The squad is fucking ruined. It is wrecked. I'm not anti FSG like Al is, but lets not pretend that we're not fucked right now cos we are.
Eh?
Our last 18 league games: P18 W11 D5 L2 F45 A19 GD+26 Pts 38
There's no doubt the first half of the season was hugely inconsistent, with some poor performances and results.
But since 4th February we've lost only 2 league games in almost half a season, scoring 45 goals, and averaging almost 2.2 points per game.
Even during our poor first half of the season, we beat City, put 9 past Bournemouth, 9 past Rangers over 2 legs, and beat Newcastle, Spurs, Napoli, and Ajax (twice).
Our sloppy performances against the likes of Forest, Wolves, Brentford, Fulham, Brighton and Palace are what has made this season such a struggle - which is partly due to tired legs and minds after a 62 game season, plus more bad luck with injuries, and a sudden drop in form for many of our best players.
Since our upturn in form in early February, we've put 7 past Utd, scored 6 against Leeds, 4 against Spurs, and kept 9 clean sheets, whilst finding a new role for Trent, integrating Curtis back into the side, and getting back to beating the lesser teams again - with wins over Wolves, Leeds, Forest, West Ham, Fulham, Leicester and Brentford.
When taking the above points into account, saying things like 'This squad is fucking ruined', or 'It's wrecked' sounds not only silly, but completely inaccurate.
Midfield investment is of course long overdue, but let's not forget we've spent over £300m on players since summer 2019, yet only £20m on midfielders (an elite, but injury prone 29 year old).
The drop off in Fabinho's form, Hendo's ageing legs, plus the inability of either Ox or Keita to find consistent, injury-free form have also not helped us. Nor has Bajetic's injury - just when he was emerging as a genuine regular first team option.
This season has been affected by a range of different factors, but there are signs in recent months that a change in team shape (and a few new additions) could breathe new life into a squad that's nowhere near as bad as many doom-mongers are making out.