We lack the most vital component of a top team, or any team....a standout leader on the field. There isn't one. Pogba thinks he is but isn't good enough nor deserves it. Valencia doesn't do anything as a captain. We lack that special someone to take charge on the pitch. Wouldn't even need to be a world class player, just someone with the heart and love for the club. This is not a team
Nothing to do with leadership, we just lack talent in key positions. Why can't we create chances? Because Pogba is the only one that can deliver a final pass successfully on our team, our wingers have trouble taking people on or dribbling, our wingers have terrible decision making, and until this season, our full backs could not attack at all. Why is our build up so slow? Because our centre backs need ages to set their feet right to control short passes, because our centre backs have little composure on the ball, because our defenders cannot pass the ball into midfield, and before this season our full backs did not get into positions to provide forward options for the pass. Again a problem of quality and positional awareness( also quality). Why can we not defend? Because four out of our five centre backs cannot clear a header with their head effectively, because 3 of our 5 defenders( centre backs) have issues with balance, because some of our defenders are too weak, because some of our defenders lack composure on the ball, because we have had no depth in the full back areas, and until this season we had no consistent left back meaning our left hand side was weak defensively ( in addition to no pace from our right wing making Valencia isolated).
Our problems under Mourinho have been mostly personnel issues, even though it can be argued that Jose could have solved these issues if he had a bit more patience and less bias. Our recruitment of players, and our inability to sell for value has been our biggest issue over the last 5 years, and it has led to us having these sort of issues, issues which can easily be solved in the transfer market, but require the right figures to sort them out. a) We need new centre backs, ones with quality and the ability to handle the rigours of the premiership. b) We need a new right winger at least, and patience to see whether Martial Sanchez or Rashford can nail down the left wing spot. c)We need a back up striker, potentially to compete with Lukaku and replace him in case of injury. We need quality in all these positions. Leadership will come as the squad ages. Zlatan was a leader, and we still finished in 6th place with him in the squad.