering 25 players seems like a nice, round number for players over the age of 21.
‘But when you look at it over the past couple of seasons for us and other clubs, there’s been times when we’ve struggled to fill the 20-man squad because of the amount of injuries.
‘That’s been because of the strain on our squad - and that’s been the case with a lot of clubs in the Championship.
‘So I do think that is something which needs to be looked at and there needs to be more flexibility there.
‘It’s a rule which has been made to protect certain things but you can end up with more injuries, particularly with the push from governing bodies to speed the game up and increase the time the ball’s in play.
‘You are also playing seven, eight or nine minutes of injury time.
‘That’s good and I enjoy how the game’s sped up - but there’s consequences from players playing more and the game becoming more athletic
‘I think we need to sit down and it just takes a little bit of sensible thinking.’
Another issue which potentially needs addressing in Mousinho’s eyes is the rule over young players counting towards the 25-man total.
Contracted under-21 players aren’t considered towards that figure, with the likes of Thomas Waddingham, Franco Umeh, Luke Brooke-Smith and Eoin Kenny in that category.
Loan players of that age do, however, with Ryan Kavuma-McQueen (17), Benjy Arthur (20) and Jayden Meghoma (20) counting.
Mousinho doesn’t feel that is something which aligns with developing young talent.
He added: ‘It’s really hard to find a balance - particularly with the way the rules are structured.
‘They are trying to encourage you to have younger players in the squad on the squad list.
‘We have that and we have quite a few young players on the squad list.
‘Unfortunately three of them have to be registered (towards the 25-man total) because they are on loan.
‘That’s another rule I think doesn’t make a huge amount of sense, because we are playing some of the younger talent in the country - but it still counts.
‘It’s hard and it’s difficult to balance it, but every single manager in the Championship has to deal with it.
‘Every single manager in the Football League and Premier League has it.
‘To balance it out is a really, really difficult and tricky thing to do.
‘You even see it in the Premier League with Champions League and Premier League squads, they have big-name players missing out because they just don’t have the space. It’s a tough consequence.’