despite having a squad the envy of most teams in the world.
Seriously?
Let's look at the defence. Most on here don't rate the goalkeepers we have and want them changed. Also all full backs aren't really fit for purpose any more, so much so that we have played a right winger and defensive midfielder there. In central defence we have one outstanding player who has been injured most of the season, a not very good defensive LB playing CB, a bit of an unpredictable one prone to diving in and a young one that I believe will become excellent but isn't there yet.
In central midfield we have 2 excellent ones who are ageing and past their best in Toure and Fernandinho, 2 that have spent most of the season injured in Gundogan and Delph (one very good and one average) and one that is extremely limited.
Creatively we have an ageing Silva who is still excellent and KDB who has been rather inconsistent this season.
Up front we have a better situation in that we have 2 very young wide players with lots of potential (one of which took a bit of time to settle). An excellent striker in Aguero and some potential in Iheanacho. Jesus looks like he will be a great player for us but again hasn't been available for most of the season.
So of all the players that we have had available and ready to go for most of the season, I would say there is only Aguero, Silva and KDB that other top teams may envy us for as well as potential in Sane, Sterling and perhaps Stones.
A fairly large rebuilding of the squad is required over the next couple of windows and that wouldn't be the case if our squad was the envy of most other top teams. I doubt any of the 2 teams above us in the league (should we win tomorrow) would want as many from us as we'd want from them. I would say given the problems of our squad, 3rd or 4th place is about right.