Aside from the obvious loss of Suarez - who's proceeds we pissed up the wall, there seems to be a lack of planning to our buying.
It seems to me that we're not buying players with a particular system in mind, and we're not crafting that system and learning it week in week out. Rodgers changes our staple system 4-5 times a season. Not small changes like 4-4-2 to 4-4-1-1 either, but huge fundamental changes - back 4 to back 3 for example. No wonder the players look lost. They've never had a real chance to build rhythm, gel, get to know their roles. Even yesterday, after 4 weeks of 4-3-3, our genius decides to go 3-4-2-1.
Then think of the individual players. Can's been given brief glimpses of midfield, then he's gone to RCB, then RB, then back to RCB. Lovren's gone from looking ok in a back 4 to a shambles in a back 3. Sterling's played wing back, attacking midfield, right wing and forward - sometimes all in the same game. Markovic played a lot as a second striker in past clubs - but the poor lad's had to learn the ropes at wing back. One week Ibe's in the front 3, then he's a wing back. We've gone from slower more physical players up front to Sterling - then back again - then back again. A major shift in approach. No wonder the players can't find form and look lost.
How do you ever build momentum, confidence or swagger this way?
This is where we've really missed a Director of Football. For god's sakes, this summer lets work out what system gets the best out of our best players, and stick to it, and recruit specifically for it.
Wenger sticks pretty religiously to 4-2-3-1. So has Mourinho this season, so has Southhampton. Point is not about 4-2-3-1, but in general, the teams who do well are the one's who've finely crafted their systems and every player knows their role as a cog in the wheel.
