Given that Pep will unquestionably have been front and centre when it comes to recruitment, I’d say he’s getting a pretty easy pass at the moment. Mendy and Rodri were tragic signings (the former because he simply doesn’t have a footballing brain and offers nothing defensively or offensively, and the latter because a chronic lack of pace renders him incapable of filling the role he has been assigned), who cost £110m combined. To start a 3rd season with an injury prone pudding as your only viable option at left back is piss poor, as is basing your entire game plan on pressing yet continually deploying at least 2 midfielders (perm 2 from Rodri, Ferna & Gunders), who lack the legs for it, as is having centre halves who lack pace defend up on the halfway line.
Two years ago we had a beautifully balanced squad, but by design (Sane) or Father Time (Kompany, Silva) key elements of it have not been replaced, and we have muddled along with a number of players unsuited to their roles, which contributed significantly to 11 carbon copy defeats last season against very specific opposition tactics. In short, despite being one of the wealthiest clubs in the world, we somehow still need a dominant and quick centre half, a competent left back, a mobile central midfielder, and a powerful centre forward.
As to whether Pep has either the answers or the continuing drive for the sizeable task at hand, I don’t know, but what I do know is that we’re going to find out very quickly now, cos we’re going to face the parked bus/rapid counterattack tactic with ever more tiresome frequency from here on in, because the whole world can see our susceptibility to it. Based on last season and today, personally I don’t think he has those answers
