Excellent post mate.
This is a young side, and we’re very much in the middle of a rebuild after losing so many of the legends of the centurions, 2x trebles and four in a row team.
And things don’t necessarily follow a linear, smooth development path when you’re rebuilding - the team confidence Pep talks about isn’t fully established yet, and when things don’t go according to plan (which is inevitable in a young team), that confidence can be more easily unsettled.
You can see the team spirit and belief growing before your eyes at the moment, and the experience they’re going through together right now is exactly the kind of experience they need to build a strong core belief that they can beat any team on any day, and prevail even in the most unlikely of circumstances.
We may not win the the league this season - and we may not win the Cup - but we’re witnessing Pep build our next great team, who will do all those things and so much more over the next few years.
There’s no-one I’d rather be in charge of this rebuild than the greatest Club Manager there’s ever been.