We have so many problems and it's centered around defense for most people but not for me. We simply 'are what we are'. There's been 0 change under Pep. We lose to the teams we're supposed to lose to and beat the teams we're supposed to beat. We've scored 6 goals against the top 7 teams. The total GF/GA is 6/9. 1.5 goals is more than a fine defensive output there for what we have. For me the problem is the system and the players we have in the system. Kun is not fit for our 4/3/3 and he doesn't show up in big games. He's one dimensional, sorry. 0 goals in those games. There's a reason we were in for Aubmeyang, Suarez, and Sanchez. We have too many creative players in the midfield and not enough goal scorers. We can dominate possession all we want with KDB, Gundogan, and Silva all in the squad but there's a reason we get beat vs the best. Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool, and Arsenal get goals from everywhere and we don't. I thought we butchered it this summer, probably because we couldn't get what we wanted, but partially because we gambled away this year for the future hoping Pep could make due with what we had. That's fine but don't act surprised that it's not working out. Gundogan was too balanced of a player for me. Good everywhere but not spectacular anywhere. He's not a DM like we needed (Kante) type. I suspect we didn't buy any fullbacks because we held out for the home runs. The Bellerins, Sandro's etc. Until we find someone that gives us the input that Yaya gave us from the mifield during our title winning runs I don't think we'll be anymore than a 2-4th place squad. That's why Pogba was so huge for me.
4/3/3 only works if you have killer finishers out wide. Maybe Jesus is that second piece to the MSN, Ben/Bale/Ronaldo front line, I think he can be but that's a lot of pressure. We talk about the process but Pep's here for three years. Year 1 was a learning process and year 2 might not even be in the CL. I think this process is going to take a lot longer than expected sadly.
I'm a KFA granted, but it's how I see it.