You put it better than I did Nev.I agree with a lot of that, but lucky is unfair on Sterling. He was unlucky the defender got the touch he was about to get. His chances earlier though were poor finishing.
I'd take it a step further with Stones & say he was fucking hopeless at defending & his passing was uninspired & boderline dangerous. No better than any run of the mill cb & his 'breaking through the lines' thing that we signed him for, was non existent. Otamendi has taken it on instead. But I think it's down to him looking calm on the outside when actually he's shitting his pants on the inside. He looked more confident as the game went on & even scored from a header (almost twice) which is something he has been beyond hopeless at since we signed him.
Hopefully he will gain some confidence from that. I recon that is the secret, which is wrong with both him & Otamendi. It's not ability it's decision making & composure. Imo they are cacking themselves quite a bit but not showing it obviously. It manifests itself in rashness from Otamendi wheras Stones tries to be cool. When both calm down a bit, they look really good.
As regards 'turning the corner', I would hope that the team has but can't be sure. But Pep has.
He's realised he was right to start with & that an adapted version of his method, ie passing the ball out, not lumping it, is the way to go.
Thanks for taking the time. I thought I was the only one with eyes. :-)
.... not ears as they are useless when the media are just embarrassing - including our own media in that these days :-)