I would agree with this sentiment.
For me the defeat against Madrid in the CL made it possible to win our fourth consecutive title, without that defeat we don't win the title, our players looked tired and were struggling.
We have needed to refresh the midfield for sometime, we must be bringing in a high quality player to help Rodri, Kovacic was a great squad addition but not as a regular.
We also have several players with dubious injury records, Ake, Stones, Kovacic, Haaland and KDB all miss a lot of games or are unavailable, with the small squad we have that becomes an issue, especially later in the season.
This could well be Bobb's breakout season, he is a hell of a talent but McAtee for me is no more than a Gomez replacement.