I don't think the first team is quite good enough to win the league without a good bit of luck. I don't think we have a dangerous enough front line, and I think it's not a reliable first team either.
I think the squad is definitely not good enough to win the league, we are weak at LB, CB, CDM, and RW
Of all of those, CB is the most pressing. We've seen the fingers crossed no one gets injured movie before, and one problem with being weak in cover at CDM and CB is that generally they cover each other when the shit hits the fan.
That's why I find the discussion of "well the first team is good enough, but there isn't enough depth" to be a little weird. Someone is going to get injured, and it isn't only the position where the player is impacted that is affected. Weak links in the chain mean that a relatively small number of injuries can cause you to have to start weakening your own team, in other areas. Last year we were weaker going forward and weaker going back because of playing Mac Allister out of position in the 6. When your team is a little thin, you will make up for it by breaking what works; it isn't just about the fire you are putting out, it's about who is bucketing it. Bajetic and Endo were both overplayed, one too young, one too old, for the same weakness. It can be more expensive to be just short. You're also just wasting money. When Fabinho played CB instead of a decent CB, you're overpaying him for a job he's just ok at.
The more you can keep whole elements of your team a bit more settled, the more I believe you'll get developed patterns of play in attack.
That's why the gomez thing is so bizarre to me. He was willing to play anywhere. If you want to be cheap, you should love utility players. Not too many, but some. If we don't get a couple players in, then we are just taking needless risks. We have a lot of work to do in the next window anyway. Kicking other things down the road will not help.
