26-man World Cup squads are change for change's sake and won't help player welfare

Why don’t they all just stand on the sideline, drink Gatorade and help wingers to their feet when they tumble out of play?

Give the coach a laminated clipboard, and one of those headsets with one earpiece and a microphone?

Heck, get the ref to throw down a yellow hankie – sorry, flag – rather than blow his whistle.

After all, Harry Kane loves his NFL.

At this year’s World Cup, managers will have 15 ­substitutes to choose from.

That is 52 players warming up for a match. Presumably there are no pokey dressing rooms in Qatar.

If there was a communal bath, it would have to be the size of Blackpool Lido.

It is change for change’s sake.

FIFA and all those who want a thousand subs say they are doing it in the cause of player welfare.

Maybe they actually believe that, but it will turn out to be utter nonsense.

Player welfare?

Here is a prediction.

Every manager at Qatar 2022 will play his strongest available team in every game unless that game happens to be some sort of dead rubber.

If Gareth Southgate’s starting XI wins its opener against Iran, the same starting XI will – ­assuming they are all fit – take to the pitch for the next fixture against the USA.

And so on, unless ­qualification has been assured ahead of the final group match.

Yet FIFA have confirmed what we have known for some considerable time and ­managers will be allowed to name 26-man squads.

It might not be that much of a big deal, but it is chipping away at the fundamental nature of the game.

With 15 subs being allowed on the bench and five allowed to go on, the prospect of coaches selecting penalty ­specialists – with no hope of starting a match – in their travelling party is obvious. James Ward-Prowse, pack your bags, son.

There were, of course,